The Relationship Between Deductive Reasoning ...

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The Relationship Between Deductive Reasoning Ability, Test Anxiety, and Standardized Test Scores in a Latino Sample

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 33(2) 261–277 © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0739986311404020 http://hjb.sagepub.com

John D. Rich Jr.1, William Fullard2, and Willis Overton2

Abstract One Hundred and Twelve Latino students from Philadelphia participated in this study, which examined the development of deductive reasoning across adolescence, and the relation of reasoning to test anxiety and standardized test scores. As predicted, 11th and ninth graders demonstrated significantly more advanced reasoning than seventh graders. Error response patterns revealed a steady, age-related increase in the ability to use falsification strategies. Test anxiety was not related to reasoning performance. These results are discussed in terms of developmental theories of deductive reasoning. Negative correlations between deductive reasoning and standardized test scores for 11th graders are discussed in light of accountability standards required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Keywords reasoning, adolescence, test anxiety, standardized testing 1

Delaware State University, Dover, DE Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

2

Corresponding Author: John D. Rich Jr., Delaware State University, 1200 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, DE 19901 Email: [email protected]

Downloaded from hjb.sagepub.com at TEMPLE UNIV on December 5, 2015

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Introduction Despite recent theories emphasizing the important impact of culture and context on developmental processes (Cole, 1999; Cooper & Denner, 1998), psychological research using minority participants (Chapell & Overton, 2002; Fisher, Jackson, & Villaruel, 1998; Lerner & Galambos, 1998), is still very sparse. “In fact, the majority of studies published in the leading scientific journals of child and adolescent development have virtually ignored development within non-European, nonmiddle-class children and families” (Fisher et al., 1998, p. 1150). In addition to studying the effects of context on development in general, it is important to evaluate contextual effects on the development of thinking skills, particularly, the effect of ethnicity, and/or culture (Cole, 1999; Fiddick, Cosmides, & Tooby, 2000; Geertz, 1973; Goodenough, 1994; Sternberg, 1999; Sternberg, Castejon, & Prieto, 2001; Sternberg, Nokes, Geissler, & Wenzel, 2001; Zhang & Sternberg, 2001). Research on deductive reasoning is one area of research that has addressed the lack of representation of minority populations in cognitive investigations. Formal deductive understanding of an implication (“If p, then q”) requires the recognition that particular instances of the antecedent and consequent clauses of a sentence are either permissible, not permissible, or indeterminate, based on the concept of necessity. Deductive competence requires this recognition and coordination between permissible and impermissible instances. The studies on deductive reasoning that have involved minority participants have focused on African Americans (Bell, Brown, & Bryant, 1993; Chapell & Overton, 2002; DeShon, Smith, Chan, & Schmitt, 1998; Smith & Drumming, 1989), and only one of those studies (Chapell & Overton, 2002) examined deductive performance from a developmental perspective. In that study, the development of deductive reasoning was explored in relation to socioeconomic status, ethnic identity, and self-esteem in African American participants. To date, no studies have examined the development of deductive reasoning in the Latino population. The first purpose of this study, then, was to explore developmental patterns in deductive competence in a Latino sample. Further, all of the participants were from neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status. In their study of developmental progressions in deductive competence with a White, middleclass sample, Chapell and Overton (1998) concluded, “it is becoming increasingly apparent that by late adolescence this competence to reason in deductive fashion has been established.” This clear developmental progression in competence is consistent with the longitudinal study by Muller, Overton, and Reene (2001), which found increases in deductive performance and in the ability to


