Replication of a Research Claim from Seaton et al. (2010), from the American Educational Research Journal

The claim selected for replication from Seaton et al. (2010) is that larger BFLPE (big-fish-little-pond) effects were associated with students who used memorization to a greater extent. Students in high-ability schools who used the memorization technique to a greater extent suffered a larger decline in mathematics self-concept than those who used the technique to a lesser extent. Although all students who used memorization had lower mathematics self-concepts if they attended high-ability schools than students of similar memorization usage who attended average- or low-ability schools, the drop in mathematics self-concept was more pronounced for students who used memorization to a greater extent. This reflects the following statement from the paper's abstract: "Statistically significant moderating effects emerged in both areas; however, in relation to the large sample (N = 265,180), many were considered small." The claim was tested by regressing mathematical self-concept on predictor variables were individual mathematics ability (linear and quadratic), school-average mathematics ability, the moderator of interest - use of memorization studying, and the interaction of school-average mathematics ability with memorization. Due to the large number of tests of statistical significance being conducted, the significance level was set at p < .001. Effect size for the group-level construct of BFLPE was calculated using the equation shown on p. 406; effect sizes that approached 0.10 or greater were considered of interest. Use of memorization moderated the effect of school-average ability on mathematical self-concept (-.089, p < 0.001; see Table 3), with an effect size of -0.157 (see Table 4).