ERIC Number: EJ937765
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0160-2896
EISSN: N/A
Mental Abilities and School Achievement: A Test of a Mediation Hypothesis
Vock, Miriam; Preckel, Franzis; Holling, Heinz
Intelligence, v39 n5 p357-369 Sep-Oct 2011
This study analyzes the interplay of four cognitive abilities--reasoning, divergent thinking, mental speed, and short-term memory--and their impact on academic achievement in school in a sample of adolescents in grades seven to 10 (N = 1135). Based on information processing approaches to intelligence, we tested a mediation hypothesis, which states that the complex cognitive abilities of reasoning and divergent thinking mediate the influence of the basic cognitive abilities of mental speed and short-term memory on achievement. We administered a comprehensive test battery and analyzed the data through structural equation modeling while controlling for the cluster structure of the data. Our findings support the notion that mental speed and short-term memory, as ability factors reflecting basic cognitive processes, exert an indirect influence on academic achievement by affecting reasoning and divergent thinking (total indirect effects: [beta] = 0.22 and 0.24, respectively). Short-term memory also directly affects achievement ([beta] = 0.22). (Contains 3 tables and 5 figures.)
Descriptors: Cognitive Ability, Logical Thinking, Short Term Memory, Creative Thinking, Academic Achievement, Adolescents, Structural Equation Models, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 10; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 9; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A