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coordinate more complex inferences with age. This present study examined the generalizability of those findings to a sample different in culture and socioeconomic status; namely, Latinos. A common measure used for investigating developmental progressions in deductive reasoning is the selection task (Muller et al.,2001; Overton, 1990). In the version most commonly used, participants are given a rule in the form of “If p, then q,” along with four cards representing the affirmation and negation of both “p” and “q.” Participants are asked to demonstrate their ability to understand the rule as an implication, and determine the degree to which each of the four cards is permissible or not permissible, given the rule. Specifically, given “If p, then q,” then the combination “p and q” is permitted, “p and not q” is not permitted, and “not p and q” and “not p and not q” are indeterminate. In addition to the evidence for an overall developmental progression in deductive reasoning ability, there is evidence of a similar developmental progression in the strategies used in approaching reasoning problems. Overton, Ward, Noveck, Black, and O’Brien (1987) and Foltz, Overton, and Ricco (1995) have argued that the ability to coordinate inferential schemes within a systematic network that emerges during adolescence is a prerequisite for the adoption of a falsification strategy and for recognizing the relevance of the not-q selection. This argument is supported by findings demonstrating that a falsification strategy does not emerge before adolescence (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958; Moshman, 1979) and by Muller et al. (2001) examination of adolescent response patterns. The second purpose of this study was to examine patterns of responses as well, with particular attention to the emergent ability to recognize the need for the not-q card in correctly falsifying the rules presented in the selection task. Some researchers (Chapell & Overton ,1998; Modgul & Modgul, 1983; Pulos, Stage, & Karplus, 1981, 1982) have noted that in any measurement of reasoning ability, effects of content and context produce unevenness of performance, based on factors such as the familiarity of the task (Overton, 1990), cognitive style (Brodzinsky, 1982; Flexer & Roberge, 1983; Roberge & Flexer, 1983, 1984), and various other mediating factors (Chapell & Overton, 1998; Muller, Sokol, & Overton, 1999). Therefore, the third purpose of this study was to explore the effect of one such mediator—test anxiety—on deductive reasoning competence. As Overton (1990) has stated, “Competence is not to be regarded as ‘mental representations’ that the adolescent thinker uses when he reasons, but are idealizations of the system of thought to which the ‘normal adult’ has access. Sometimes the access is good, sometimes poor.” Test anxiety has been shown in one previous study (Chapell & Overton, 1998) to be inversely related to performance on the selection task with a White sample. Zeidner’s (1998) work on test anxiety demonstrated the highest levels of test anxiety in


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the Latino population. If test anxiety is indeed a factor in deductive reasoning performance, the effect should be especially marked with this sample. Finally, in order to illustrate the practical value of performance on deductive reasoning tasks for educators, a fourth purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between performance and scores on the standardized TerraNova (seventh and ninth grades) and Pennsylvania State Standards Assessment (PSSA—11th grade) examinations. In summary, the primary goals of this study are to examine, with a Latino sample, the development of deductive reasoning across adolescence, to analyze changes in the adoption of falsification strategies (indicated by the proper selection of the not-q card in the selection task) across adolescence, and to explore the relationship of test anxiety to reasoning performance. We will also be examining the degree to which the selection task is a good measure of academic competence by assessing associations between performance on the selection task and state-mandated, standardized test scores. It is expected that reasoning performance improves during adolescence; that the ability to adopt falsification strategies in the use of deductive reasoning increases across adolescence; that test anxiety is negatively correlated with reasoning performance; and that performance on the selection task would be highly related to performance on the TerraNova and PSSA examinations.

Method Participants One hundred twelve participants (58 female, 54 male) in each of the seventh (n = 39, M = 12.8 years, SD = 8.4 months), ninth (n = 37, M = 14.8 years, SD = 10.3 months), and 11th grade (n = 36, M = 16.6 years, SD = 6.6 months) participated voluntarily in this study. The sample was entirely composed of Latino students, 100% of whom were Puerto Rican residents of the United States, drawn from a middle school and a high school located in the same neighborhood of a major eastern city. Although no survey data was collected about the participants’ self-perceptions, anecdotal evidence from teachers at the participating schools indicate that these students are from homes where Spanish is the primary spoken language. None of the students appeared to have difficulty understanding the directions, which were read to them in English. The percentage of students living below the poverty line was 86.5% for the middle school and 88.0% for the high school (Philadelphia School District School Profiles, 2003). Such a sample allowed for socioeconomic status to be held constant.


