Negative Contrast Effect Research Articles

Being a big fish in a little pond: student group composition, perceived academic standing, and young people’s academic self-concept

Upper secondary school students with a strong academic self-concept are more likely to complete their studies and thus increase their well-being in the future. Previous research on the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE) has thoroughly established the negative contrast effect of average group academic achievement on students’ academic self-concept. Many of these studies have been criticised for assuming the underlying social comparison without testing it. Here, survey and registered data from 1,047 Icelandic adolescents are used to explore the role of social comparison in the BFLPE. Models of hierarchical regression showed that students’ ideas about their relative position within their group of students mediated the effect of group average achievement on academic self-concept. This strengthens the assumption of social comparison being the underlying factor of the BFLPE. No assimilation effect between the type of school and academic self-concept was found. Implications for educators, school authorities, and policymakers are discussed.

A novel MRI-based tumor-targeting theragnostic agent: Magnetoelectric nanoparticles in an in vivo murine KRAS/P53 pancreatic flank tumor model.

3075 Background: Magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENPs) are a novel material with a magnetoelectric (ME) property that allows for conversion of an external magnetic field to a local electric field (EF) that can be exploited to generate a Coulomb force to target and electroporate the relatively non-polarized tumor cell walls. We hypothesized that their local EF and superparamagnetic cores can be exploited as an MRI-based anti-cancer theragnostic agent for solid tumors. Methods: 35 immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with KPC961 pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells in their flank. The 27 mice with the largest tumors at 4 weeks were randomized into 5 cohorts based on treatment: 300 µg of MENP (300; n=6), 600 µg of MENP (600; n=6), 300 µg of low-ME coefficient MENP (LM; n=5), 300 µg of MENP without M1 MRI (NM; MRI field control, n=5), and normal saline (NS; MENP causal effect control; n=5). The 300, 600, LM, and NS cohorts had T2 MRI maps (M0) on a 7T MRI. NM had T2 weighted MRIs at M0. All mice had a neodymium magnet placed over their tumors for 12 hours after tail vein injections (300 µl for all mice) for targeting. The 300, 600, LM, and NS cohorts then underwent MRI mapping (M1) after magnet removal (No M1 MRI for NM). MRI mapping was repeated 5 days after (M2). NM had a T2 weighted MRIs at M2. M1 and M2 data were used to assess relaxation time (contrast effect) and tumor volume from M0, respectively. Student t and ANOVA tests were used to compare differences for tumor volume and relaxation time data and one-sided Fisher’s exact test was used for complete response (CR) data. Results: The median M0 tumor volume was 109.6 mm3 for all mice, and there were no differences between any cohort ( p = 0.978; Table). The 300 and 600 MENP cohorts demonstrated a 102.7% reduction in volume (M2/M0; 56.7% vs. 159.4% for NS and NM controls, p = <0.001) and a 7.2% T2 negative contrast effect (M1/M0; 94.2% vs. 101.3% for NS, p = 0.046) compared to controls. Six mice in 300, 600, and LM (2 each) achieved a clinical CR (between 1 to 2 weeks after M1) vs. none in the NS and NM control cohorts ( p = 0.0418), without any recurrences until end of study (6 weeks after M2). Conclusions: This is the first report demonstrating the theragnostic effects of MENPs having both T2 contrast and locally ablative therapy properties as an in vivo tumor targeting agent. These results confirm prior pilot study and point towards irreversible electroporation as the likely mechanism of action (MOA) since the antitumor effect is not seen within the NM cohort. Additional studies characterizing the MOA, dose-response relationships, and immunomodulatory effects are needed to better understand their full clinical potential.[Table: see text]

Taste aversion learning during successive negative contrast

Previous experiments found that acceptance of saccharin by rats was reduced if they had prior experience of sucrose or some other highly palatable solution. This study tested whether such successive negative contrast (SNC) effects involve acquisition of an aversion to the new taste. In three experiments, rats were switched from sucrose exposure in Stage 1 to a less palatable solution containing a new taste in Stage 2. In Experiments 1 and 2, a novel flavor was added to a saccharin solution at the start of Stage 2. In Experiment 1, preference tests revealed a weak aversion to the added vanilla flavor in the Suc-Sacch group, while in Experiment 2 an aversion was found in the Suc-Sacch group to the salty flavor that was used, compared with controls given access either saccharin or water in Stage 1. In Experiment 3, the Suc-Quin group, given quinine solution in Stage 2, displayed a greater aversion to quinine than a Water-Quin control group. These results support the suggestion that taste aversion learning plays a role in the initial suppression of intakes in a qualitative consummatory SNC effect. However, in the light of other evidence, it seems that the unusual persistence of successive negative contrast when rats are switched from sucrose to saccharin is not due to a long-lasting reduction in the value of saccharin.

