Cognitive diagnostic models can uncover students' mastery of multiple fine-grained skill attributes or problem-solving processes. A number of studies have applied cognitive diagnostic models to detect students' knowledge mastery in mathematics and language testing. However, few studies focus on cognitive diagnostic assessment in K-12 science…

Background: Social perception is an important skill. One assessment that is commonly used to assess social perception abilities is The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). The only normative data available for this test are for Australian younger adults. Despite no normative data being available for British adults, the test is widely used…

In the past decades, income inequality has risen in most developed countries. There is growing interest among economists in international comparisons of economic and educational mobility. This is aided by the availability of internationally comparable, large-scale data. The present paper aims to make three contributions. First, we introduce the…

This descriptive pilot study examined the cultural differences in the dimensions of self-reported anger in Indigenous and non-Indigenous (Caucasian) students aged 10-13 years in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Multidimensional School Anger Inventory-Revised (MSAI-R) (Boman, Curtis, Furlong, & Smith, 2006) was used to measure affective,…

Recent spatial cuing studies have shown that detection sensitivity can be increased by the allocation of attention. This increase has been attributed to one of two mechanisms: signal enhancement or uncertainty reduction. Signal enhancement is an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio at the cued location; uncertainty reduction is a reduction in the…

This paper presents a summary of some of the implications gleaned from a research project which investigated the psychological influences on the experience of unemployment. Drawing from deprivation theory and the stress and coping literature, the research project explored coping resources, cognitive appraisals, coping behaviours, mental health and…

Investigations of the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP) with college freshmen revealed satisfactory internal consistency coefficients for two of the four ILP scales but cast doubt on the factor structure of the inventory. As predictors of grade point average of Australian students, the scales were successful. (Author/GK)

Describes the Death Threat Index and its underlying theoretical base and procedure. Suggests if the procedure is varied slightly, a more qualitative picture of a subject's construct of death is possible. The significance of the complexity and individuality of death constructs for death education programs is considered. (Author/JAC)

This study focused on the psychological process involved in drawing inferences from pictures. Nineteen reference tests and two tests of picture interpretation behavior were administered to a random sample of 95 children aged 10-12: the Production of Inference Tests (PIT) and the Discovery of Similarities Test (DST). (JEG)

Reports results of an evaluation of a tenth-grade unit developed by the High School Education Law Project (HELP) in Australia. The study measured student attitudes toward the normality of judges, enjoyment of legal studies, and dynamic nature, influenceability, and comprehensibility of the law. Cognitive outcomes were also measured. (KC)

An exploratory study was undertaken to provide a means of quantifying some of the components of the problem solving process. The focus was on actual problem solving behaviors and strategies as they occurred in relation to different cognitive tasks and subject characteristics. Cognitive tasks included items from Wechsler and Binet intelligence…

This study attempted to determine whether attendance at a traditional preschool resulted in significant cognitive gains for young children over a 3-year period. The experimental group consisted of 59 children at four preschools. Each was matched with a nonattender on such variables as age, sex, intelligence, and family characteristics. The mean…

This project examined some of the common constraints on reliable cognitive assessment for children over time. Repeated measures design (n = 133) was with younger (5 & 6 year old, n = 64) and older (7 & 8 year old, n = 69) children. Results showed that children's self-concepts moderated the test-retest reliability over extended intervals…

To tailor instruction to levels of learner proficiency in a domain in adaptive learning environments, rapid on-line methods of assessing learner knowledge and skills are required. Cognitive studies indicate that major factors in expert performance are organised structures in the person's knowledge base. Measuring different levels of acquisition of…

This study investigated the potential use of a cognitive measure to detect differential effects on children's styles of performance and behavior. A stratified random sample of 96 children across schools, sex and preschool attendance were selected for testing from the five kindergarten classes associated with the Mt. Druitt Early Childhood Project…