In a highly systematic literature, researchers have investigated the manner in which people make feature inferences in paradigms involving uncertain categorizations (e.g., Griffiths, Hayes, & Newell, 2012; Murphy & Ross, 1994, 2007, 2010a). Although researchers have discussed the implications of the results for models of categorization and…

The authors recently studied how well schools were teaching a a range of complex, higher-order skills. Their findings were grim. Out of 25 skills that researchers have found to be critical to success in life and work, just three were the focus of most instruction: recall, application, and (occasionally) analysis. Even when teachers explicitly made…

This study evaluated the inclusion of uncoded segments in the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, an analogue observation of parent-child interactions. The relationships between warm-up and coded segments were assessed, as well as the segments' associations with parent ratings of parent and child behaviors. Sixty-nine non-referred…

In perception, divided attention refers to conditions in which multiple stimuli are relevant to an observer. To measure the effect of divided attention in terms of perceptual capacity, we introduce an extension of the simultaneous-sequential paradigm. The extension makes predictions for fixed-capacity models as well as for unlimited-capacity…

Cutscores for reading and math (general outcome measures) to predict passage on New York state-mandated assessments were created by using a freely available Excel workbook. The authors used linear regression to create the cutscores and diagnostic indicators were provided. A rationale and procedure for using this method is outlined. This method…

Two experiments were used to investigate the scope of imitation by testing whether 36-month-olds can learn to produce a categorization strategy through observation. After witnessing an adult sort a set of objects by a visible property (their color; Experiment 1) or a nonvisible property (the particular sounds produced when the objects were shaken;…

Psychophysical reverse-correlation methods such as the "classification image" technique provide a unique tool to uncover the internal representations and decision strategies of individual participants in perceptual tasks. Over the past 30 years, these techniques have gained increasing popularity among both visual and auditory psychophysicists.…

Studies of when youth classify academic achievement in racial terms have focused on the racial classification of behaviors and individuals. However, institutions--including schools--may also be racially classified. Drawing on a comparative interview study, we examine the school contexts that prompt urban black students to classify schools in…

We present a data-based perspective concerning the recent "Maclean's" magazine rankings of Canadian universities, including cluster and other analyses of the 2007 and 2008 data. Canadian universities empirically resemble and relate to each other in a manner different from their formal classification and final rank ordering in the…

Background: Traditional disability categories may reveal little of the functional characteristics and social competence of a child. Objective: To compare the social competence of typically developing children, children with established disabilities and undiagnosed children identified by a functional approach to be in need of special support.…

In this article, I develop a perspective on learning as multilayered phenomena. I take a socio-genetic approach in order to understand human activity and to show how categories are a fundamental part of learning in a specific type of institutional practice. In the empirical section, student dialogue is analysed in relation to a set of categories…

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Revised Edition of the School Observation Coding System (REDSOCS). Participants were 68 children ages 3 to 6 who completed parent-child interaction therapy for Oppositional Defiant Disorder as part of a larger efficacy trial. Interobserver reliability on REDSOCS categories was moderate to…

This qualitative study examined how three teachers of upper elementary students used science vocabulary in their lessons. The data revealed that teachers used vocabulary to label science phenomena and interpret scientific concepts for students. The practice of labeling was used more extensively than interpreting. Teachers did not help their…

Collaborative learning is being used extensively by educators at all levels. Peer-led team learning in a version of collaborative learning that has shown consistent success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Using a multi-phase research study we describe the development of an observation instrument that can be used to…

The Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) was compared with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), and clinical classification in children with mild and moderate intellectual disability (ID), to investigate its criterion related validity. The contribution of the CSBQ to a…