Switching from sucrose to saccharin: Extended successive negative contrast is not maintained by hedonic changes.

Previous experiments found that acceptance of saccharin by rats was reduced if they had prior experience of sucrose or some other highly palatable solution. This reduction in saccharin consumption was particularly extended after a switch from sucrose. On the surface, this seems to correspond to a successive negative contrast (SNC) effect. This term was coined by C. F. Flaherty to describe the situation where consumption of a target solution is reduced by prior experience of a more valuable solution, typically a more concentrated version of the target solution. However, SNC effects are normally transient and assessed relative to a nonshifted control. Here, we confirm that the reduction in consumption seen when shifting from sucrose to saccharin is persistent and is seen relative to the traditional unshifted control. In addition, an analysis of licking microstructure showed that the shift from sucrose to saccharin suppressed the hedonic value of saccharin relative to controls, but this effect was less persistent than consumption suppression. Interestingly, a similar dissociation is observed in extinction of conditioned taste aversion (CTA): suppression of consumption produced by CTA is far more persistent than suppression of hedonic value. The comparison of results across procedures suggests that persistent SNC produced by a qualitative downshift from sucrose to saccharin appears different from quantitative downshifts in the concentration of a single solution, and qualitative downshift effects may involve CTA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Achievement Emotions in Selective Schools: Reexamining the Happy-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in an Extreme Case from the Chinese Collectivist Context.

Achievement emotions, defined as the emotions generated in the academic process or by achievement results, are critical for an individual's mental health, personality development, and academic productivity. Referring to the well-known big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept, which describes the well-known phenomenon that students in selective schools/classes tend to have lower academic self-concepts than those who are comparably competent but attend regular schools/classes, Pekrun and colleagues focused on German students and proposed a similar happy-fish-little-pond effect on achievement emotions in 2019. In our paper, we examined whether this effect exists in extreme cases. To maximize the positive reflected-glory effect of being in a selective school and minimize the negative social comparison contrast effects that result from being ranked low in the school, we conducted an investigation in the Chinese collectivist cultural setting and compared the achievement emotions of students from a highly selective senior middle school with those of students from a regular school where the top-ranking students fell short of the bottom-ranking students in the selective school in terms of academic performance. Through an analysis of variance and a moderated serial mediation model, our study revealed that the bottom-ranking students in the selective school had less positive achievement emotions, lower academic self-concepts, and more negative achievement emotions than the top-ranking students in the regular school, providing strong evidence that students rely more on social comparison than on objective self-evaluation standards to evaluate themselves. The implications of the results for educational policies are discussed.

Evidence of successive negative contrast in terrestrial toads (Rhinella arenarum): central or peripheral effect?

Prior research with terrestrial toads (Rhinella arenarum) in a water-reinforced instrumental situation indicated a direct relationship between acquisition rate and reward magnitude. However, a reward downshift produced a gradual adjustment of instrumental performance and a rapid adjustment of consummatory performance, rather than the abrupt and transient deterioration of behavior typical of a successive negative contrast effect. In Experiment 1, using a two-chamber box, a downshift from deionized water (which supports maximal rehydration) to 250-mM sodium chloride solution (which supports a lower rehydration), also yielded a gradual adjustment of instrumental behavior. In this experiment, animals received one trial per day and were allowed 300s of access to the reward in the goal box. Experiment 2 used the same procedure, except that animals were allowed access to the solution in the goal box for 600s. Under these conditions, reward downshift led to longer latencies (instrumental) and lower rehydration levels (consummatory) than those of unshifted controls, providing evidence for successive negative contrast. Unlike in similar experiments with mammals, the effect was not transient, but persisted relatively unmodified over twelve daily postshift trials. In this case, the possibility of adaptation of the peripheral mechanisms for water uptake is considered. The comparative relevance of these results is discussed in terms of habit formation versus expectancy-guided behavior in vertebrate learning.

Angiopep-2-decorated titanium-alloy core-shell magnetic nanoparticles for nanotheranostics and medical imaging.

