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Knowledge questions frequently are used in survey research to measure respondents’ topic-related cognitive ability and memory. However, in self-administered surveys, respondents can search external sources for additional information to answer a knowledge question correctly. In this case, the knowledge question measures accessible and procedural memory. Depending on what the knowledge question aims at, the validity of this measure is limited. Thus, in this study, we conducted three experiments using a web survey to investigate the effects of task difficulty, respondents’ ability, and respondents’ motivation on the likelihood of searching external sources for additional information as a form of over-optimizing response behavior when answering knowledge questions. We found that the respondents who are highly educated and more interested in a survey are more likely to invest additional efforts to answer knowledge questions correctly. Most importantly, our data showed that for these respondents, a more difficult question design further increases the likelihood of over-optimizing response behavior.

The Big Five personality traits are established predictors of school grades. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are not yet well understood. Effects of personality on grades might arise because behavioral tendencies facilitate learning and increase subject-specific competencies. Alternatively, personality effects on grades might be independent of cognitive competencies and reflect otherwise valued behaviors or teachers' grading practices. In the current study, we drew on large-scale data of 7th and 9th graders in Germany to explore the extent to which personality predicted grades even after accounting for competencies. Controlling for competencies and other key covariates, we cross-sectionally and longitudinally examined personality-grade associations across different school subjects, grade levels, and school types. Results indicate that the predictive power of personality is largely independent of subject-specific and general cognitive competencies. The largest effects emerged for conscientiousness. For openness, associations with grades partly overlapped with competencies, suggesting that openness may operate by fostering competencies. Overall, our results suggest that the associations between personality and grades unfold mostly independently of course mastery. This finding underlines the socioemotional value of personality in the classroom and encourages a more fine-grained view of the interplay between personality, competencies, classroom behavior, and grades.

The basic cognitive skill of numeracy is a recognized form of human capital, associated with economic and social well being for individuals and for nations. In this study, we explore how occupational complexity relates to proficiency in numeracy, among adults in full-time employment. We operationalize occupational complexity by constructing three measures of task complexity: complexity with data, complexity with people and complexity with things. Data from the international OECD survey of adult skills, 2012, is employed to investigate both the distribution of these three dimensions of occupational task complexity and how these relate to numeracy in 13 countries. The analysis indicates that data occupational complexity predicts numeracy scores, when controlling for age, gender and educational level. The findings open for a hypothesis that occupational activities may enhance basic skills in adult populations. If elaborated and supported through further studies this finding has practical implications for workplace organization and contributes to theoretical understandings of the development of basic skills in adults.

There is significant heterogeneity in actual skill use within occupations even though occupations are differentiated by the task workers should perform during work. Using data on 12 countries which are available both in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey and International Social Survey Program, we show that women use their cognitive skills less than men even within the same occupation. The gap in skill intensity cannot be explained by differences in worker characteristics or in cognitive skills. Instead, we show that living in a partnership significantly increases the skill use of men compared with women. We argue that having a partner affects skill use through time allocation as the gender penalty of partnered women is halved once we control for working hours and hours spent on housework. Finally, we do not find evidence of workplace discrimination against women.

With populations rapidly aging, the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly approaching or reaching retirement is important for successful aging at work and planning pension policies. However, few studies in this field focus on this age group. This study characterizes time trends in cognitive function among 55-69-year-old Europeans from 2006 to 2015, and compares these trends by region, gender, and education. This study analyzes 40,689 subjects in Waves 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) covering ten countries. Cognitive function was measured by Recall and Verbal Fluency. Educational levels were classified by quartiles. A Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model was used to explore the association between cognitive function and development over time after controlling for confounders. Further stratification analysis using GEE models was conducted, stratified by region, gender and education. Cognitive function improved significantly in southern and central Europe over the observed timeframe, whereas it did not in northern Europe. Those with relative low levels of formal education displayed the most rapid increases in cognitive function in southern and central Europe. Among those with lower education in southern Europe, males' cognitive function improved more quickly than females'. The improvement of cognitive function at ages 55-69 in southern and central Europe may contribute to continuing engagement with productive activities in old age. Educational interventions for people with lower levels of education may be most effective in achieving such engagement. This paper extends the literature on the development over time in the cognitive function among the elderly close to retirement age in Europe by analysing southern, central and northern Europe, as well as differences by region, gender and education. The results may provide evidence for planning pension policies and educational interventions.