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The sample was not randomly selected, but was a sample of convenience including all students who wished to participate, and whose parents returned a permission form. While the level of interest was above 80%, the rate of return was 20.6%. The rate of return was low because there was a time restriction on when the parents’ permission forms could be received. Therefore, we were restricted to using participants who had expressed interest and returned permission forms before the deadline.

Design and Procedure Participants were administered a demographic sheet, including questions about age, grade, and gender. Administration was on an individual basis. Also, Overton’s (1990) version of the selection task, and the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI; Spielberger, 1980) were administered. The order of these two measures was randomly assigned to each participant. All measures were administered by the European American first author during school time in school classrooms. As mentioned in Chapell and Overton (2002), the possibility of unknown influences of researcher-participant effects should be acknowledged.

Measures Selection task. The selection task (Overton, 1990) is composed of a series of 10 conditional propositions. Formal deductive understanding of an implication (“If p, then q”) requires the recognition that particular instances of the antecedent and consequent clauses of a sentence are either permissible, not permissible, or indeterminate. The selection task requires this recognition and coordination between permissible and impermissible instances; thus, it is a valid measure of deductive reasoning. The validity of this measure is further supported by evidence showing a close relationship between deductive reasoning on Overton’s selection task and on other tasks (Foltz et al., 1995). Further, Rasch-scaling analysis (Muller et al., 1999) of Overton’s Selection task indicates that the task forms a unidimensional construct and that no more than two problems (e.g., the driving problem and the beer problem) could be accounted for by reasoning other than formal reasoning. Selection task test booklets were constructed containing 10 problems presented in the conditional “if p, then q” form, preceded by an instruction page and one warm-up problem. In each problem, participants were required to establish the logical conditions under which the rules presented would be broken.


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A general solution score, giving partial credit for partial solutions, was the first dependent measure. For each problem, participants received one point for each of the following: choosing “p,” choosing “not q,” not choosing “not p,” and not choosing “q,” yielding a total possible score with a range of 0 to 40 points across the 10 problems. The correct logical response to selection task problems is the selection of the “p” and the “not q” alternatives while not selecting the “not p” or the “q” alternatives. This selection combination, called the complete falsification solution, was used as a second dependent variable. A score of 1 point was given for each problem when this solution was selected, and 0 points were given for any other response. As established in prior research (Chapell & Overton, 1998; Foltz et al., 1995; Overton et al., 1987; Ward & Overton, 1990), a consistency criterion of six complete falsification solutions out of 10 problems was used to indicate the attainment of formal deductive reasoning competence. A final review of the selection task involved the response patterns demonstrated by participants. For each of the 10 items, for each participant, the response given was tallied in separate columns by grade, in order to determine any patterns consistent with each age group. Test anxiety. Median scores on the TAI were used to classify participants into high (N = 60) or low (N = 60) test anxiety groups. The TAI (Speilberger, 1980) is a self-report instrument recommended for use and widely used with college, high school, and middle school students (DeVito, 1984). The TAI consists of 20 items or statements (alpha = .90). Each statement is followed by a 1- to 4-point Likert-type scale where respondents indicate how often they have experienced the reaction to tests described in the statement, yielding a total test anxiety score ranging from a low of 20 to a maximum of 80 points. Test-retest reliabilities of r = .81 for 1-month periods are reported for the TAI (Spielberger, 2000). Correlations of .82 for males and .83 for females between the TAI and Sarason’s (1978) Test Anxiety Scale (TAS), another widely used measure, suggest that the 20-item TAI and the 37-item TAS are essentially equivalent measures, and offer evidence of the concurrent and construct validity of the TAI scales. TerraNova scores. The TerraNova examination, which was administered to the seventh- and ninth-grade students in this study, is a standardized test which has been created using data from over 149,000 students across every region, ethnicity, and gender in the United States. The test consists of three sections, measuring ability and knowledge in mathematics, reading, and science. Item difficulty values range from p = .20 to p = .80. The internal validity of the TerraNova was determined through intercorrelations with another standardized test, the InView examination. Test correlation patterns are consistent with expectations of convergent and discriminant validity. Further, alpha levels evaluating the reliability of the Complete Battery are very high (with composite


