Family size and birth order as determinants of scholastic aptitude and achievement in a sample of eighth graders.

Tested the hypothesis that there exists a meaningful relationship between birth order, family size, and scholastic aptitude and achievement in 318 8th graders. It was found that (a) 1st-borns were characterized by higher IQ scores than later borns, and (b) family size was not significantly related to any of the measures used in this study. A Birth Order * Family Size interaction was found for a measure of scholastic aptitude and for some measures of scholastic achievement. This interaction was a function of increasing differentiation between 1st- and later borns with increasing family size. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral reasoning, classroom behavior, and sociometric status among elementary school children.

Relations among moral reasoning, classroom behavior, and sociometric status were investigated in a sample of 133 2nd and 3rd graders. It was hypothesized that hedonistic and needs-oriented moral reasoning, 2 forms of L. Kohlberg's (1984) Stage 2 moral reasoning, would be differentially related to teachers' ratings of classroom behavior and to sociometric status. Among boys, hedonistic moral reasoning was associated with the lack of social competencies, acting-out behavior, and low social preference. In addition to influencing sociometric status indirectly through social behavior, moral reasoning was found to explain variance in sociometric status not accounted for by either acting out or social competencies. Results support N. Eisenberg's (1986) claim that hedonistic and needs-oriented reasoning are qualitatively distinct. Although both forms of reasoning characterize Kohlberg's Stage 2, it is hedonistic reasoning, not needs-oriented reasoning, that appears to be associated with poor social behavior and, in turn, low sociometric status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar peers in relation to their sociometric status.

Examined children's general beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar peers in relationship to their sociometric status and their experience with parents. In the initial phase involving 886 4th and 5th graders, submissive rejected children but not aggressive rejected children reported less positive beliefs about peers than average status children. In the 2nd portion, which included 77 boys and girls from the larger sample, no relationship between children's sociometric status and their beliefs about unfamiliar peers was found. Beliefs about unfamiliar peers were related, however, to children's perception of the amount of acceptance and support they received from parents. Implications of these findings for children's social competence are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement performance related to achievement motivation and text anxiety.

Assessed achievement motivation, test anxiety, and performance on a standardized reading test among 43 male and 36 female 7th and 8th graders. 2 achievement test formats were employed: an ascending item-difficulty sequence and a random order. Results indicate that performance was not related to the type of test format. For both male and female Ss, reading performance was positively related to achievement motivation and negatively related to test anxiety. Learning vs. performance explanations of these findings were examined, and a relatively new measure of achievement motivation was briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's perceptions of their peer experiences: Attributions, loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance.

338 3rd and 5th graders completed a sociometric questionnaire and 3 instruments designed to assess their feelings of loneliness, social anxiety, social avoidance, and their attributions for social outcomes. Results show that children's feelings and attributions varied as a function of peer status, gender, and grade. For example, compared with peers, rejected children reported higher levels of loneliness and were more likely to attribute relationship failures to external causes. Children's feelings were also significantly related to their attributions about social events. Popular, average, and controversial status children who were socially distressed exhibited a non-self-serving attributional style, whereas distressed rejected children exhibited a self-serving attributional pattern. Neglected children who were distressed exhibited elements of both of these attributional styles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social impact and social preference as determinants of children's peer group status.

Evaluated 3 sociometric procedures utilizing a 2-dimensional social-impact and social-preference framework on 3 samples of 4th and 5th graders (ns?=?334, 173, and 89). The stability and distribution of classification, the relationship between dimensions, the validation of dimensions, and the validation of classification groups were considered. The method proposed by J. Peery (see record 1980-06647-001) appeared most problematic, and the procedure proposed by J. Coie et al (see record 1982-27928-001) was found to have nonexhaustive groups and the potential of misrepresenting Ss' social networks when standardized scores were used. An alternative 2-dimensional sociometric model based on probability theory was found to have excellent performance characteristics while still providing a constant frame of reference across social networks. The social reputational correlates of the impact and preference dimensions and the sociometric groups proposed by each model were investigated. Although social impact and social preference were reliable and valid determinants of peer group status, the need for alternative indicators of children's social standing in the peer group is discussed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loneliness among children and young adolescents.

Investigated differences in loneliness involving parents and peers and the relations between loneliness, choices of a "first comfort figure" (FCF), and social sensitivity as perceived by peers. 60 female and 52 male 5th graders, 97 female and 45 male 7th graders, and 66 female and 73 male 9th graders were given a loneliness scale and a sociometric measure of perceived social sensitivity. Results indicate that age differences in parent-related loneliness were marginally significant. Seventh graders seemed to have fewer loneliness experiences in their relationships with parents than 5th and 9th graders. Boys more frequently reported those feelings than girls. Ss who indicated both parents as their FCFs had the lowest scores for parent-related loneliness, whereas those who indicated friends as their FCFs had the highest scores for parent-related loneliness. With respect to peer-related loneliness, no age or sex differences were found. However, girls who chose both parents as their FCFs were more lonely than boys who did the same, and boys who chose their fathers as their FCFs mentioned more peer-related loneliness feelings than the girls who made this choice. Ss perceived as socially sensitive by their classmates less frequently mentioned peer-related loneliness feelings. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent prosocial behavior: Peer-group and situational factors associated with helping.

