The study sought to examine the relationship between achievement and a number of variables shown to be associated with learning ability, including IQ, to determine their predictive effectiveness. Sixty-two first-grade black children were individually tested on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and tasks from three learning assessment strategies: (a) learning potential strategy using the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices in a pretest-coaohing-posttest format, (6) diagnostic teaching, and (c) paired-associate learning under three conditions designed to facilitate learning. IQ correlated moderately with achievement. In general, diagnostic teaching exceeded IQ in predictive effectiveness. Prospects for a more precise determination of the learning potential in young children were discussed.
Pat terns of occupat.ional choice and correlates of these patterns were investigated for black male inner-ci1.y high schtwl juniors and seniors. The pattern of occupational choice of the sample was distirictly different from the middle class, white normative sample of the occupat.iona1 scale and other select samples in t,hat the present subjects demonstrated more interest in artistic, health and welfare fields. Locus of control correlated significantly with one occupational category but generally was not a reliable correlai,e of occupational choice. Grade level was strongly related to positive choices. Implications for vocational counseling are discussed.What are the determinants of the occupational choice of a black youngster whose educational and cultural qilieu differs markedly from mainstream America? When we focus on this specific question, we find answers based primarily on inferences rather than research.Viewed from a sociological perspective, socioeconomic factors have emerged as a primary determinant of occupational choice. The claim has been made that the social structure, with its educational and occupational values, greatly influences the individual's achievement motivation. Caplow (1954) emphasized the tendency for children to inherit their parents' occupational level. Social class, he contends, provides the range of acceptable occupational opportunities from which a choice is selected. Sewell, Haller & Strauss (1957) provided empirical supp0j.t for the position that with the effects of intelligence controlled, "values specific to different status positions are important influences on levels of educational and occupational aspiration" (p. 73).The psychological approach to the question is quite different. While recognizing the importance of the social and economic structure, Blau, et al., (1956) argue that they merely impose limits within which the psychological processes operate. The logical outcome of this line of reasoning is an emphasis on the psychological characteristics of the individual. Super (1963) and Oppenheimer (1966) pointed out that occupational choices are strongly related to the individual's perceived self-concept. Korman (1966) isolated self-esteem as a psychological construct which operates strongly in the process of vocational choice. Despite the seemingly independent positions of the psychological and sociological approaches, their interrelationship seems evident in that an individual's position in the social structure often determines educational and economic opportunities which in effect shape the self-concept and general value orientation leading to occupational choice.The need to look at both sociological and psychological factors has been made more clear by Cosby & Picou (1973) and Duncan (1968). They have demonstrated that socioeconomic status had a greater impact on white than black adolescents' occupational aspiration levels. Such a finding suggests that the variable related 'The support of Mrs. Anita Slater, Counselor, School District of Philadelphia, is deeply appreRe...
Measures of height, weight, nonverbal cognitive ability (Ravens progressive matrix), visual-motor-perceptual ability (Beery-Buktenica test of Visual Motor Integration [VMI]), the imitation-of-gestures technique, and academic achievement (Stanford Early Achievement) were obtained for a sample of 82 children from a poor inner-city community. In contrast to prior reports from the United States and about other developed countries, anthropometric measures were related both to academic achievement and to these measures of neurodevelopment. They were not consistently related to measures of nonverbal cognitive ability. Regression analyses revealed that general cognitive ability contributed more variance (39%) to predictions of achievement than all other variables, including weight for age (13%) and VMI (6%). Children with reduced somatic growth were likely to do poorly in school, but the data do not show that undernutrition causes learning failure. Rather, they suggest that environmental problems affecting the development of thought processes and nutrient intake precede both growth and learning failure.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with đź’™ for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.