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scores ranging from .90 to .97), indicating that these tests are providing highly reliable measurement (CTB/McGraw-Hill, 2002, p. 176). PSSA scores. The Pennsylvania State Standards Assessment examination (PSSA), which was administered to the 11th-grade students in this study, is a standardized test which has been created for the purposes of classifying student ability in relation to grade based, State standards. The test consists of two sections, measuring ability and knowledge in mathematics and reading. Item difficulty values (p values) for the mathematic and reading sections for Grade 11 were .60 and .63, respectively. Such values indicate that the test was challenging to most students (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2003). Item calibration and scaling were done as part of the regular administration, and were based either on the entire state or on spiraled matrix forms. The spiraled forms had 10,000 to 14,000 students each, depending on the grade, chosen by sequential random sampling. These items from the spiraled matrix forms were therefore unbiased samples of the entire state and so would match the ethnic, socioeconomic status, and gender makeup of the state (R. Mead, April 20, 2003, Personal communication). The validity of this standards-based test was derived from the match of the items to the State standards and the match of the standards to instruction. The standards were developed and reviewed by PA teacher committees to ensure the match to instruction. The items are written, historically by PA teachers and PDE content specialists, to match the standards and undergo reviews by several committees of PA teachers before reaching the operational tests that determine student status (R. Mead, 2003, Personal communication). Item reliabilities, which represent point-biserial correlations between each student’s score on the item in question (0 = incorrect; 1 = correct) and the score on the total test, for math and reading for Grade 11 were both .41, indicating an acceptable level of item reliability. During construction, any item which performed poorly on these two analyses was eliminated from the test. Further, test-retest reliability coefficients for math and reading for Grade 11 are very high (with composite scores of .93 and .94, respectively), indicating that these tests are providing highly reliable measurement (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2003).

Results Prior to testing hypotheses, descriptive statistics were computed for the main variables for the entire sample, and disaggregated by grade (see Table 1). Additionally, ANOVAs were computed, examining for gender differences. None of these analyses found a significant effect for gender on any dependent variable.


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Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for All Variables

Age (years) Test anxiety TerraNova reading TerraNova language TerraNova math TerraNova science PSSA reading PSSA math Reading level General scores Falsifications

N

Range

Minimum

Maximum

M

SD

112 112 72 72 73 72 36 36 36 112 112

7 52 205 220 216 164 794 645 11 31 10

11 20 512 502 513 557 707 888 0 9 0

18 72 717 722 729 721 1501 1533 11 40 10

14.66 45.39 646.86 644.22 655.30 650.68 1108.03 1137.53 6.65 30.79 4.77

1.71 11.42 37.01 38.50 39.97 30.23 207.20 143.84 2.83 7.33 3.95

In order to test the main developmental and individual differences hypotheses, a 3 (Grade) × 2 (Test Anxiety) ANOVA, was computed on the general solution scores. The results of the ANOVA found a significant effect for grade. Post hoc tests showed that both 11th (M = 34.89, SD = 4.36) and ninth (M = 32.03, SD = 6.65) graders scored higher than seventh graders (M = 25.82, SD = 7.40). Test anxiety scores were not significantly related to performance on the selection task, nor were there any interactions between grade and test anxiety. To further test the main hypotheses, a 3 (Grade) × 2 (Test Anxiety) ANOVA, was computed on the complete falsification scores. The results of the ANOVA found a significant main effect for grade. Post hoc tests show that the 11th graders (M = 6.39, SD = 3.81) and ninth graders (M = 5.11 SD = 4.16) scored higher than seventh graders (M = 2.95, 3.14). Test anxiety scores were not significantly related to performance on the selection task, nor were there any interactions between grade and test anxiety. A further developmental comparison concerned the consistency with which participants in each grade gave the logically correct complete falsification solutions. Based on the consistency criterion of 6 out of 10 complete falsification solutions used previously to indicate the attainment of formal reasoning (Foltz, et al., 1995; Overton et al., 1987; Ward & Overton, 1990), 23.1% of seventh graders, 54.1% of ninth graders, and 72.2% of 11th graders were categorized as formal deductive reasoners, a developmental progression consistent with the findings of Ward and Overton (1990). A chi-square test was performed to test the significance of these percentages. The overall chi-square value (18.63) was significant at p < .000.


