Abstract
Large scale studies that have examined the correlates of the cognitive performance of children have generally concentrated on the use of global environmental predictors, such as social status characteristics, and they have ignored almost completely assessments of the affective characteristics of the children. In the present study, cognitive performance was examined by analysing a path model which included family environment variables, social status indicators, and a set of enabling conditions consisting of self-esteem, attitudes toward schoolwork and educational and occupational aspirations. Longitudinal data that were collected over a 4-year period for boys and girls were used to test the model. The sample included 2,400 English children divided into three age-cohorts with approximately 800, equally divided between boys and girls, in each of the cohorts.
Moderate to large percentages of the variance in the cognitive performance of the children were accounted for by the model, ranging from 46 per cent for the junior girls to 68 per cent for the senior girls. Analyses of path regression coefficients and path coefficients indicated that the cognitive performance of the children became more stable as the age of the children increased. However, even for the senior children, the environment measures and the enabling conditions were significant predictors of cognitive performance. The findings suggest that our understanding of individual differences in cognitive performance is likely to be enhanced if research is guided by the construction of statistical models.