Background and Aims: This study examined the effects of working memory training (WMT) on WM and fluid intelligence. A novel four-pronged model of mediated learning, cognitive functions, task characteristics and metacognition is presented as a conceptual basis for the Modifiability of a Working Memory Program (MWMP). Our basic assumption is that…

Background: Starting a study programme at an university, students are confronted with rising requirements regulating their learning processes and motivation. Both difficulties due to this regulation and the quality of instruction are associated with students dropping out from a study programme in the research. Aims: The purpose of this research is…

Background: In times of accelerating changes, teachers who proactively engage in activities towards school improvement and innovation are increasingly needed. Still, studies on factors that affect teachers' proactive behaviour are rare. Aims: Integrating previous research on proactive behaviour within the Job Demand--Resources (JD-R) Model, this…

Background: Self-regulation is crucial for children's learning and development. Several studies have explored children's inter-individual differences in self-regulation, but little is known about sources of intra-individual variation. Aims: This study addressed the variability of children's self-regulation across typical classroom situations and…

Background: Socio-economic status (SES) is a powerful predictor of attainment. Research has identified multiple mechanisms that underpin the effect of SES on attainment. For example, self-regulation (processes through which individuals direct and control their attention, emotion and behaviour) has been identified as one mechanism mediating the SES…

Background: Self-management of cognitive load is a recent development in cognitive load theory. Finger pointing has been shown to be a potential self-management strategy to support learning from spatially separated, but mutually referring text and pictures (i.e., split-attention examples). Aims: The present study aimed to extend the prior research…

Background: During self-study, students need to monitor and regulate mental effort to replete working memory resources and optimize learning results. Taking breaks during self-study could be an effective effort regulation strategy. However, little is known about how breaktaking relates to self-regulated learning. Aims: We investigated the effects…

Background: Self-regulation promotes engagement within the classroom. At a physiological level, a good indicator of the ability of the system to self-regulate is cardiac vagal tone (CVT). Aims: The present study aims to assess children's change over time (1 year) in their parasympathetic regulation (by way of CVT) in response to a social and…

Background: While previous research has emphasized the importance of personal beliefs (expectancy-value theories) for achievement-motivated behaviour, it lacks the integration of temporal factors that are also discussed as important drivers of achievement-motivated behaviour. Temporal Motivation Theory (TMT) combines both approaches in a…

Background: Implicit theories are important belief systems that influence an individual's motivation and behaviour. In academic contexts, domain-general implicit theories of ability (e.g., intelligence) and their relation to self-regulated learning (SRL) have been examined. Aims: In this study, we followed a domain-specific approach and first…

Background: Students are more effective when they employ appropriate strategies to regulate their learning processes and outcomes. However, many teachers do not provide, or provide very little, explicit instructions to promote this self-regulated learning (SRL). This suggests that teachers' belief systems may include beliefs that may be…

Background: To be successful, students must learn to deal with socially and cognitively demanding tasks. Much remains unknown about the effects of previous classroom experiences and of students' emotional appraisal of a task on their physiological adaptive responses to it. Aims: To investigate how children's physiological response to a social and…

Background: Performance assessment development is a three-phase process of (1) defining the construct of what is to be measured, (2) constructing the test items, task, and scoring criteria, and (3) collecting empirical evidence on extent to which they tap into the intended construct. Aims: In the light of the three-phase process, this pilot study…

Background: Adaptability regulates individuals' cognitive, behavioural and emotional responses to new, unexpected and uncertain situations, but to date no study has analysed whether adaptability contemporarily favours cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of learning. Aims: This study aims to address this gap by examining (i) the direct…

Background: Beyond ability, traits related to perseverance, such as grit and self-discipline, are associated with adaptive educational outcomes. Few studies have examined the independent effects of these traits on outcomes and the mechanisms involved. Aims: This study estimated parameters of a process model in which grit-perseverance of effort…