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Rich et al. Table 2. Percentages of Responses by Selection Combination and Grade Response pattern

7th

9th

11th

Total

P not q P, q P, not q P, q, not q other responses Total

8.2 7.4 25.4 29.2 1.3 28.5 100.0

21.6 4.1 8.4 50.8 0.0 15.1 100.0

3.9 15.8 8.3 65.3 0.0 6.7 100.0

11.3 9.0 20.3 47.9 0.4 11.1 100.0

Once this value was obtained, pairwise comparisons could be performed across grade levels without any concern that significant values would be the result of chance. These pairwise comparisons indicated that both the 11th (χ2 = 18.17, p < .000) and ninth (χ2 = 7.72, p < .005) grade contained more formal reasoners than did the seventh grade. The next research question concerns the patterns of responses given by students, by grade level. In a recent study by Muller et al. (2001), sixth and eighth graders were given a sample of problems from the selection task. An analysis of their response patterns showed that, of the 16 possible selection combinations, five garnered 85% of the responses: p; not q; p, q; p, not q; p, q, not q. Table 2 presents the percentages of responses for these five selection combinations. Across the entire sample, 88.9% of all responses were comprised of the five selection combinations. Once again, a steady developmental progression in the correct selection of the p, not q combination is evident. However, developmental progressions in deductive competence are also illustrated by the percentages of error response patterns across grade. The selection of the p, q error pattern, which simply reflects a student’s choice of the two cards which match the antecedent and consequent clauses, has generally been interpreted as a failure of logical understanding (Overton, 1990). In this study, this pattern decreases with age, especially between the seventh and ninth grades. Another error pattern, which was of considerable interest to Wason and Johnson-Laird (1972), is the p, q, not q pattern. This pattern represents an approach toward the solution, in that the student recognizes the need for choosing the not q card. However, the selection of the q card contaminates the solution. Another study (Pollack, Ward, & Overton, 1988) found an inverted U-shaped relationship across grade in choosing this pattern, with Grade 8 lying at the maximum on the curve. In this study, this response was too infrequent for comment. It could be argued that the selection of the not q card alone also represents a recognition of the need for the modus tollens to falsify the rule. This response


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Table 3. Correlations Between General Solution Scores and Subtests for Two Standardized Tests TerraNova Reading r = .067

PSSA Language r = .092

Math r = .161

Science r = .222

Math r = –.304

Reading r = –.394 (p < .018)

pattern found its highest point at Grade 11 (15.8%). Conversely, the selection of the p card alone, which could represent the most simplistic answer, found its nadir at Grade 11 (3.9%). Finally, the selection of other response patterns, which do not find a place in the research as logically coherent answers, steadily decreased with age. By Grade 11, students were less likely to be distracted by illogical patterns, and instead chose patterns which approximated or discovered the correct solution. While only 71.5% of seventh graders chose one of the five selection combinations under discussion, 84.9% of ninth graders, and 93.3% of 11th graders did so. The final analysis concerns the degree to which standardized test scores, which measure student academic ability, were related to performance on the selection task. As results for the general solution scores and complete falsification scores were so highly correlated (r = .88, p < .01), all analyses performed will utilize the interval-level general solution scores. As the school district which serves the students in this study administered different measures to different grades, separate analyses had to be conducted for the seventh and ninth graders (who took the TerraNova examination) and for the 11th graders (who took the PSSA examination). Table 3 presents the results of correlational analyses between the selection task and each subtest of the two standardized test scores administered. There were no significant correlations between TerraNova scores and general solution scores for the seventh and ninth graders. The correlation between the science subtest of the TerraNova and general solution scores approached significance (r = .22, p < .061). However, the correlation between PSSA scores and general solution scores for the 11th graders was highly significant. The correlation with the math subtest approached significance at r = –.304 (p < .07). The correlation with the reading subtest was significant at r = –.394 (p < .02). The direction of these correlations was the opposite of that hypothesized at the beginning of this study. Upon reflection, the researcher realized that the selection task did not require the Latino students to be able to read, as the items were read to them at administration. The PSSA examination, however, is an individual test which students complete quietly at their desks. Therefore, the negative


