Tested Gottfredson's (1981) compromise model by comparing the relative importance of sex-type, prestige, and interests under career preference and compromise choice situations using a policy-capturing paradigm with 37 participants. Found no support for Gottfredson's compromise model. (Author/ABL)

Investigates the links between adolescent risk-taking and personality, as conceptualized using the Five-factor Model of personality (N=459). Results reveal that risk judgments, personality factors, age and sex were significant predictors of risk behaviors; however, the personality factor of significance was found to differ depending upon the risk…

While Aboriginal children appear to be particularly disadvantaged in educational performance and outcomes, very little is known about the determinants of school motivation for this group. Commonly it is believed that Aboriginal girls perform better at school and continue longer than Aboriginal boys. This study examined the similarities and…

Frequency of participation and levels of interest in more than 60 leisure pursuits were measured by questionnaire administered to 1,248 Australian adolescent high school students. Sex was major predictor of participation in sports and vocational activities and of interest in sporting and gregarious activities. Age, school location, ethnicity and…

A comparison of 33 Australian adolescents with Down syndrome who did not receive early intervention services and 41 adolescents with Down syndrome who had received early intervention services found no significant difference between the two cohorts in cognitive functioning. Socioeconomic status, mothers' education, and gender were predictors of…

This study investigated the development of abstract mathematical thought and spatial relations of 13- and 14-year-old students who attended public schools in Australia, Japan, and the United States. Dependent variables included age, ability grouping, ethnicity, sex, mathematics attitudes, and mathematics classroom behaviors. Significant…

Academic achievement at age 16 was influenced more by achievement at age 14 than by affective variables. Affective variables included academic and occupational aspiration, parent expectations, school attitudes, sex, socioeconomic status, parents' education, and migrancy. (CP)

A study examined variables that might mediate the incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 20 Australian child witnesses (ages 6-12) to domestic violence. Results found PTSD was not mediated by maternal emotional well-being, age and gender of the child, or the child's style of coping with parental conflict. (Author/CR)

Support for learning, as perceived by 516 adolescents, was compared to data collected five years earlier on family characteristics, ability, achievement, and school attitude. Educational aspirations were related to parents' and teachers' support. Females' occupational aspirations were influenced by situational variables; males were also influenced…

A study investigated the extent to which 2 Australian college entrance examinations, sex, and field of study predicted first-year performance of 1,695 students entering the University of Western Australia. Results show that in some fields, students are being admitted with an unacceptably low chance of successfully completing the first year. (MSE)

The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to determine how well a broad, comprehensive battery of tests administered in kindergarten predicts reading achievement in elementary school grades 1 through 6. The test variables were reduced to six predictive factors by factor analysis, and these, together with the variables, Child's Sex and…

The reliability and validity of the Spotlight for Literacy screening test was tested by administration to Australian first-graders. Prediction was best for low- and high-achievement groups. In general, girls scored higher than boys, groups differed according to socioeconomic status, and children from English-speaking homes scored higher than…

Assessed the cognitive functioning and psychological well-being of women and men of 60 to 74 years, and 75 to 92 years, respectively. Delineated age and gender differences and identified individual differences that predicted memory. The intentional memory of women was more accurate than that of men. Education and gender, along with processing…

While some comfort can be taken from the figures which indicate a growing retention rate, there is considerable concern over the very large percentage of students who do not complete full schooling. In the first experiment in order to address the question of the differential effects of variables on school retention across a range of cultural…

A 1973 study of Australian high school students found males and higher achievers with higher occupational aspiration. Expected occupational destinations are more predictable than preferred ones. Further research into the processes of career orientations and the education-work transition is recommended. (Author/MSE)