Although it is widely known that reading plays a significant role in mathematics performance, it remains unclear how specific reading component skills and item characteristics are associated with adults’ mathematics performance. The aim of this study was to investigate reading component skills (printed vocabulary, sentence processing, passage comprehension), characteristics of mathematics items (picture/table, complex verb forms, number of prepositions, lexical density), and the possible interaction effects thereof on mathematics performance. The sample consisted of 368 German adults (age: M = 50.45; 59% female). Our results showed main effects on performance from adults’ reading component skills and item characteristics. Furthermore, interaction effects between passage comprehension and two item characteristics on mathematics performance emerge. Implications include enhancing adults’ reading component skills.

It is well-established that human capital contributes to unequal levels of earnings mobility. Individuals with higher levels of human capital, typically measured through education, earn more on average and are privy to greater levels of upward change over time. Nevertheless, other factors may have an incremental effect over education, namely cognitive ability and the skill demands of employment. To deepen insight into whether these aspects contribute to earnings mobility over a four-year period, the present study examines positional change in Canada and Germany—two contexts typified as examples of liberal and coordinated market economies. A series of descriptive indices and relative change models assess how different measures of human capital are associated with earnings mobility. The results indicate that, while individuals with higher cognitive skills experience greater earnings stability and upward mobility in both countries, there is only an incremental effect of skills on mobility in Germany once we account for educational credentials. The results also provide evidence on the role of skill demands for earnings mobility; in both countries, advanced skills at work are associated with greater short-term mobility, even while controlling for cognitive ability and other factors. Together the results showcase how longitudinal data containing detailed measures of human capital allow for deeper insight into what facilitates earnings mobility.

Research on school education is exceptionally active at present. This heightened level of activity is partly due to the realization that, compared to other countries, Germany knows very little about its school system. Before the results from the first cycle of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) were published at the end of 2001, for example, even the proportion of immigrant students attending German schools was largely unknown (Baumert and Schümer 2001). Although the situation has changed tremendously over the last 10 years, many questions remain open. One of the major research gaps pertains to how students' competencies and other aspects of educational success develop over time and across different stages of the education system. Similarly, information on factors shaping these developments is lacking. This is particularly the case for process factors within schools, classrooms, and families that affect student learning. Although considerable progress has been made in capturing cognitive competencies and skills, moreover, little is known about how they unfold over time. Also, the role "soft-skills," such as social competencies, play as determinants and outcomes of educational processes is largely unclear. To provide a basis for exploring these and other issues, it is necessary to make existing data sets available to researchers and to generate additional data sets with improved research designs and instrumentation.

Using an international survey that directly assesses the cognitive skills of the adult population, I study the relation between skills and unemployment flows across 37 countries. Depending on the specifically assessed domain, I document that skills have an unconditional correlation with the log-risk-ratio of exiting to entering unemployment of 0.65–0.68 across the advanced and skill-abundant countries in the sample. The relation is remarkably robust and it is unlikely to be due to reverse causality. I do not find evidence that this positive relation extends to the seven relatively less advanced and less skill-abundant countries in the sample: Peru, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Chile, Turkey and Kazakhstan.

In school choice problems, the widely used manipulable Immediate Acceptance mechanism (IA) disadvantages unsophisticated applicants, but may ex-ante Pareto dominate any strategy-proof alternative. In these cases, it may be preferable to aid applicants within IA, rather than to abandon it. In a laboratory experiment, we first document a substantial gap in strategy choices and outcomes between subjects of higher and lower cognitive ability under IA. We then test whether disclosing information on past applications levels the playing field. The treatment is effective in partially reducing the gap between applicants of above- and below-median cognitive ability and in curbing ability segregation across schools, but may leave the least able applicants further behind.

Hanushek et al (2015, ‘Returns to Skills Around the World: Evidence from PIAAC’, European Economic Review 73: 103) find a weak wage–skill relationship in countries with limited skill reward possibilities due to high union density, strict employment protection, and large public sector. If these factors also restrict employment possibilities and the incentives to join the labor market, a possible mirror image of the weak wage–skill relationship is a steeper employment–skill gradient. We use PIAAC data to estimate the employment–skill association, and the results for the whole sample of individuals give some indication that the employment–skill gradient is steeper in countries with strict employment rules and centralized bargaining. Our results for subgroups show imprecisely estimated employment–skill gradients for immigrants. For individuals with poor health conditions and low formal education, the estimated gradient is somewhat higher than in the whole sample in countries with high bargaining coverage, a large public sector, and centralized collective bargaining systems.

