Noncognitive psychological processes and academic achievement

This book suggests that by focusing on non-cognitive psychological processes such as anxiety, confidence, self-efficacy, and self-concept, the education system may be in a position to improve school achievement.-It is becoming increasingly clear that these processes can have more of an impact on academic performance than can teachers, parents, or the school atmosphere. Since these psychological factors may be more malleable than cognitive processes involved in acquiring knowledge, a focus on students' self-belief is likely to be more effective than wide-reaching policy changes in the education sector. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Psychology.

Jihyun Lee is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, specialising in educational psychology, large-scale assessment, measurement, and quantitative research methods. She has worked as a large-scale test/survey developer at the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ, USA, and has previously held an academic position at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. At UNSW, she teaches assessment courses to pre-service and in-service teachers, and researches non-cognitive factors (especially self-beliefs and interests), and their impact on school achievement. Lazar Stankov is Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia. Among his most well-known research is the establishment of auditory ability in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of intelligence, the proposition of dual-task ability as part of human intelligence, the measurement of the relationship between confidence and ability, and the cross-cultural differences in social norms, social attitudes, personality, and conservatism. His recent work includes identifying the best non-cognitive predictors in students' academic achievement, and the development of psychological scales for young people prone to be sympathetic towards extreme militant mindsets.

Introduction - Quest for the best non-cognitive predictor of academic achievement 1. Confidence: the best non-cognitive predictor of academic achievement? 2. Juxtaposing math self-efficacy and self-concept as predictors of long-term achievement outcomes 3. The reciprocal relations between self-concept, motivation and achievement: juxtaposing academic self-concept and achievement goal orientations for mathematics success 4. Interaction between cognitive and non-cognitive factors: the influences of academic goal orientation and working memory on mathematical performance 5. Self-efficacy and achievement goals as motivational links between perceived contexts and achievement