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Three methods for studying developmental change: A case of reading skills and self‐concept
Author(s) -
Aunola Kaisa,
Leskinen Esko,
OnatsuArvilommi Tiina,
Nurmi JariErik
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1348/000709902320634447
Subject(s) - psychology , reading (process) , construct (python library) , developmental psychology , set (abstract data type) , latent variable , statistics , mathematics , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , programming language
Aims: First, to introduce and compare three statistical methods for investigating development as a cumulative process: a simplex model, latent growth curve analysis, and clustering by cases. Second, to investigate the developmental dynamics of reading skills, and self‐concept of reading ability, across the first year of primary school. Sample: One hundred and five (61 boys, 44 girls) 6‐to 7‐year‐old children from four first‐grade classes in two primary schools participated in the study. Method: Children were studied three times during their first school year using an identical set of measurements: a Reading Skills Test and the Self‐Concept of Ability scale. Results: A uni‐construct ‘Matthew’ effect was found for the development of self‐concept, but not for the reading skills. However, the results showed that there was a multi‐construct cumulative cycle between children's reading skills and their self‐concept. Conclusions: Simultaneous use of variable‐ and person‐oriented methods in developmental research seems to be a valuable approach, which not only provides a proper way to investigate the cumulative developmental cycles but also an option to examine how large a proportion of the sample follows the positive and negative pattern found in variable‐oriented analyses.