Research has established that academic intrinsic motivation, enjoyment of school learning without receipt of external rewards, significantly declines across childhood through adolescence. Math intrinsic motivation evidences the most severe decline compared with other subject areas. This study addresses this developmental decline in math intrinsic motivation, and also serves as a resource for applied researchers by providing exemplary illustrations of approaches to longitudinal modeling. Using a multivariate latent change model, the longitudinal relationship between academic intrinsic math motivation and math achievement among participants ( n = 114) aged 9—17 years was examined to explain this motivational decline. On average, both math motivation and achievement decreased over time. This study reveals that math achievement is a significant contributor to the developmental decline in intrinsic math motivation from childhood through adolescence. In addition, academic intrinsic math motivation was found to be related to initial and later levels of mathematics achievement. These findings enhance understanding of developmental processes whereby early motivation and achievement are related to subsequent declines in mathematics.

Results of a 10-year longitudinal study on the developmental-behavio ural signi cance of infant temperamen tal dif cultness are presented. A cross-time, cross-context methodology was employed using data from over 100 children participating in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study. Dif cult temperament was assessed at 1.5 years by mothers; behaviour problems were assessed by parents during the third year and annually from 4-12 and by teachers from 6-11 years. Temperamental dif cultness correlated signi cantly, pervasively, and to moderate magnitudes with parent reports of behaviour problems from 3.25-12 years. Additionally, analyses using clinical cutpoints showed that 1.5-year-olds deemed tem peramentally dif cult evidenced a greater frequency of elevated scores, speci cally, attention problems, aggressive behaviour, and thought problems (parents) and attention and thought problems (teachers). These data provide evidence for the ecological validity of parent reports of temperamen t and for a temperamental component in the development of childhood behaviour problems.

the fullerton longitudinal Study is a contemporary prospective investigation that spans approximately a quarter of a century. commencing at age 1, children and their families were systematically followed every 6 months from infancy through preschool and annually at ages 5 through 17. they were again assessed at age 24. the course of development for intellectually and motivationally gifted children was studied across a breadth of developmental domains including academic, cognitive, self-perceptions, temperament, behavioral, social, family/environmental processes, and adult educational achievement. Presented are the methodology and unique aspects of this research that contribute to the study of giftedness. Major findings regarding these two distinct dimensions of giftedness are presented, with some implications for practice and directions for future research.

No abstract

No abstract