The poor permeability of therapeutic agents across the blood-brain barrier and blood-tumor barrier is a significant barrier in glioma treatment. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP-1) recognises a dual-targeting ligand, angiopep-2, which is overexpressed in the BBB and gliomas. Here, we have synthesized Ti@FeAu core-shell nanoparticles conjugated with angiopep-2 (Ti@FeAu-Ang nanoparticles) to target glioma cells and treat brain cancer via hyperthermia produced by a magnetic field. Our results confirmed that Ti@FeAu core-shell nanoparticles were superparamagnetic, improved the negative contrast effect on glioma, and exhibited a temperature elevation of 12° C upon magnetic stimulation, which implies potential applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hyperthermia-based cancer therapy. Angiopep-2-decorated nanoparticles exhibited higher cellular uptake by C6 glioma cells than by L929 fibroblasts, demonstrating selective glioma targeting and improved cytotoxicity up to 85% owing to hyperthermia produced by a magnetic field. The in vivo findings demonstrated that intravenous injection of Ti@FeAu-Ang nanoparticles exhibited a 10-fold decrement in tumor volume compared to the control group. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis of Ti@FeAu-Ang nanoparticles showed that coagulative necrosis of tumor tissues and preliminary safety analysis highlighted no toxicity to the haematological system, after Ti@FeAu-Ang nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia treatment.

The partial saphenous nerve injury model of pain impairs reward-related learning but not reward sensitivity or motivation.

Chronic pain is highly comorbid with affective disorders, including major depressive disorder. A core feature of major depressive disorder is a loss of interest in previously rewarding activities. Major depressive disorder is also associated with negative affective biases where cognitive processes are modulated by the affective state. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that reward-related learning and memory is impaired in rodent models of depression generated through a variety of different manipulations. This study investigated different aspects of reward-related behaviour in a rodent model of chronic pain, the partial saphenous nerve injury (PSNI). Using our reward-learning assay, an impairment in reward learning was observed with no difference in sucrose preference, consistent with a lack of effect on reward sensitivity and similar to the effects seen in depression models. In a successive negative contrast task, chronic pain was not associated with changes in motivation for reward either under normal conditions or when reward was devalued although both sham and PSNI groups exhibited the expected negative contrast effect. In the affective bias test, PSNI rats developed a positive affective bias when treated with gabapentin, an effect not seen in the controls suggesting an association with the antinociceptive effects of the drug inducing a relatively more positive affective state. Together, these data suggest that there are changes in reward-related cognition in this chronic pain model consistent with previous findings in rodent models of depression. The effects seen with gabapentin suggest that pain-associated negative affective state may be remediated by this atypical analgesic.

Successive negative contrast effects in a risk-sensitive foraging procedure.

Although a wealth of studies have evidenced successive negative contrast effects in instrumental or operant procedures, relatively few studies have determined if and how a sudden downshift in reward quality alters foraging behaviour. In light of research by ecologists and psychologists in the area of risk-sensitive foraging, this area would serve as an adequate framework to examine the effects of a sudden downshift in reward quality on foraging behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of the current experiment was to explore if and how a sudden downshift in reward quality altered risk-sensitive foraging in rats. Subjects chose between a variable and fixed option that returned the same mean amount of sugar pellets, but one group of subjects (i.e., contrast group) were downshifted from 100% to 20% sugar pellets, whereas an unshifted control group received 20% sugar pellets throughout the study. Consistent with past risk-sensitive foraging research where reward quality was manipulated, subjects in the contrast group displayed significantly more risk-prone choices when reward quality was decreased from 100% to 20% sugar. However, the change in choice was inconsistent with contrast effects observed in prior contrast experiments. In addition to choice behaviour, other behavioural measures (e.g., rejected food, latency to choice) were significantly different between the unshifted control and contrast group and across conditions in the contrast group (e.g., latency to choice and rejected food significantly increased when reward quality changed from 100% to 20% sugar). These findings revealed a contrast effect and were similar to past contrast studies where reward quality was downshifted. Thus, when foragers experience a sudden downshift in reward quality, they may display significant behavioural changes and, in turn, display a bias for patches that yield a greater reward quality despite potentially lower payoffs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Dimensions of sucrose solutions in the successive negative contrast effect

The consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) task typically involves administering food-deprived rats 10 daily 5-min sessions of access to 32 % sucrose (preshift) followed by a few sessions in which the concentration is reduced to 4 % sucrose (postshift). Such sucrose downshift leads to transient suppression of consummatory behavior. Reward downshifts were used to determine whether food-deprived rats treat sucrose solutions as food, because sweetness is a proxy for its caloric content, or as water, because a solution has hydration content. In Experiment 1, a cSNC effect was obtained in food-deprived animals, but not in water-deprived animals. This suggested that food deprivation focused attention on the feeding dimension of sucrose, whereas water deprivation focused attention on the drinking dimension of sucrose. Sucrose downshift results in a greater caloric change than in hydration content because both concentrations continue to provide fluid. Experiments 2 and 3 offered presession access to rewards either before preshift or before postshift sessions, respectively. Consistent with this attentional view, presession access to water (which should focus attention on the feeding dimension), but not to food (which should focus attention on the drinking dimension), suppressed consummatory behavior after a sucrose downshift. Presession access to food, like water deprivation, enhanced the hydration properties of the sucrose solution at the expense of its caloric properties. These results are consistent with an attentional hypothesis according to which the internal state, manipulated via deprivation or presession reward access, determines which dimension of the sucrose reward would control consummatory behavior.

Insensitivity to reward shifts in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and implications for assessing affective states.

Theory and empirical findings predict that individuals in a negative affective state are more sensitive to unexpected reward loss and less sensitive to unexpected reward gain compared to individuals in a neutral or positive affective state. We explore the use of sensitivity to reward shifts measured during successive contrast tasks as an indicator of affect in zebrafish (Danio rerio). In line with the assumption that exposure to rewarding stimuli induces a relatively positive affective state compared to exposure to stimuli that they do not prefer, we confirmed that zebrafish prefer enriched over barren environments, suggesting that the enriched environment is associated with positive affective states. We trained individuals to swim down a channel for food rewards of differing value and then presented them with unexpected increases or decreases in reward value. Contrary to our hypothesis, individuals conditioned to a high-value reward continued swimming at the same speed when reward value was downshifted, thus showing no successive negative contrast effect and appearing insensitive to reward loss. Individuals whose rewards were upshifted gradually increased their speed, but did not display successive positive contrast effects typical of sensitivity to reward gains. In both cases, housing type did not result in differences in swim time. One potential explanation is that goal-directed control of behaviour is necessary for an animal to show a successive contrast response to unexpected reward gain or loss, and the behaviour of zebrafish in this task was under habitual control, perhaps due to over-training. If so, refinements to task design and training procedures will allow further progress with this assay.

Assessing the External Validity of Successive Negative Contrast – Implications for Animal Welfare

ABSTRACTWhen unexpectedly switched from a preferred to a less-preferred food reward, non-human animals may decrease consumption below that when only receiving the less-preferred reward – a successive negative contrast (SNC) effect. SNC has been proposed as an animal welfare indicator, however, to be effective it should show external validity; being demonstrable outside of highly standardized laboratory settings. We therefore investigated whether the SNC effect typically shown in laboratory rats was observed in owned (pet) rats from heterogeneous non-laboratory environments. Subjects (N = 14) were tested in a consummatory SNC paradigm with solid food rewards. “Shifted” rats received a high-value reward for 10 days (pre-shift), a low-value reward for six days (post-shift), then one additional day of high-value reward (re-shift). “Unshifted” rats always received the same low-value reward. “Shifted” rats consumed more food during pre-shift and re-shift trials, but ate less of the low-value food than “unshifted” animals in the post-shift trials – a SNC effect. This confirms the external validity of the SNC paradigm, extending reproducibility to outside the laboratory, indicating translatability across contexts, thus enhancing its potential use as a welfare indicator.

Behavioural responses to unexpected changes in reward quality

Successive negative contrast (SNC) effects are changes in anticipatory or consummatory behaviour when animals unexpectedly receive a lower value reward than they have received previously. SNC effects are often assumed to reflect frustration and appear to be influenced by background affective state. However, alternative explanations of SNC, such as the functional-search hypothesis, do not necessarily imply an aversive affective state. We tested 18 dogs in a SNC paradigm using a patch foraging task. Dogs were tested in two conditions, once with the low value reward in all of five trials (unshifted) and once when reward value was altered between high and low (shifted). Following a reward downshift, subjects showed a SNC effect by switching significantly more often between patches compared to the unshifted condition. However, approach latency, foraging time and quantity consumed did not differ between conditions, suggesting non-affective functional search behaviour rather than frustration. There was no relationship between strength of SNC and anxiety-related behaviours as measured in a novel object test and a personality questionnaire (C-BARQ). However, associations with the C-BARQ scores for Trainability and Stranger directed aggression suggest a possible link with behavioural flexibility and coping style. While reward quality clearly affects incentive motivation, the relationship between SNC, frustration and background affective state requires further exploration.

