Computational thinking (CT) is a fundamental ability for learners in today's society. Although CT assessments and interventions have been studied widely, little is known about CT predictions. This study predicted students' CT achievement in the ICILS 2018 using five machine learning models. These models were trained on the data from five European…

As stress in students has increased in the last years, factors predicting stress need to be investigated. The aim of the present study was to replicate previous findings using the demand-control model and to examine the role of emotional distress in a transactional model (inspired by Lazarus' transactional stress model). "Stress, mental…

We consider the proposition that reasoners represent causal conditionals such as "if John studies hard, he will do well in the test" as a causal model in which the antecedent ("John studies hard") is a potential cause of the consequent ("John does well in the test"). Some studies suggest that reasoners ignore…

A number of studies have found evidence for the so-called "ambiguity advantage," that is, faster processing of ambiguous sentences compared with unambiguous counterparts. While a number of proposals regarding the mechanism underlying this phenomenon have been made, the empirical evidence so far is far from unequivocal. It is compatible…

Conscientiousness and interest are well-known predictors of academic effort and achievement. As hypothesized by the Conscientiousness × Interest Compensation (CONIC) model, conscientiousness and interest can (partly) compensate for each other, leading to (comparatively) high effort if either conscientiousness or interest is high. The present…

Student success and drop-out predictions have gained increased attention in recent years, connected to the hope that by identifying struggling students, it is possible to intervene and provide early help and design programs based on patterns discovered by the models. Though by now many models exist achieving remarkable accuracy-values, models…

Though panel data are increasingly used in the social sciences, the question whether repeatedly participating in a panel survey affects respondents' attitudes and (response) behaviour is still largely unsolved. Drawing on a model of associative networks that is extended by assumptions on survey satisficing, we present a theoretical framework that…

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a change in liking of neutral conditioned stimuli (CS) following pairings with positive or negative stimuli (unconditioned stimulus, US). A dissociation has been reported between US expectancy and CS evaluation in extinction learning: When CSs are presented alone subsequent to CS-US pairings, participants cease to…

We perform two approaches of machine learning, logistic regressions and decision trees, to predict student dropout at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The models are computed on the basis of examination data, i.e. data available at all universities without the need of specific collection. Therefore, we propose a methodical approach…

Stimuli encoded shortly before an aversive event are typically well remembered. Traditionally, this emotional memory enhancement has been attributed to beneficial effects of physiological arousal on memory formation. Here, we proposed an additional mechanism and tested whether memory formation is driven by the unpredictable nature of aversive…

This study investigates the relationships between professional knowledge, self-concept, and interest of pre-service physics teachers. In order to support student learning and interest development alike, teachers need a profound professional knowledge and respective motivational orientations. Developing both professional knowledge and motivational…

The recognition heuristic (RH) theory predicts that, in comparative judgment tasks, if one object is recognized and the other is not, the recognized one is chosen. The memory-state heuristic (MSH) extends the RH by assuming that choices are not affected by recognition judgments per se, but by the memory states underlying these judgments (i.e.,…

Two main mechanisms, articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing, are argued to be involved in the maintenance of verbal information in working memory (WM). Whereas converging research has suggested that rehearsal promotes the phonological representations of memoranda in working memory, little is known about the representations that…

Experiencing the moral emotions of gratitude and moral elevation are responses to witnessing virtuous deeds of others. Both emotions have been found to share similar features and behavioral consequences, including the stimulation of personal development. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions indicates that gratitude and elevation…

Self-concepts of ability (SCA) and intrinsic task values (ITV) are key determinants of students' choice of study program and dropout. Both constructs are multidimensional (i.e., specific to curricular learning content) and hierarchically structured (i.e., aggregate into one or more higher-order factors). The present study investigated German…