This study investigated the promotion of children's understanding and acquisition of arithmetic concepts and the effects of inhibitory skills. Children in Grades 3, 4, and 5 solved two sets of three-term addition and subtraction problems (e.g., 3 + 24 - 24, 3 + 24 - 22) and completed an inhibition task. Half of the participants received a…

Girls are more likely than boys to use counting strategies rather than higher-level mental strategies to solve arithmetic problems. Prior research suggests that dependence on counting strategies may have negative implications for girls' later math achievement. We investigated the relation between first-grade girls' verbal and spatial skills and…

In this correlational research, we investigated to what extent achievement goals, in conjunction with need for achievement and fear of failure as well as perceived classroom goal structures, are related to learning strategies among upper elementary school students. After taking into account students' tendency to respond in a socially desirable…

To gain insight in developmental trajectories of motivation during upper primary school, the present study focused on how different aspects of students' motivation, i.e., task-orientation, self-efficacy, and school investment develop from grade three to six of primary school and how these developments differ for boys and girls, and students with…

This paper presents the results of preliminary research on the assessment of reasoning abilities in primary school poor achievers vs. normal achievers using computer game tasks. Subjects were evaluated by means of cognitive assessment on logical abilities and academic skills. The aim of this study is to better understand the relationship between…

A latent profile analysis approach was used to examine the developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2, as well as their antecedents in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 448 children. Four different developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills were identified. Our…

Although language is implicated in children's mathematical development, few studies have focused specifically on how different linguistic skills relate to children's mathematical performance. Building on the model proposed by LeFevre et al. (2010), this study examined how general verbal ability and phonological skills were differentially related…

It was investigated whether children would experience less math anxiety and feel more competent when they, independent of ability level, experienced high success rates in math. Comparable success rates were achieved by adapting problem difficulty to individuals' ability levels with a computer-adaptive program. A total of 207 children (grades 3-6)…

Qualitative literacy motivation research increasingly documents students' divergent motivations to read in and outside of the school setting. However, commonly used assessments of literacy motivation do not measure the contribution of in-school and outside-school settings to students' motivation to read. Consequently, quantitative research has not…

Children whose parents are more highly educated enjoy greater age-linked gains in cognitive abilities and academic achievement. Different researchers have typically focused on different outcomes, and the extent to which parental education relates to multiple child outcomes via a single developmental pathway has received little empirical attention.…

Unique contributions of Big Five personality factors to academic performance in young elementary school children were explored. Extraversion and Openness (labeled "Culture" in our study) uniquely contributed to academic performance, over and above the contribution of executive functions in first and second grade children (N = 446). Well…

The present study investigated the extent to which mothers' support for their children's sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness predicts their children's interest in math and reading, and also their mastery orientation, during the transition to primary school. One hundred fifty-two children were examined twice during their first grade year…

The relationships of reading-related skills (rapid naming, morphological awareness, syntactic skills, discourse skills, and verbal working memory) and word reading to reading comprehension were examined among 248 Chinese fourth graders in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analysis results showed that syntactic skills (word order knowledge,…

We examined the cross-lagged relations between children's task-avoidant behavior and their performance in reading and spelling in Chinese. Eighty Grade 2 and 103 Grade 4 Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese children were assessed on measures of nonverbal IQ, task value, reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling. A year later, the children were reassessed on…

The present study investigated the roles of cognitive (working memory, intelligence) and motivational variables (self-perceived ability, intrinsic value) in explaining school achievement. The sample consisted of N = 320 German elementary school children in the fourth grade. Working memory and intelligence were assessed in the classroom.…