Two longitudinal extensions of the classic internal/external frame of reference model (I/EM) have attracted researchers' attention in recent years: The reciprocal I/EM (RI/EM) describes the reciprocal effects between students' math and verbal achievements and self-concepts. The 2I/EM describes the effects of students' math and verbal achievement…

The present research extends recent work on the prediction of preschool language skills by exploring prediction from decontextualized vocabulary comprehension. Vocabulary comprehension was a stronger predictor than parent-reported production, yielding a quadrupling of variance accounted for relative to prior studies. Parallel studies (Studies 1…

Theories of multilingual language learning often assume that previous language learning experiences in at least two languages provide advantages for additional language learning. Other research emphasises the importance of general cognitive abilities as predictors of language learning. We test whether a set of predictions based on a multilingual…

The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) measures general intelligence and its two main components, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, each comprising of two subtests. The RIAS has been recently standardized in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain. Using the standardization samples of the U.S. (n = 2,438), Danish (n = 983), German (n…

In higher education, across countries, a large share of students choose to study economics. Although there is only a small difference in the share of female and male students in that field, there is robust empirical evidence of a gender gap in economic competencies, showing that male students in most cases outperform female students. There is a…

Recent studies demonstrate that emerging literacy depends on earlier language achievement. Importantly, most extant work focuses on "parent-reported production" prior to 30 months of age. Of interest is whether and how "directly assessed vocabulary comprehension" in the 2nd year of life supports vocabulary and kindergarten…

Using data from a survey on cognitive proficiency levels of first graders in Switzerland (N = 1.830), this study analyzes (1) who has access to institutional childcare, (2) whether institutional childcare affects cognitive skills of children who differ in terms of socioeconomic status, home literacy, native country, and home language, and (3) how…