90 8th graders were rated by peers on sociometric dimensions of helpful and popular (and their converses) and were each observed or rated on 6 helping tasks in the school setting that differed in terms of perceived demand characteristics. In general, sociometric nominations were accurate in predicting who was not behaviorally helpful—those Ss rated as the unpopular and unhelpful. Sociometric status of Ss rated more positively by peers did not predict well the level of behavioral performance. To examine the interaction between peer-group status and helping behavior, the most helpful Ss were divided into 2 groups on the basis of peer status. There were significant differences in the types of situations in which these 2 groups performed: More popular helpers scored higher on peer-related helping tasks, whereas less popular helpers were more facilitative in non-peer-related helping tasks. Implications for individual socialization and future research in helping behavior are discussed in relation to peer-group status. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance.

Praise for ability is commonly considered to have beneficial effects on motivation. Contrary to this popular belief, six studies demonstrated that praise for intelligence had more negative consequences for students' achievement motivation than praise for effort. Fifth graders praised for intelligence were found to care more about performance goals relative to learning goals than children praised for effort. After failure, they also displayed less task persistence, less task enjoyment, more low-ability attributions, and worse task performance than children praised for effort. Finally, children praised for intelligence described it as a fixed trait more than children praised for hard work, who believed it to be subject to improvement. These findings have important implications for how achievement is best encouraged, as well as for more theoretical issues, such as the potential cost of performance goals and the socialization of contingent self-worth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and need achievement as determinants of selective recall and repetition.

"This study investigates the relationship between self-esteem and the recall and repetition of success and failure experiences… . groups… were selected on the basis of their self-evaluative responses and an evaluation of their self-esteem behaviors. The combinations of these two variables, at their extremes, yielded significantly different patterns on such variables as achievement, ideal self, and sociometric status, and apparently represent distinct types of self-esteem… . two factors [appear]… necessary for the recall and repetition of failure… . the ability to tolerate failure and the motivation and striving to overcome its effects." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity versus social ambition effects in the assessment of interpersonal acceptance in the classroom.

Evaluated the manner in which variations in sociometric formulations highlight differing effects of academic status on social acceptance in the classroom in 2 parallel studies with 619 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. Ss completed alternately worded versions of an interpersonal relationship assessment technique. As expected, versions emphasizing personal desires or willingness to interact led to findings indicating heightened acceptance for targets of higher academic status (social ambition). In contrast, versions leading Ss to consider realistic costs or limitations evoked higher acceptance for targets of similar rather than different social status (similarity). The contingency between sociometric formulation and outcome was consistent with level of aspiration and social exchange theories and points to the distinctive role of both desire and cost–benefit considerations in choice of social relations among adolescents. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of experimentally aroused achievement motivation to academic achievement anxiety.

180 Ss, balanced for sex, were administered the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT) under experimental conditions producing either minimal or high arousal of achievement motivation. Regression of scholastic aptitude and AAT scores on grade-point average (GPA) showed both AAT scales accounting for the same variance in GPA. Analyses of variance of AAT scores showed no sex differences, but highly significant main effects for experimental condition and level of scholastic aptitude. It was concluded that test anxiety is a unidimensional construct, and that the AAT is a measure of anxiety aroused by stress cues present during test taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic intrinsic motivation in elementary and junior high school students.

Investigated in 3 studies the significance of academic intrinsic motivation (AIM) for children's education. Ss for Studies 1–3 were 77 4th graders and 64 7th graders; 260 Ss in Grades 4–7; and 166 White middle-class Ss in Grades 5–8, respectively. Ss were administered an AIM inventory and an inventory of academic anxiety (AA). As predicted, AIM was found to be significantly and positively correlated with Ss' school achievement and perceptions of academic competence and negatively correlated with AA. Findings support the view that AIM is differentiated into school subject areas and is also a general orientation toward school learning. Relations between motivation and perception of competence and anxiety were differentiated by subject area, whereas achievement was more pervasively related to general motivation. Mathematics motivation, however, emerged as a unique predictor of mathematics achievement. The significance of AIM as differentiated into subjects and as a general orientation is discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variability in peer group perceptions: Support for the "controversial" sociometric classification group.