Food or friends? What motivates zebrafish (Danio rerio) performing a visual discrimination

As a model organism, zebrafish have much to offer neuroscientific research and they are increasingly being used in behavioral neuroscience, for example to study the genetics of learning and memory. As fish are often considered “less clever” than mammals, it is important to understand how they learn and to establish optimal testing conditions. In this study, we compared the efficacy of food reinforcement and social stimuli in supporting Pavlovian conditioning, Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer, and acquisition of a two-alternative forced choice visual discrimination. Although equally effective in conditioning and in motivating discrimination learning, fish responded with shorter latencies when they were anticipating food but responded for a greater number of trials when anticipating the social stimulus. After learning, the reward was changed: food-reinforcement was replaced with the social stimulus and vice versa. Performance accuracy did not change, but response latency did: the group previously rewarded with food, but now rewarded with the social stimulus, showed a decrease in response vigor. This is a negative contrast effect, which is well established in rats, but was thought to be absent in fish because they lacked goal representation. Our results show that zebrafish, like rats, do have goal representations. Furthermore, we have shown that whereas food has greater incentive salience than social stimuli, fish become satiated rapidly, but motivation to seek social stimuli is sustained. We conclude that zebrafish are well motivated by a mixed economy of social stimuli and food.

Ammonium Bisphosphonate Polymeric Magnetic Nanocomplexes for Platinum Anticancer Drug Delivery and Imaging with Potential Hyperthermia and Temperature-Dependent Drug Release

Novel magnetite-ammonium bisphosphonate graft ionic copolymer nanocomplexes (MGICs) have been developed for potential drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, and hyperthermia applications. The complexes displayed relatively uniform sizes with narrow size distributions upon self-assembly in aqueous media, and their sizes were stable under simulated physiological conditions for at least 7 days. The anticancer drugs, cisplatin and carboplatin, were loaded into the complexes, and sustained release of both drugs was observed. The transverse NMR relaxivities (r2s) of the complexes were 244 s−1 (mM Fe)−1 which is fast compared to either the commercial T2-weighted MRI agent Feridex IV® or our previously reported magnetite-block ionomer complexes. Phantom MRI images of the complexes demonstrated excellent negative contrast effects of such complexes. Thus, the bisphosphonate-bearing MGICs could be promising candidates for dual drug delivery and magnetic resonance imaging. Moreover, the bisphosphonate MGICs generate heat under an alternating magnetic field of 30 kA·m−1 at 206 kHz. The temperature of the MGIC dispersion in deionized water increased from 37 to 41°C after exposure to the magnetic field for 10 minutes, corresponding to a specific absorption rate of 77.0 W·g−1. This suggests their potential as hyperthermia treatment agents as well as the possibility of temperature-dependent drug release, making MGICs more versatile in potential drug delivery applications.

A possible social relative reward effect: Influences of outcome inequity between rats during operant responding

Social interactions/situations have dramatic influences on motivation. Creating animal models examining these influences promotes a better understanding of the psychological and biological underpinnings of social motivation. Rodents are sensitive to social history/experience during associative conditioning and food-sharing tasks. Would reward-oriented operant behavior be sensitive to social influences by showing a negative contrast-like effect when another organism obtains a greater value outcome? We used a side-by-side arrangement of operant response chambers wherein one animal obtained consistently high reward signaled by a discrete cue. The neighboring, experimental rat experienced different combinations of high and low reward trial sequences. Control conditions included distraction from a conspecific in the neighboring chamber (rat distractor) or cue/food dispenser operating without a conspecific (program distractor) in addition to testing subjects alone. Results support an influence of the other animal actively performing the task on the experimental subject’s behavior. Primarily, responding was significantly slower for the low reward trials while the neighboring rat was receiving the higher magnitude reward. The lever-press and not food-cup retrieval latency was significantly slower during exposure to a conspecific neighbor performing the operant task. The effect was not obtained in all session sequences and was more pronounced using longer series of consecutive low reward trials. The slowing effect was also obtained with the program-distractor experience in a different trial sequence. These findings suggest a social-induced negative incentive contrast effect in rats possibly mediated by an outcome inequity process that could have key similarities to complex situational-affective effects on motivation involving frustration or jealously.

