Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The study examined the influence of conditions of test administration upon shy children's performance on tests of vocabulary. Prior research had established that shy children differ from their peers not only in their use of language in routine social encounters, but also in formal assessments of their language development, including psychometric tests of vocabulary. This has been interpreted in terms of deficits in shy children's communicative competence. An alternative hypothesis is that shy children are more anxious when tested. The two hypotheses were tested within a sample of 9-10 year-olds by examining children's performance when they undertook tests either individually with an examiner or among their peers within the familiar classroom setting. Care was taken to remedy some shortcomings in the design of previous studies, for example in the identification of shy children. Shy children performed significantly more poorly in the individual condition relative to the group condition, providing support for the social anxiety hypothesis. A younger cohort of children (aged 4-5 years) completed the vocabulary and mental arithmetic tests, but differences between shy and less shy were not significant. Nevertheless there was a trend for shy children to perform less well than their peers in all conditions. These findings are of theoretical interest but also have practical implications for testing children, especially as the assessment of young children is increasingly common in schools.
Main Topics:
The data set includes the scores on tests of vocabulary and mental arithmetic administered to 320 children, 80 aged 4-5 years and 240 aged 9-10 years. Half of the children are identified as shy on the basis of teachers' ratings and half are chosen from the class register to serve as the comparison group. Data are coded for age and shyness and scores on teachers' shyness checklist items are included for all children. Items were submitted to reliability analysis and a total shyness score was generated for each child and included as a variable. Scores are provided for the 4-5 year-old children on two vocabulary tests and a mental arithmetic test, and also on standardised attainment tests that had been administered by teachers in class on a separate occasion. Scores are provided for the 9-10 year-olds on one vocabulary test and a mental arithmetic test, together with scores on standardised assessments of language and number administered in the classroom by teachers on a separate occasion. Children in this age cohort were given the vocabulary and mental arithmetic tests in one of three conditions: individually with oral responses; individually with written responses; as part of the whole class in the normal classroom, giving written responses. Eighty children, equal numbers of shy and less shy children, participated in each condition, and one variable carries information about the condition to which each child was assigned. Standard Measures Crichton Vocabulary Scale. Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised; NFER Progress in English; Cognitive Abilities test; Primary Reading Test; Suffolk Reading Scale; QCA (Qualifications & Curriculum Authority) Scales
Convenience sample
Convenience sample of schools - sampling of children is based on teachers' assessments and control group (children chosen of the same age and gender adjacent on the class register) as shy children.
Psychological measurements
Educational measurements