The assessment of cognitive abilities is critical in large-scale survey studies that aim at elucidating the longitudinal interplay between the individual's cognitive potential and socio-economic variables. The format of such studies calls for assessment methods which can not only be administered economically but also display a high (psychometric) measurement quality. In consideration of recent theoretical and empirical advances in intelligence research, we recommend the implementation of tests drawing on working memory in large-scale survey studies. Working memory is a limited-capacity system for temporary storage and processing of information and currently discussed to be the cognitive key system underlying intellectual abilities. Four types of working memory tests are exemplarily described and critically evaluated with regard to their psychometric quality and the need for further evaluation.

This article explores the consequences of public and private spending on education at all levels, looking at skills and income inequality. We use data for 22 affluent democracies from 1960 or 1995 (depending on data availability) to 2017. High levels of public education spending consistently lower income inequality, both measured as wage dispersion and as the education premium. In contrast, higher levels of private education spending are associated with both higher wage dispersion and a higher education premium. We show that this effect works in part through differential skills acquisition. Public education spending raises the math scores of 15-years old students at the mean and at the 25th percentile, but private education spending has no effect on skills at these levels. We find the same pattern among skills of adults; public education spending raises skills at the 25th percentile and the mean; private spending has no effect. Finally, we also show that higher levels of adult skills indeed depress the education premium.

This article scrutinizes critically a pervasive knowledge shaping contemporary sociopolitical relations and spaces - "problem-solving knowledge". It develops the argument that, as a governing knowledge, "problem-solving" is increasing in intensity and scope, with a range of negative and potentially dangerous effects. As a case study, the article examines how problem-solving knowledge operates in the OECD "skills" assessment programs PISA and PIAAC, with a particularly worrying connection between so-called "cognitive abilities" and labour market performance. It considers how this "turn to cognition", with its associated moralism, divides "citizens" into those who either can or who cannot solve "problems", producing "more productive" and "less productive" categories of people. More broadly, these programs illustrate how treating "problems" as self-evident referents is deeply depoliticizing, highlighting the importance of examining how governing takes place through problematization. Through tracing the emergence and functioning of "problem-solving" as a knowledge practice, the article encourages reflection on how problem-solving knowledge has come to be taken-for-granted as "truth" and on how it operates to limit political debate and to regulate political subjects.

Measures of cognitive or socio-emotional skills from large-scale assessments surveys (LSAS) are often based on advanced statistical models and scoring techniques unfamiliar to applied researchers. Consequently, applied researchers working with data from LSAS may be uncertain about the assumptions and computational details of these statistical models and scoring techniques and about how to best incorporate the resulting skill measures in secondary analyses. The present paper is intended as a primer for applied researchers. After a brief introduction to the key properties of skill assessments, we give an overview over the three principal methods with which secondary analysts can incorporate skill measures from LSAS in their analyses: (1) as test scores (i.e., point estimates of individual ability), (2) through structural equation modeling (SEM), and (3) in the form of plausible values (PVs). We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method based on three criteria: fallibility (i.e., control for measurement error and unbiasedness), usability (i.e., ease of use in secondary analyses), and immutability (i.e., consistency of test scores, PVs, or measurement model parameters across different analyses and analysts). We show that although none of the methods are optimal under all criteria, methods that result in a single point estimate of each respondent’s ability (i.e., all types of "test scores") are rarely optimal for research purposes. Instead, approaches that avoid or correct for measurement error - especially PV methodology - stand out as the method of choice. We conclude with practical recommendations for secondary analysts and data-producing organizations.

