This study investigated the relational reasoning capabilities of older adolescents and young adults when the focal assessment was a verbal and more schooled measure than 1 that was figural and more novel in its configuration. To achieve this end, the verbal test of relational reasoning (vTORR) was constructed to parallel the test of relational…

Research indicates the need to further examine the dimensions of reading motivation. A clear theoretical basis is necessary for conceptualizing reading motivation and considering contextual differences therein. The present study develops and validates the SRQ-Reading Motivation, a questionnaire measuring recreational and academic reading…

For the international Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS2007) math and science motivation scales (self-concept, positive affect, and value), we evaluated the psychometric properties (factor structure, method effects, gender differences, and convergent and discriminant validity) in 4 Arab-speaking countries (Saudi Arabia,…

In their study about the Dr. Fox lecture, Naftulin, Ware, and Donnelly (1973) claimed that an expressive speaker who delivered an attractive lecture devoid of any content could seduce students into believing that they had learned something significant. Over the decades, the study has been (and still is) cited hundreds of times and used by…

This study investigated the relationship between emotional responses and reading performance in middle-school students. Although a large number of prior studies have investigated the relationship between emotion and reading, those studies have concentrated primarily on relatively static and distal measures of emotion. In this research, we measured…

Changes in the demands posed by increasingly complex workplaces in the 21st century have raised the importance of nonroutine skills such as complex problem solving (CPS). However, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of CPS, especially with regard to malleable external factors such as classroom climate. To investigate the relations…

This is the first meta-analysis that investigates the differential prediction of undergraduate and graduate college admission tests for women and men. Findings on 130 independent samples representing 493,048 students are summarized. The underprediction of women's academic performance (d = 0.14) and the overprediction of men's academic performance…

This study examined the discriminant and criterion-related validity of achievement goals in predicting academic achievement. Analysis of 151 studies yielded 172 independent samples (N = 52,986) with correlations among achievement goals and between achievement goals and academic achievement. The discriminant validity of achievement goals in the 2-,…

The present study introduced "agentic engagement" as a newly proposed student-initiated pathway to greater achievement and greater motivational support. Study 1 developed the brief, construct-congruent, and psychometrically strong Agentic Engagement Scale. Study 2 provided evidence for the scale's construct and predictive validity, as…

Innovative assessments of cross-curricular competencies such as complex problem solving (CPS) have currently received considerable attention in large-scale educational studies. This study investigated the nature of CPS by applying a state-of-the-art approach to assess CPS in high school. We analyzed whether two processes derived from cognitive…

Recently graduated university students from all Australian Universities rate their overall departmental and university experiences (DUEs), and their responses (N = 44,932, 41 institutions) are used by the government to benchmark departments and universities. We evaluate this DUE strategy of rating overall departments and universities rather than…

Existing research posits multiple dimensions of bullying and victimization but has not identified well-differentiated facets of these constructs that meet standards of good measurement: goodness of fit, measurement invariance, lack of differential item functioning, and well-differentiated factors that are not so highly correlated as to detract…

In the present research, a 3 x 2 model of achievement goals is proposed and tested. The model is rooted in the definition and valence components of competence, and encompasses 6 goal constructs: task-approach, task-avoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, and other-avoidance. The results from 2 studies provided strong support for…

Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,312) were analyzed to examine whether the adverse effects of early insensitive parenting on children's academic functioning can be offset by parents' later involvement in children's education. Observations of mothers' early…

The authors examined the differential effects of prior academic achievement, psychosocial, behavioral, demographic, and school context factors on early high school grade point average (GPA) using a prospective study of 4,660 middle-school students from 24 schools. The findings suggest that (a) prior grades and standardized achievement are the…