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Level and accuracy of perceived competence
As children get older, it has been found, in studies of academia, that ability to assess competence grows, but actual perceived competence wanes (Stipek & Daniels, 1988; Stipek & Mac Iver, 1989). As such, because the greater ability to recognize the reality of abilities, competencies in various areas may decrease, but likely increase in others. Figure 2 below is a hypothetical model of the differences in perceived competencies over a period of time in one individual due to their increased ability to correctly assess their competency.
A few causes of this increased ability are: differentiating between effort and ability as a cause of success, shifting from authority evaluation to peer comparisons and evaluation as a source for judging competency, and changing social environments that occur as athletes begin getting segregated onto higher talented elite teams mimicking academic transitions as in moving from one school to another when changing grade levels (Horn, 2003; Stipek & Mac Iver, 1989).
However, Weiss and Williams (2004) cite a paper by Weiss and Ferrer-Caja (2002) where this uptick in perceived competence in academia is not shared when it comes to perceived physical competency levels (Feltz & Brown, 1984; McKiddie & Maynard, 1997). A child’s assessment of academic competency can be a private matter where only a few select people know the child’s competency based on personal grades. This is especially true as we see children move up from one grade level to another irrespective of the quality of the passing grade (e.g., A vs C). In athletics, the assessment is more public as it is obvious to more people who is, and who is not good enough to warrant promotion to a more elite level of competition (e.g., all-star team or travel team).
Notice in Figure 2 the steep drop in perceived competence in athletics at age 13. Oftentimes, youth athletes join all-star or travel teams where they recognize that the level of ability of the team members seems to be significantly better than previous teams. And, since the athlete is more likely to assess their ability against their immediate peers, the athlete may make a more accurate judgment, suggesting that they perceive themselves to be not as capable in the new setting. In some cases, the individual may simply stop engaging in an activity as in the case of the foreign language domain in my example.
However, Weiss and Williams (2004) cite a paper by Weiss and Ferrer-Caja (2002) where this uptick in perceived competence in academia is not shared when it comes to perceived physical competency levels (Feltz & Brown, 1984; McKiddie & Maynard, 1997). A child’s assessment of academic competency can be a private matter where only a few select people know the child’s competency based on personal grades. This is especially true as we see children move up from one grade level to another irrespective of the quality of the passing grade (e.g., A vs C). In athletics, the assessment is more public as it is obvious to more people who is, and who is not good enough to warrant promotion to a more elite level of competition (e.g., all-star team or travel team).
Notice in Figure 2 the steep drop in perceived competence in athletics at age 13. Oftentimes, youth athletes join all-star or travel teams where they recognize that the level of ability of the team members seems to be significantly better than previous teams. And, since the athlete is more likely to assess their ability against their immediate peers, the athlete may make a more accurate judgment, suggesting that they perceive themselves to be not as capable in the new setting. In some cases, the individual may simply stop engaging in an activity as in the case of the foreign language domain in my example.