Lebensqualität hängt entscheidend davon ob, wie wir uns fühlen, welche kognitiven und emotionalen Ressourcen wir haben und wie wir uns mit anderen austauschen können. Diese Faktoren von Wohlbefinden und Lebensqualität gelten nicht mehr nur über die Lebensumstände bestimmbar, sondern zunehmend auch neurotechnologisch beeinflussbar. Mühelos lernen, alles Wichtige erinnern können, traumatische Erlebnisse vergessen, glücklich und kommunikativ sein - neue Generationen von Medikamenten versprechen es: Die kognitive Leistungsfähigkeit lasse sich verbessern und erhalten, Unglück und Schüchternheit könnten mit avancierten Antidepressive behandelt werden, Misstrauen wird mit Bindungshormonen beeinflussbar und sowohl Sozialverhalten als auch das Vergessen traumatischer Erlebnisse könnten neurotechnologisch (zumeist pharmakologisch) gesteuert werden. Auf der Ebene internationaler Wettbewerbsfähigkeit würde sogar der "Wohlstand der Nationen" zukünftig vom "mentalen Wohlstand der Nationen" abhängen, wie es vor einigen Jahren in der einflussreichen Wissenschaftszeitschrift Nature hieß. In dem Beitrag werden die unterschiedlichen Formen des aktuellen und zukünftig anvisierten Neuro-Enhancements dargestellt und diskutiert, welche sozialen und politischen Fragen auftauchen und was zur Zeit de-thematisiert wird. Hinsichtlich des Zukunftsbezugs werden kurzfristige sowie potentiell langfristige Konsequenzen auf individueller und auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene analysiert.

Der Beitrag für das Wörterbuch politische Bildung beschreibt die erwünschten Einstellungs- und Verhaltensweisen als abhängig von den Bildungseinrichtungen, der Motivation, kognitiven Fähigkeiten, der dispositionalen Faktoren, der Lernstrategien und der Unterrichtsgestaltung.

Evidence on the association of cognitive ability with economic attitudes is mixed. We conducted a meta-analysis (k = 20, N = 46,426) to examine the relationship between objective measures of cognitive ability and economic ideology and analyzed survey data (N = 3,375) to test theoretical explanations for the association. The meta-analysis provided evidence for a small positive association with a weighted mean effect size of r = .07 (95% CI = [0.02, 0.12]), suggesting that higher cognitive ability is associated with conservative views on economic issues, but effect sizes were extremely heterogeneous. Tests using representative survey data provided support for both a positive association of cognitive ability with economic conservatism that is mediated through income as well as for a negative association that is mediated through a higher need for certainty. Hence, multiple causal mechanisms with countervailing effects might explain the low overall association of cognitive ability with economic political attitudes.

The authors of the article have analyzed scientific research on the problem of the formation of cognitive readiness for educational activity in children with autism spectrum disorders of senior preschool age. It is noted that for children with autism spectrum disorders, a special approach should be applied with a focus on world standards and effective methods of correction and training should be developed. It is revealed that today the psychological and pedagogical correction of the development of autism does not have unambiguity and consistency regarding technologies and methods that would help to effectively overcome autism spectrum disorders and contribute to the effective preparation of autistic children for educational activities. The content of the concept of "cognitive readiness" is revealed as a prerequisite for the development of psychological characteristics and preparation of a child with autism spectrum disorders of senior preschool age for learning activities. The features of the use of correctional technologies to increase the level of cognitive readiness for educational activity of children with autism spectrum disorders of senior preschool age have been determined. It was revealed that the main condition for the formation of cognitive readiness for educational activity in children with autism spectrum disorders of senior preschool age is the use of ABA therapy technology, the TEACCH program, (PRT), PECS, sensory integration. It is revealed that the program (TEACCH, PECS) reflects a clear algorithm of actions, encourages mental operations; method (ABA-therapy) improves the stability of concentration, memory development, forms learning behavior; (PRT) promotes the development of motivation in a child with autism spectrum disorder of senior preschool age, self-management. The formation of imagination and perception of the surrounding world is carried out in the process of conducting classes with sensory integration. It is proved that the formation of co

Wer der Ungewissheit angesichts der Pandemie mit übermäßigem Konsum von Informationen begegnet, strapaziert seine kognitive Kapazität über Gebühr.

Low literacy among adolescents and adults worldwide remains a serious problem, even in economically developed countries. The consequences of low reading proficiency levels can be harmful in many ways for both the individuals concerned and their communities in terms of health, political, social and economic outcomes. While large-scale international assessments do assess reading proficiency, the data they provide for the bottom end of the scale are still somewhat undifferentiated. What is of particular concern to scholars and policymakers alike is to better understand the nature of reading difficulties among low-literate adolescents and adults. Addressing this need, the authors of this article present a new integrative process model which takes into consideration reader-related, text-related and task-related factors along different stages of the reading process that can cause reading difficulties. The process model incorporates different traditions of research on low reading proficiency: large-scale assessments, cognitive psychology, and research on developmental precursors of reading comprehension. It enabled the authors to identify core difficulty-generating factors, in particular task and text characteristics relevant in evaluating the difficulty of a reading task and thus in determining whether low-literate readers can solve it. The process model also proved suitable for incorporation into standard-setting practice. The authors demonstrate how the process model provided a framework for developing proficiency level descriptors (PLDs) which were then applied for the purpose of standard setting in a German large-scale assessment, the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Their results show that the PLDs were indeed suitable for differentiating between a low reading proficiency level and a functional reading proficiency level among adolescents and adults.