Examined whether there would be greater variability in children's perceptions of Ss in a controversial group than in their perceptions of peers in other sociometric classification groups. 480 3rd–5th graders nominated 3 same-sex children as best friends and 3 same-sex children as least-liked peers and rated each of their same-sex peers on 8 social roles and a liking scale. On the basis of the sociometric nominations, Ss were identified as being of popular, average, neglected, rejected, or controversial sociometric status. The 8 social roles were grouped to form 3 clusters labeled aggression, prosociability, and withdrawal. Ss were assigned variability scores that were the standard deviation of the ratings they received from their peers. Consistent with their sociometric classification, controversial sociometric group Ss evidenced higher variability scores on the liking ratings and on the withdrawal and prosociability clusters. In addition to providing support for the controversial sociometric classification, these results suggest the possible value of considering variability measures in conjunction with traditional cumulative or central tendency measures of sociometric status. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrinsic intellectuality: Its relations to social class, intelligence, and achievement.

Distinguishes between orientation toward intellectual behavior that is motivated by ulterior purposes (e.g., grades, material success) and intellectuality for its own satisfaction. A scale was devised that excludes instrumental attitudes toward intellectual pursuits and measures intrinsic intellectual motivation (IIM). Data were obtained on 455 high school sophomores testing hypotheses that involve the relations between IIM, SES, need achievement, intelligence, and sex. Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: High School Battery. Findings indicate a positive relationship between IIM and scholastic achievement, whereas need achievement showed no relationship. IIM was only moderately related to IQ and was weakly related to SES. No relationship was found between IIM and need achievement. When IQ was controlled, no relationship between IIM and SES appeared. Results show that IIM contributes significantly to academic achievement in addition to and independent of IQ. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral and sociometric methods of identifying cooperators, competitors, and individualists: Support for the validity of the social orientation construct.

Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic social orientation of 132 4th–6th graders was assessed using a behavioral choice point and a sociometric measure. The classifications based on responses to the 2 measures are consistently related, and results are interpreted in terms of the convergent validity of the social orientation construct. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's loneliness: A comparison of rejected and neglected peer status.

Administered sociometric and loneliness questionnaires to 200 3rd-6th grade children to assess feelings of loneliness in 2 subgroups of unpopular Ss—those who were sociometrically rejected vs those who were sociometrically neglected. Data on popular, average, and controversial Ss were also collected. One-fifth of the the Ss were from low SES families, one-third were from middle SES families, and the rest were from upper middle or upper SES families. Results indicate that rejected Ss were the most lonely group and that this group differed significantly from other status groups. Neglected Ss did not differ from their higher-status peers. Overall, findings provide evidence of the utility of the distinction between neglected vs rejected status and provide support for earlier conclusions that rejected children are more at risk than are other status groups. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An evaluation of the relative effectiveness of NCTM standards-based interventions for low-achieving urban elementary students.

The effects of 2 instructional methods, problem solving and peer collaboration, were evaluated for enhancing mathematics achievement, academic motivation, and self-concept of 104 low-achieving 3rd and 4th graders. Students were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 conditions: control, problem solving, peer collaboration, and problem solving?+?peer collaboration. Students in all conditions met twice weekly for 30-min mathematics sessions over a 7-week period. Results indicate that problem-solving students performed significantly higher than their counterparts who did not receive problem solving on measures of computation and word problems and reported higher levels of academic motivation, academic self-concept, and social competence. Students who participated in peer collaboration scored higher on measures of computation and word problems and reported higher levels of academic motivation and social competence than did students who did not participate in peer collaboration. No significant interaction effect was found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between types of aggression and sociometric status: Peer and teacher perceptions.

Examined the relation between aggressive behavior and sociometric status (the extent to which a child is liked by his or her peers) in third and fourth graders. 47 boys and 51 girls from a northern New England elementary school were given a group-administered peer rating of social status and a peer nomination measure assessing five types of aggressive behavior. Teachers of the same children were given modified versions of these measures. Significant negative correlations were found between social status and all categories of aggressive behavior for both sexes except provoked physical aggression in boys for which the correlation was not significant. Indirect aggression (tattling, stealing, or breaking others' property) was the type of aggressive behavior that correlated most highly with low peer ratings. There were significant differences between boys and girls on all five categories of aggressive behavior. Teachers' ratings of peer social status correlated more highly with boys' ratings than with girls' ratings, and teacher perceptions of aggressive behavior correlated significantly and positively with peers' ratings on only two categories, unprovoked physical aggression and indirect aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudinal and situational correlates of academic achievement in young adolescents.

Examined the relationship between academic achievement and various attitudinal and situational factors. Using the regression equation method, 660 male and female middle-class 9th graders were assigned to a high-, average-, or low-achieving group. The classification was based on the relationship between actual GPA and the GPA which would be expected from IQ level. Since this method defines academic achievement in relation to each S's intelligence, it resulted in 3 groups varying highly in academic achievement, but virtually identical in IQ. All Ss completed the Student Interest and Attitude Study. The items which discriminated between the 3 groups were subjected to factor analysis and 6 factors were identified. The levels of achievement in various academic subject areas were also examined separately and a consistent pattern of performance was found. The dynamics of academic achievement are discussed. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)