We review the GIDNA and CDM packages in R for fitting cognitive diagnosis/diagnostic classification models. We first provide a summary of their core capabilities and then use both simulated and real data to compare their functionalities in practice. We found that the most relevant routines in the two packages appear to be more similar than…

This article investigates whether computer use for leisure could mediate or moderate the relations between age and cognitive functioning. Findings supported smaller age differences in measures of cognitive functioning for people who reported spending more hours using a computer. Because of the cross-sectional design of the study, two alternative…

Purpose: Many adults with aphasia demonstrate concomitant deficits in working memory (WM), but such deficits are difficult to quantify because of a lack of validated measures as well as the complex interdependence between language and WM. We examined the feasibility, reliability, and internal consistency of an "n"-back task for…

This study examined the relative intellectual impacts of two- and four-year college educational programs by focusing on changes in reading comprehension, mathematics, and critical thinking skills in 204 freshmen students who attended either a public two-year community college near a large metropolitan area or a public four-year, urban research…

This report sought to test the hypothesis that living on campus fosters cognitive growth by estimating the relative freshman-year gains in reading comprehension, mathematical reasoning, and critical thinking of resident and commuter students at an urban university. Data were collected from 210 college freshmen students at a large research…

The potential utility of a college admissions test as a measure of the cognitive learning outcomes of general education is investigated. A residual form of the ACT Assessment was administered to a stratified random sample of 112 seniors at Tennessee Technological University. (Author/MLW)

This Manual has been designed to provide step-by-step guidelines for conducting an evaluation of a structured training sequence. The assessment design to be presented involves essentially: the testing of a group of trainees before and after a sequence of instruction by administration of the same set of objective-form items under structured testing…

The paper discusses an experiment in which regression analysis was used to examine predictors of information retention following a college economics course. It was hypothesized that students taught in small classes with self-instructional materials would place a higher value on basic economic concepts and retain these concepts longer than students…

Pupil learning about evolution under different types of instruction is examined. A branching style program in which written responses were required was compared with a program in which the same material was presented in straight narrative style. The project compiled and analyzed test results from 115 fifth-grade students. The students were divided…