Work complexity and cognitive functioning at midlife: Cross-validating the Kohn–Schooler hypothesis in an American cohort

In an influential body of work extending across more than three decades and drawing on data from the United States, Poland, Japan and the Ukraine, Melvin Kohn, Carmi Schooler and their associates have found that cognitive capacities are affected by experiences on the job; specifically, that working at a complex job improves cognitive functioning. These findings anticipate and parallel research on the relationships among social integration, leisure-time activities and cognitive functioning among the elderly. This paper tests the Kohn–Schooler hypothesis using different measures, models and data. Specifically, we estimate models of the reciprocal influence of work complexity and cognitive functioning at ages 53 to 54 and 64 to 65 among women and men who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. Even when adolescent academic ability test scores and high school rank have been controlled, we find moderate effects of the complexity of work on abstract reasoning ability at ages 53 to 54 (in 1993). These effects are similar among women and men and are robust to reasonable assumptions about the unreliability of measurement of adolescent academic ability. However, there were no such effects, either in 1993 or in 2004, among individuals who were still working at ages 64 to 65. Thus, the full set of findings provides only limited support for the Kohn–Schooler hypothesis.

Predicting Academic Performance and Retention Among African American Freshmen Men

To determine academic performance and retention patterns, 229 African American freshmen men at a historically African American, private liberal arts college in the Southeast were surveyed about their adaption to college using cognitive and noncognitive measures. Predictions generated by 14 independent variables were compared to the students’ actual academic performance (i.e., grades and academic probation) and retention (i.e., staying in school). Statistically significant relationships were between high school grades, high school rank, and several noncognitive variables and students’ academic performance and retention. Suggestions for admission, extended orientation programs, and increased faculty and peer support are discussed.

Using the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory Scores as Additional Predictors of Student Academic Performance

This study focuses on the usefulness of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) in predicting student academic performance. It examines whether LASSI scores enhance the accuracy of traditional predictors, namely SAT/ACT scores and high school rank. Findings indicated a slight, but not significant, increase in the predictability of student academic performance when LASSI scores, particularly the subscales of Motivation and Time Management, were considered along with traditional predictors.

Personality Traits of High Ability Students Choosing One among Three Different Learning Environments

Discriminant analysis was used to examine personality differences among science-oriented students of high ability who were studying in three different learning environments and a normative group. From 253 students in Grades 10 to 12 enrolled in The University of Iowa Summer Science Training Program data were collected. Personality was assessed by administering the California Psychological Inventory. Girls scored significantly higher on 8 scales (i.e., Dominance, Capacity for Status, Self-control, Social Presence, Self-acceptance, Achievement via Independence, Intellectual Efficiency, and Psychological-mindedness) than the norm. Boys scored significantly higher on 5 scales (i.e., Dominance, Capacity for Status, Achievement via Conformance, Achievement via Independence, and Psychological-mindedness) than the norm. Both sex and learning environment significantly affected the students' scale scores. High School Rank did not affect scale scores. Differences between the sexes were greatest in the structured formal classroom setting where girls rated higher than boys on 5 scales (i.e., Capacity for Status, Tolerance, Socialization, Achievement via Independence, and Femininity).

Academic Course Grades as Better Predictors of Graduation from a Commuter-Type College Than SAT Scores

High school transcripts of 400 college freshmen were randomly selected from an enrollment of 1990 students who entered an urban, commuter-type college in 1979. Those who were graduated four years later or who were still enrolled in good standing provided academic profiles in which the number of academic courses taken in high school was the best predictor of college success. High school rank was the second best predictor, while the high school grade point average was third best, and the SAT score, fourth. When academic courses were considered alone, the number of high school units passed in mathematics was the best predictor.

The Quick Test as a Predictive Instrument for College Success

Three forms of the QT (1, 2, and 3) were administered to a randomly selected sample of 42 black entering freshmen at a Midwestern university. Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and high school rank were also used as predictor variables for grade point average. The results indicated that the Quick Test provides a better prediction of first semester college grades than either high school rank or the aptitude test scores.