| The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and cognitive skills, specifically working memory, cognitive fluency, and executive processes. The research question explored whether cognitive skills predicted the types of self-regulated learning strategies utilized during the learning process. It was hypothesized that cognitive skills would predict some of the variance within each self-regulated learning area, which included motivation, self-regulation of strategies, self-regulation of performance, and self-regulation of environment/resources. It was also hypothesized that both self-regulated learning behaviors and cognitive skills would be predictive of achievement, as measured by college GPA. Participants were 30 undergraduate students (19 women and 11 men) who were enrolled in an introductory Psychology course. Participants' mean age was 20.4 years, and mean college GPA was 3.47. Forty percent were freshman, 23.3 % were sophomores, 13.3 % were juniors, and 23.3 % were seniors. Self-report data were collected from the participants using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MLSQ) and an informational survey. Cognitive skills were assessed using selected subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJ III Cog). Results, generated using both correlational and regression analyses, revealed no significant relationship between self-regulated learning areas and cognitive skills. In addition, while results did not indicate a significant relationship between cognitive skills and college GPA, self-regulated learning skills were found to be significant predictors of the variance in GPA using a multiple regression analysis. Overall, these findings are consistent with previous research that has linked many self-regulated learning skills to higher academic achievement. The results of this study do not provide evidence of a relationship between specific cognitive skills and the use of particular SRL strategies. |
