Thirty Years on--A Large Anti-Flynn Effect? The Piagetian Test Volume & Heaviness Norms 1975-2003
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| Title: | Thirty Years on--A Large Anti-Flynn Effect? The Piagetian Test Volume & Heaviness Norms 1975-2003 |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Shayer, Michael, Ginsburg, Denise, Coe, Robert |
| Source: | British Journal of Educational Psychology. Mar 2007 77(1):25-41. |
| Availability: | British Psychological Society. St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7DR, UK. Tel: +44-116-254-9568; Fax: +44-116-247-0787; e-mail: enquiry@bps.org.uk; Web site: http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/publications_home.cfm |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 17 |
| Publication Date: | 2007 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Secondary Education Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Psychometrics, Females, Males, Intelligence, Foreign Countries, Hypothesis Testing, Secondary Education, Regression (Statistics), Piagetian Theory, Student Improvement, Standardized Tests, Scores, Test Score Decline, Effect Size, Intellectual Development |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom |
| DOI: | 10.1348/000709906X96987 |
| ISSN: | 0007-0998 |
| Abstract: | Background: "Volume & Heaviness" was one of three Piagetian tests used in the CSMS survey in 1975/76. However unlike psychometric tests showing the Flynn effect--that is with students showing steady improvements year by year requiring tests to be restandardized--it appeared that the performance of Y7 students has recently been getting steadily worse. Aims: A sample of schools sufficiently large and representative was chosen so that the hypothesis of worsening performance could be tested, and estimated quantitatively. Sample: Sixty-nine Y7 school year groups containing pupil data on the "Volume & Heaviness" test and the University of Durham CEM Centre MidYIS test were located giving a sample of 10, 023 students covering the years 2000 to 2003. Method: Regression of the students' school mean on "Volume & Heaviness" on the schools' mean MidYIS 1999 standardized score, and computing the regression at MidYS = 100 allows comparison with that found in 1976. Results: The mean drops in scores from 1976 to 2003 were boys = 1.13 and girls = 0.6 levels. A differential of 0.50 standard deviations in favour of boys in 1976 had completely disappeared by the year 2002. Between 1976 and 2003 the effect-size of the drop in the boys' performance was 1.04 standard deviations, and for girls was 0.55 standard deviations. Conclusion: The idea that children leaving primary school are getting more and more intelligent and competent--whether it is viewed in terms of the Flynn effect, or in terms of government statistics on performance in Key Stage 2 SATS in mathematics and science--is put into question by these findings. |
| Abstractor: | Author |
| Entry Date: | 2007 |
| Accession Number: | EJ757587 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Background: "Volume & Heaviness" was one of three Piagetian tests used in the CSMS survey in 1975/76. However unlike psychometric tests showing the Flynn effect--that is with students showing steady improvements year by year requiring tests to be restandardized--it appeared that the performance of Y7 students has recently been getting steadily worse. Aims: A sample of schools sufficiently large and representative was chosen so that the hypothesis of worsening performance could be tested, and estimated quantitatively. Sample: Sixty-nine Y7 school year groups containing pupil data on the "Volume & Heaviness" test and the University of Durham CEM Centre MidYIS test were located giving a sample of 10, 023 students covering the years 2000 to 2003. Method: Regression of the students' school mean on "Volume & Heaviness" on the schools' mean MidYIS 1999 standardized score, and computing the regression at MidYS = 100 allows comparison with that found in 1976. Results: The mean drops in scores from 1976 to 2003 were boys = 1.13 and girls = 0.6 levels. A differential of 0.50 standard deviations in favour of boys in 1976 had completely disappeared by the year 2002. Between 1976 and 2003 the effect-size of the drop in the boys' performance was 1.04 standard deviations, and for girls was 0.55 standard deviations. Conclusion: The idea that children leaving primary school are getting more and more intelligent and competent--whether it is viewed in terms of the Flynn effect, or in terms of government statistics on performance in Key Stage 2 SATS in mathematics and science--is put into question by these findings. |
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| ISSN: | 0007-0998 |
| DOI: | 10.1348/000709906X96987 |
