Abstract
The present study documented in two distinct population-based samples the contribution of preschool fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities to school achievement in primary school and examined the mediating role of crystallized abilities in this sequence of predictive associations. In both samples, participants were assessed on the same cognitive abilities at 63 months (sample 1, n = 1072), and at 41 and 73 months (sample 2, n = 1583), and then with respect to their school achievement from grade 1 (7 years) to grade 6 (12 years). Preschool crystallized abilities were found to play a key role in predicting school achievement. They contributed substantially to school achievement in the early school years, but more modestly in the later years, due to the strong auto-regression of school achievement. They also mediated the association between fluid abilities and later school achievement in the early grades of school, with the former having modest direct contribution to the latter in the later grades. These findings are discussed regarding their implication for preventive interventions.
Funder
Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et Culture
Fonds de recherche du Québec Santé
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Canadian Institutes for Health Research
Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine
National Health Research Development Program
Université Laval
Université de Montréal
Université du Québec à Montréal
Ste. Justine Hospital’s Research Center
Gouvernement du Québec
Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation
Robert-Sauvé Research Institute of Health and Security at Wor
Institut de la Statistique du Québec
Canada Research Chair Program
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)