Performance on Matching Familiar Figures Test, classroom behaviors, and school achievements of elementary school children in Japan

Abstract

This study investigated ecological validity of Cairns and Cammock's (1978) MFF-20, a revised version of Matching Familiar Figures Test, as an instrument to assess reflection-impulsivity. Data of 162 first-grade and 177 fourth-grade Japanese school children were analyzed, and partial correlations were computed among the variables: two MFF-20 subscores (Impulsivity and Efficiency), teacher ratings of classroom behavior and school achievement. The last two were measured twice, over a two-year period, as criterion variables. The effect of intelligence, assessed with Kyoken Group Intelligence Test, was partialled out. Analysis of partial correlations showed that the Impulsivity score of the first graders had stronger correlations than their Efficiency score with the criterion valiables for thier first and second grades. On the other hand, it was the Efficiency score of the fourth graders that became more dominant, in terms of correlations with the criterion variables, which were assessed in the fourth and fifth graders.