Cognitive and Non-cognitive Predictors of Norm-Referenced and Everyday Math Performance in Community College Students

Both cognitive and non-cognitive factors are known to predict math outcomes, including language, working memory, spatial ability, math anxiety, and self-efficacy. While many studies have looked at these factors separately, few have examined how such skills work together to predict math. Additionally, most prior work focuses on children or university students, and little is known about the community college population. Most prior work also focuses on norm- referenced measures of computational math as outcomes, and much less is known about everyday math, such as financial or health numeracy skills often needed in daily life in adulthood. The present study evaluates the role of key cognitive and non-cognitive factors related to math ability, including their unique and interactive predictive effects, and whether these effects differ across norm-referenced and everyday math outcomes in community college students. It was hypothesized that each predictor would have a significant relationship with both math outcomes, that those relationships would be uniquely predictive, and that the predictors would interact with one another beyond their individual effects. Results showed that all cognitive and non-cognitive factors were significantly related to both math outcomes. Spatial Skill, Language, and Math Anxiety were uniquely predictive of both types of math performance. Working Memory was uniquely predictive of Everyday Math performance only, and Performance Expectancy was not uniquely predictive of either math outcome. Hypotheses regarding interactions of these factors were generally not supported. Overall, this study elucidates how key cognitive and non-cognitive factors are differentially related to everyday vs. computational math. Importantly, this study uniquely combines several key cognitive and non- cognitive factors, ultimately elucidating how expected relationships between math and it’s predictors differ when all predictors are considered together.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Boada, Cristina Elise 1997-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cirino, Paul T.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Woods, Steven P.
• Viana, Andres G.

• Clinical psychology

Language dc:language.iso

English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/19910

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/19910