No decline in the principle-based thought of 9-year-old schoolchildren between 1991 and 2001

Olev Must and Aasa Must

Intelligence, 2020, vol. 80, issue C

Abstract: An estimation of the Flynn Effect using samples of 9-year-old students from 9 countries (Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden and the USA) was carried out. We used data from the 1991 and the 2001 IEA Reading Literacy Study (N = 59,115). The items were categorized into Realistic (RT), Rule-based (RBT) and Principle-based (PBT) Thought scales, based on the theory of developmental cycles by Demetriou and Spanoudis (2018). Alignment optimization was used for the modelling. We controlled for two hypotheses: 1. The scores for the RBT and PBT scales would rise, but the scores for the RT scale would remain stable, or even decline. 2. The scores for the RT and RBT would rise, or remain stable, while the scores for the PBT scales would decline. Neither expectation was confirmed. In general, the scores rose in all the scales. The mean rise for the 27 cohort comparisons was 2.96 IQ points (ranging from −1.80 to 9.45 IQ points). The scores in the USA remained stable, while the RT score fell in Sweden. The change in test scores correlated negatively (−0.65 to −0.75) with the results of the initial measurement. The highest rises occurred in countries where the initial scores were low. Our finding did not confirm a decline in abstract thinking abilities in recent decades. The rise in test scores could be due to the nature of the test and to educational and societal changes that took place between the measurements.

Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intell:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0160289620300337

DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2020.101455

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