This study of informal education examines traditional tailors' apprenticeship training in Liberia. The purpose is to compare and contrast a form of informal education with formal schooling. An examination was made of a group of one hundred tailors having all combinations of tailoring experience, from none to thirty years, and schooling, from none…

The sustained attention of 16 mildly retarded and 16 nonretarded adults was assessed during 2 60-minute vigilance tests differing in memory demand. Performance of retarded subjects declined more rapidly in later stages than did that of the nonretarded subjects. Implications for the study of memory load are discussed. (SLD)

This report summarizes the work conducted for the Artificial Intelligence Measurement System (AIMS) Project which was undertaken as an exploration of methodology to consider how the effects of artificial intelligence systems could be compared to human performance. The research covered four areas of inquiry: (1) natural language processing and…

Demonstrates the need for schools to clearly define diagnostic categories such as learning disabilities (LD). These LD students were considerably different from LD students in other studies. They performed on grade level according to the Wide Range Achievement Test, but significantly below their peers in actual classroom performance. (Author)

Normal and neurologically handicapped six year olds were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Form A, the Riley Preschool Developmental Screening Inventory-Designs, the Riley Make-a-Boy, and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Ability Designs. Significant differences were found between the two groups on all instruments. (Author/SJL)

Items showing sex differences on the revised Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) were studied. In a sample of 206 young adults (110 males and 96 females), 15 items demonstrated significant sex differences, but there was no relationship of item-specific gender content to sex differences in item performance. (SLD)

Two studies involving 274 Air Force recruits and 163 college students, respectively, investigated the relationship between priming effects and declarative knowledge acquisition within repetitive practice models. Individual differences in repetition-priming effects uniquely predicted learning differences relative to other cognitive measures.…

The relationship between test anxiety and performance on oral comprehensive examinations was studied, with special attention to the repressor phenomenon. Repressors are persons who report low anxiety, but are actually more stressed than are low anxious subjects, as evidenced on measures not relying on self-report. Subjects were 42 female graduate…

Results indicated that despite very high correlations between deviation quotients and traditional measures, changes of potential diagnostic significance occurred in scores of over half the sample (N=2,200). Discusses the potential utility of the factorially pure deviation quotients. Presents a table for translation of scaled scores into these…

The performance and career progression of a sample of 20,705 airmen were monitored throughout their initial tour of service. For comparative purposes, this sample was divided into high school graduate and nongraduate groups and further subdivided by Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFOT) mental categories. Points of comparison included:…

Forty-eight male and 54 female left-handed junior college students in Stockholm were grouped according to familial sinistrality and strength of handedness. Performance on computerized reaction time (RT), maze, and verbal ability tests was assessed. Sex was the only factor differentiating left-handers on RT, and no factors affected verbal ability.…

Results of a minimum competency test administered to ninth-grade students were evaluated to compare the performance of 723 students (345 males, 347 females, and 31 unidentified students) on content-specific and process skill questions. Subjects represented a random sample of students taking the Regents Competency Test in Science--a 70-item…

This study investigated the effect of diagram formats on performance on geometry items in order to determine whether certain examinees are affected by different item formats and whether such differences arise from the different intellectual demands made by these formats. Thirty-two experimental, multiple-choice geometry items were administered in…

Criterion-related validities of 2 laboratory practitioner certification examinations for medical technologists (MTs) and medical laboratory technicians (MLTs) were assessed for 81 MT and 70 MLT examinees. Validity coefficients are presented for both measures. Overall, summative ratings yielded stronger validity coefficients than ratings based on…

Data were collected to develop special norms for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABSs) for educable mentally retarded (EMR) and trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children. These scales currently report special norms for retarded adults. The study also sought to determine if the low to moderate relationship typically found between…