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correlations found might be due to the impact of reading level on PSSA scores, which would have been neutralized by the administration of the selection task. In order to test this hypothesis, reading levels were entered into the data matrix for the 11th graders only. The correlations between reading level and PSSA scores were .91 for the reading subtest (p < .01). This analysis was followed by a partial correlation, to determine the effect size for PSSA scores on general solution scores, after controlling for reading level. The partial correlation revealed that, after controlling for reading levels, the effect of PSSA reading scores was reduced from r = –.394 to r = –.076 (p = .664). Once reading levels were added, the PSSA Reading variable failed to be a significant predictor.

Discussion The results of this study lend further support to a developmental progression in deductive reasoning ability across adolescence. Further, the validity of the selection task as a measure of deductive reasoning has been extended to include the Latino population. Of seventh graders, 23% were consistently competent, formal deductive reasoners, while 54% of ninth graders and 72% of 11th graders were characterized as such. These percentages are slightly lower than those found in a White sample (Chapell & Overton, 1998) and slightly higher than in an African American sample (Chapell & Overton, 2002). A few caveats are in order. As each of these studies was cross-sectional in nature and occurred under different conditions, the comparison across the three studies is only suggestive of parallel effects. Future studies seeking to compare deductive reasoning ability across grade and ethnicity/race should utilize a sample which represents all three ethnic/racial categories in question. Additionally, a longitudinal study would be better able to analyze within-subject developmental progressions in reasoning ability. Finally, it is important to note that, due to the high school drop-out rates in the Latino community in Philadelphia, which are over 50% (Philadelphia School District School Profiles, 2003); the 11th grade subsample examined here could represent a more capable group of students than the seventh- and ninth-grade subsamples. A longitudinal study which could continue to administer the selection task to the same students, regardless of their continued attendance within the school district, would be able to evaluate developmental progressions which were not confounded by grade-related differences in academic ability. The analysis of error response patterns lends support to the findings of Muller et al. (2001). As age increased, so also did the tendency to select the not-q card, an indication of a developing awareness of the need to falsify the rule given. Other age-related trends include the following:


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1. The decrease in the selection of the p, q combination, considered a failure of logical competence, as the selection merely matches the wording of the rule (Overton, 1990); and, 2. The decrease in the selection of “other” response patterns which do not as easily conform to a logical combination. The older the student, the more likely they were to either choose the correct combination, or to choose a combination which represented a recognition of the need to falsify. These results seem to suggest the facilitation of access to deductive capacities with age. Piaget and Garcia (1991) suggested that the growth of reasoning ability in adolescence is constructed through active reflection on the results of the previous uses of logic. If this is so, then it is worth exploring the possibility that students can be taught skills in deductive reasoning (see Kuhn, Garcia-Mila, Zohar, & Andersen, 1995; Muller et al., 2001 for studies which suggest growth in reasoning abilities as a result of teaching or practice, respectively). A pre/ poststudy that examines whether deductive reasoning performance improves as a result of the teaching of reasoning strategies would benefit the causes of research and education. The results of the analysis of error response patterns also illuminate the need for researchers to provide participants in studies on deductive reasoning with opportunities to justify or explain their answers. As studies on the growth of reasoning are seeking to examine the full competence (see Overton, 1990 for a discussion on competence vs. performance) of participants, research which assesses the reasoning strategies employed in addition to the answers given, might offer a fuller picture of reasoning as a metacognitive phenomenon (Moshman, 2000), and give a more accurate portrayal of the process of growth in reasoning competence. Despite Zeidner’s (1998) findings of high test anxiety in the Latino population, coupled with Chapell and Overton’s (1998) finding that high test anxiety negatively impacts deductive reasoning performance, no effect for test anxiety was found. Given that the Spielberger instrument is a self-report measure, it is possible that the students in this study were more likely to dissimulate about their test anxiety. Future studies with Latino populations could examine the relationship between selection task scores and test anxiety as measured by Zeidner’s (1998) instrument. Finally, the analysis of reading level offers an interesting commentary on Overton’s (1990) argument about the performance-competence dialectic, which suggested that a person’s competence to demonstrate deductive reasoning ability is often mediated by other factors which inhibit performance