Migration and population ageing belong to the central challenges for the current and future Europe. Since 1985, the number of inhabitants in European countries who were born outside their country of residence has more than doubled. Besides, already by 2020, a quarter of Europeans will be over 60 years old. Both developments will have substantial impacts on numerous aspects of the European society. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this volume investigates one of the intersections between migration and ageing by putting the focus on persons aged 50+ who migrated at some point in their life and now grow old abroad. Until now, little is known about the long-term consequences of migration. In the three studies of his thesis, Stefan Gruber investigates in how far migrants are affected by having migrated with regard to two different outcomes: subjective well-being and cognitive functioning.

Beyond the many choices and challenges humans face during the pandemic lies a constant cognitive trade-off: Those who excessively absorb news against uncertainty run the risk of impaired cognitive functions.

As of summer 2019, more than 60 PIAAC datasets from participating countries worldwide were available for research purposes. These datasets can be differentiated, for example, in terms of their accessibility, the extent of the information provided, the population group in focus, and the design of the underlying study. PIAAC Public Use Files, for instance, are freely available and are therefore highly anonymised, whereas PIAAC Scientific Use Files are available only for scientific research purposes and provide access to more detailed variables. The majority of the PIAAC data are available as public use files, but some participating countries (e.g. Germany and the United States) have also made several scientific use files or other extended file versions available to the research community. Some of the available PIAAC datasets focus on specific population groups - for example, the incarcerated adult population in the United States. Regarding the design of the underlying studies, most available datasets are cross-sectional, but some longitudinal data already exist (e.g. PIAAC-L in Germany). The present chapter provides an overview of the structure, accessibility, and use of the PIAAC datasets available worldwide.

This open access methodological book summarises existing analysing techniques using data from PIAAC, a study initiated by the OECD that assesses key cognitive and occupational skills of the adult population in more than 40 countries. The approximately 65 PIAAC datasets that has been published worldwide to date has been widely received and used by an interdisciplinary research community. Due to the complex structure of the data, analyses with PIAAC datasets are very challenging. To ensure the quality and significance of these data analyses, it is necessary to instruct users in the correct handling of the data. This methodological book provides a standardised approach to successfully implementing these data analyses. It contains examples of and tools for the analysis of the PIAAC data using different statistical approaches and software, and it offers perspectives from various disciplines. The contributing authors have hands-on experience of using PIAAC data, and/or they have conducted data analysis workshops with these data.

This methodological book aims to summarise existing techniques for analysing data resulting from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The present chapter provides an overview of the programme, outlining its goal, the participating countries, the survey cycles, and the research questions that can be addressed with the available data. In addition, the structure of the textbook is described.

This chapter gives an overview of the most important features of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey as it pertains to two main goals. First, only a well-designed survey will lead to accurate and comparable test scores across different countries and languages both within and across assessment cycles. Second, only an understanding of its complex survey design will lead to proper use of the PIAAC data in secondary analyses and meaningful interpretation of results by psychometricians, data analysts, scientists, and policymakers. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the PIAAC survey followed by an overview of the background questionnaire and the cognitive measures. The cognitive measures are then compared to what was assessed in previous international adult surveys. Key features of the assessment design are discussed followed by a section describing what could be done to improve future PIAAC cycles.

Mit dem Forschungsbericht 30 werden vertiefte Erkenntnisse zu Geflüchteten aus der Befragung 2016 von insgesamt rund 4.500 Befragten vorgelegt, die im Rahmen der Großstudie "IAB-BAMF-SOEP-Befragung von Geflüchteten" von den beteiligten Kooperationspartnern erarbeitet wurden. Thematische Schwerpunkte des Berichts sind Sprachpotenziale und Bildung von Geflüchteten sowie methodische Aspekte., Research Report 30 reports detailed informationon refugees from the survey that was carried out in 2016 among a total of roughly 4,500 respondents, which was drawn up by the cooperation partners involved as part of the major study entitled "IAB-BAMF-SOEP Refugee Survey". The topics in the report focus on refugees’ linguistic potential and schooling, as well as on methodical aspects.