Psychological Development and Education ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 449-461.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.04.08

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The Influence of Cognitive Ability on Academic Performance of Junior Middle School Students: A Mediated Moderation Model

LIANG Xingli1,2, HE Jin3, ZHOU Jijun4, LIU Pingping1,2   

  1. 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101;
    2. Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049;
    3. Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands 1081 BT;
    4. Yitai Education and Evaluation Institute, Beijing 100102
  • Published:2020-07-21

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Abstract: Academic performance has been widely known to be influenced by multiple factors, including cognitive ability, academic motivation and social support. However, the relationships between these factors and the mechanism under their effects on academic performance are still unclear. According to information processing theory, cognitive ability of students would promote the improvement of academic achievement. Based on self-determination theory, perceived social supports may influence learning behavior through academic motivation. However, it is still unclear how individual and environmental factors jointly affect academic performance. Therefore, the present study aimed to test a mediated moderation model to explore the impact of social support and academic motivation on the relationships between cognitive ability and academic performance. The present study, using cluster sampling approach, investigated 4,973 junior high school students in Yanqing District, Beijing. Students were required to complete cognitive tests (i.e., attention, memory and reasoning ability), social support (i.e., teacher-student relationship, friendship quality and parental support) and academic motivation. The mean of school testing measures on all participants in junior high school were used to represent academic performance. There were three main findings. First, in line with previous studies, cognitive ability, social support, and academic motivation were positively related to academic performance. Second, social support significantly moderated the association between cognitive ability and academic performance. The effect of cognitive ability on academic performance was stronger for students with higher social support than those with lower level of social support. Third, academic motivation mediated the influence of cognitive ability on academic performance, and the mediation was affected by social support. Specifically, the link from cognitive ability to academic motivation then to academic performance was stronger for students with high level of social support than those with low level of social support. The present study confirms the self-determination theory by providing evidences that the effect of individual factors (cognitive ability and academic motivation) on academic performance may vary in social environments with different levels of interpersonal supports. Our findings provide the understanding about mechanisms of the effect of cognitive ability on academic performance, and suggest the importance of supportive interpersonal relationships in educational practice.

Key words: cognitive ability, academic performance, academic motivation, social support, mediated moderation

CLC Number: 

  • G442
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