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Children's writing ability: Effects of parent's education, mental speed and intelligence

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 21; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.lindif.2011.07.010

1873-3425

Heiner Rindermann, Christina Dimitra Michou, James Thompson,

Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills

Verbal ability comprises receptive (understanding) and active (producing) facets. While the first (e.g. as literacy in PIRLS and PISA) is frequently analyzed in its relationship to further cognitive abilities and parental attributes the latter is rarely investigated. The present study using data from N = 280 students aged 9 to 14 years investigated the dependence of active (expressive) verbal ability (by writing a free description of a painting: indicated by number of written words, number of seldom used words, correctness of grammar and orthography) on educational level of parents, number of books at home, mental speed (verbal, numerical, and figural Coding-Test), and psychometric intelligence (verbal, numerical, and figural CogAT). Path analyses found the strongest total ability effect for mental speed, the strongest direct effect for intelligence, both depending on educational level of parents and number of books.