Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Meijers, Huub
Author-Email: meijers@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT
Author-Name: Borghans, Lex
Author-Email: lex.borghans@roa.unimaas.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: ROA, University of Maastricht
Author-Name: Weel, Bas ter
Author-Email: b.terweel@merit.unimaas.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT
Title: The Role of Noncognitive Skills in Explaining Cognitive Test Scores
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.  
Classification-JEL: J20, J24     
Keywords: cognitive test scores, noncognitive skills
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2006
Number: 044
File-URL: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2006/wp2006-044.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2006044