Dissociating the effects of alternative early-life feeding schedules on the development of adult depression-like phenotypes

Early-life adversity is associated with increased vulnerability to depression in humans, and depression-like phenotypes in animals. However, different types of adverse experience may leave different signatures in adulthood. We experimentally manipulated the Amount of food delivered to European starling nestlings and the begging Effort required to obtain food during early development. Here, we report behavioural data in adulthood from a task that assessed sensitivity to shifts in reward magnitude characteristic of depression-like low mood. Birds that had experienced Hard Effort were more food motivated than birds that had experienced Easy Effort. Both Effort and Amount affected sensitivity to shifts in reward magnitude: Hard Effort birds showed an enhanced negative contrast effect following loss of reward (‘disappointment’), and Lean Amount birds failed to show a normal positive contrast effect following gain in reward (a lack of ‘elation’). Therefore, the feeding schedule experienced for just 10 days in early life caused enduring effects on feeding motivation and sensitivity to reward loss/gain consistent with human depression. Furthermore, the contrast effects were specific to different types of adversity. These results highlight the importance of early-life feeding schedules in the development of depression-like phenotypes.

Hedonic contrast effects in multi-product food evaluations differing in complexity

To satisfy budgetary requirements there is often a need to test multiple flavored products at the same time, thereby inducing contrast effects to the research results. This paper discusses the results of a series of hedonic tests carried out at ACCE International, each involving multi-flavored product evaluations with a sequential monadic design, and representing five different food categories: soy beverages, cereals, potato chip snacks, dessert puddings and salad dressings. In order to investigate the hedonic contrast effect, products representing different levels and character of flavoring were tested together in one test in two possible configurations: plain with flavored products and flavored with flavored products. The authors found a negative contrast effect on sensory acceptability testing when plain and flavored products were tested in one session. Specifically, when a plain product was presented after a flavored product, the plain product received significantly lower acceptability ratings than when it was presented before the flavored product. A positive contrast effect was observed for the flavored product when it was presented after the plain product, resulting in an increased acceptability score for the flavored product however, the effect was small. When two flavored products were tested together the results were less consistent. One category (puddings) showed no contrast effect, whereas two other categories (chips and salad dressing) both displayed a negative contrast effect.Emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of dealing with multi-flavor product testing including recommendations for test design optimization in commercial studies.

Perceived relative standing and the big-fish-little-pond effect in 59 countries and regions: Analysis of TIMSS 2011 data

This study used data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2011 to examine the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) in eighth grade mathematics in 59 countries/regions. The BFLPE refers to the negative contrast effect of achievement on academic self-concept resulting from students comparing their ability to the average ability in their immediate context; students in higher-achieving contexts have lower average self-concept than similarly able students in lower-achieving contexts. Earlier research showed that controlling for students' perceived relative standing (how competent they perceive themselves compared to classmates) eliminates or reduces the BFLPE. However, little research has demonstrated the generalizability of this effect. Using the multilevel latent variable approach and large-scale assessment data, this study applied three statistical models. In the first model, measurement invariance of mathematics self-concept was assessed across countries/regions and across student and classroom levels within each country/region. In the second model, the BFLPE model was tested. The BFLPE was found in 58 countries/regions, with the Syrian Arab Republic being the only exception. In the third model, a perceived relative standing measure was added as a predictor at the within level to test whether perceived relative standing would eliminate or reduce the BFLPE. Results showed that the BFLPE was eliminated in six countries/regions and reduced in 49 countries/regions.

The role of academic ability indicators in big-fish-little-pond effect research: A comparison study

ABSTRACTThe authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic ability in BFLPE research. The sample comprised 730 sixth-grade students from 30 classes belonging to the top track of the German secondary high school system. Using multilevel models, all indicators of academic ability exhibited negative contrast effects on ASC at class level (i.e., BFLPE). The authors found the strongest effects for corrected grades, followed by achievement tests, cognitive ability, and, finally, uncorrected grades. Thus, the study provides evidence for the usage of grades within BFLPE research for investigating the BFLPE.