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(Brodzinsky, 1982; Chapell & Overton ,1998; Flexer & Roberge, 1983; Modgul & Modgul, 1983; Muller et al., 1999; Overton, 1990; Pulos et al., 1981, 1982; Roberge & Flexer, 1983, 1984). In this study, test anxiety was not found to be one of those mediating factors. However, the impact of reading level is suggestive of an inhibition of performance on the PSSA task with the 11th-grade students. Although the small sample size (N = 36) of the 11th-grade group does not allow for any statements concerning the impact of reading level on student ability to demonstrate cognitive competence, the results suggest that the PSSA test may be judging student competence unfairly. Students who do not have the prerequisite abilities to read and understand the material presented to them (in English) are not able to demonstrate the full range of cognitive abilities they possess. Although the purpose of the PSSA is to do more than measure deductive reasoning, the purpose of education is to create students who are not just repositories of knowledge, but also active thinkers, possessing nimble minds. If this is so, then the PSSA measure may be unfairly judging students on the basis of scores which block students with poor reading ability from demonstrating their cognitive potential. The deductive reasoning task analyzes a student’s ability to manipulate variables, consider hypothetical situations, and judge the consistency of information according to rules which are both externally and internally applied—see Moshman’s idea of epistemological constraints (2000). The selection task appears to be an adequate measure of student application of cognitive restraints. The removal of reading deficits in administration seems to allow students who perform poorly on written assessments, the opportunity to demonstrate their competence with cognitive tasks. Although test anxiety did not have a negative effect on performance on the selection task, reading ability did appear to inhibit access to academic competence on the PSSA test given to 11th graders. The current administration’s No Child Left Behind Act includes accountability systems which punish schools for failing to raise their students’ standardized test scores. The results of this study caution against such actions for schools with high Latino populations until research is conducted to determine the degree to which the PSSA requires reading ability to perform to their potential. The test may not be measuring academic ability, but academic ability mediated by reading deficits. In future studies, if reading deficits are found to negatively impact test performance, perhaps schools can be held accountable for raising reading levels, before they are judged on their students’ test scores alone. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.


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Funding The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Bios John D Rich, Jr. is associate professor of psychology at Delaware State University. His research interests include the use of experimental methodologies to investigate the effectiveness of educational interventions, and the study of learner-centered assessments and how they can transform assessment from tools for evaluating whether learning takes place into learning experiences themselves. William Fullard is a professor of educational psychology at Temple University. He received his AB from Haverford College and his AM and PhD from the University of


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Pennsylvania. He held a USPHS postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University. His recent interests include adolescent cognitive and personality development. He has published research on adolescent sexuality, adolescent parenting practices, and adolescent temperament. An active classical clarinetist, he founded and is principal clarinet with the Independence Sinfonia, a community chamber orchestra based in suburban Philadelphia. Dr. Willis (Bill) F. Overton is the Thaddeus Lincoln Bolton professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He has been editor of monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development; associate editor of developmental psychology, and board member of many developmental and cognitive-developmental journals. He is also a fellow of Divisions 7 (Developmental), 12 (Clinical), and 20 (Aging) of the American Psychological Association, and past president of the Jean Piaget Society. His empirical research has focused on cognitive development, and specifically the development of reasoning. His theoretical writings have examined the nature and impact of metatheoretical assumptions on concepts and methods in psychology, including analyses of the structure of developmental theory, the place of general systems in our understanding of development, the assumptive base of the nature-nurture debate, and the role of reductionism in contemporary developmental methodology.
