The Role of Noncognitive Skills in Explaining Cognitive Test Scores

27 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2006

See all articles by Lex Borghans

Lex Borghans

Maastricht University - Department of Economics; University of Maastricht - Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Huub Meijers

Maastricht University School of Business and Economics

Bas ter Weel

University of Amsterdam - SEO Economic Research; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Date Written: November 2006

Abstract

This paper examines whether noncognitive skills - measured both by personality traits and economic preference parameters - influence cognitive tests performance. The basic idea is that noncognitive skills might affect the effort people put into a test to obtain good results. We experimentally varied the rewards for questions in a cognitive test to measure to what extent people are sensitive to financial incentives. To distinguish increased mental effort from extra time investments we also varied the questions' time constraints. Subjects with favorable personality traits such as high performance-motivation and an internal locus of control perform relatively well in the absence of rewards; consistent with a model in which trying as hard as you can is the best strategy. In contrast, favorable economic preference parameters (low discount rate, low risk aversion) are associated with increases in time investments when incentives are introduced, consistent with a rational economic model in which people only invest when there are monetary returns. The main conclusion is that individual behavior at cognitive tests depends on noncognitive skills.

Keywords: cognitive test scores, noncognitive skills

JEL Classification: J20, J24

Suggested Citation

Borghans, Lex and Meijers, Huub and ter Weel, Bas, The Role of Noncognitive Skills in Explaining Cognitive Test Scores (November 2006). IZA Discussion Paper No. 2429, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=947088 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.947088

Lex Borghans

Maastricht University - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, 6200 MD
Netherlands

University of Maastricht - Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, MD6200
Netherlands

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Huub Meijers

Maastricht University School of Business and Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, 6200 MD
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://meijers.unu-merit.nl

Bas Ter Weel (Contact Author)

University of Amsterdam - SEO Economic Research ( email )

Roetersstraat 29
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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