This book addresses the validity of think-aloud protocols (TAPs) in L2 writing research through a mixed methods study and proposes effective approaches for their valid implementation. The book uncovers the reactive effects that TAPs have on L2 writing performance and processes, and examines how individual factors moderate this reactivity. It…

Responds to calls for combining the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky, discussing differences between the two perspectives. Notes that differences are found in underlying assumptions about the nature and process of development, philosophy, stages of development, developmental influences, and the integrity of cognitive structures. Suggests that, given…

Addresses the extent to which differences in Piagetian and Vygotskyan psychologies make their theories incompatible. Differences result from a Vygotskyan belief in a material primary cause for development; Piagetians do not hold this view. Explores this difference in perspective, concluding that, despite it, the two approaches are compatible. (JW)

Patterns of relationships between 96 adolescents' cognitive and verbal domains suggest a three-level cognitive complexity continuum: Level 1, a creative, analytic, flexible, differentiating mode; Level 2, a person-oriented, moderately complex functioning level; and Level 3, an inflexible, concrete, simplistic mode of operation. (RL)

The Sixteen Personality Factor questionnaire and the California Psychological Inventory were administered to (N=42) Roman Catholic seminarians and (N=42) male Protestant divinity students. Data analysis indicated that the Catholics were significantly more dependent, more group-reliant, more feminine, less assertive, and less-accepting than the…

While some people have difficulty adjusting to retirement, others seem to adjust easily. The search for theory to explain the source of positive retirement may require research methods to develop theory rather than to test theory. Grounded theory methodology was used to determine the characteristics and sources of characteristics of adults who had…

Literature is reviewed on the personality dimensions of gifted individuals, focusing on: differences between gifted individuals and same-age non-gifted individuals, differences between gifted individuals and older non-gifted individuals, differences between gifted males and gifted females, and differences between gifted achievers and…

Explored patterns of marital complaints in a sample of 209 divorcing men and women. Used two codes of complaints. Results indicated that marital complaints varied over time and by sex, education, social class, length of marriage, and income. Some complaints were correlated with symptoms of mental health disturbance. (Author/RC)

In this study we compared the psychosocial (n = 7,896) and clinical (n = 4,664) characteristics and 6-month functional outcomes (n = 2,594) of suicidal and nonsuicidal youth. Repeat and previous attempters were more likely than first-time and never attempters to experience psychosocial problems and to be functionally impaired in a variety of…

Identified persons who actively direct and influence the positive evolution of others by acting upon the environment. Selected individuals on the basis of service to the community and matched them with a comparison group. A comparative analysis indicated differences in education and personality characteristics in the selected "autoevolutionary"…

Two questions are investigated here: What should the unit of analysis be in investigations of educational effects and on what basis should the units be chosen Under what conditions can relationships among measurements on individuals be estimated from the relationships among measurements on aggregates of individuals? Models using standard analysis…

While research on the composing process has revealed great variation among writers and among types of writers, research has largely ignored fluctuation in the writing behaviors of a single writer. A study contrasted both texts and behaviors of six graduate and undergraduate students of English as a Second Language (ESL) as they wrote a practice…

This study investigates the effects of alternate types of curriculum and counseling treatment on elementary school children categorized into six temperament-attitude clusters. Through a second-order factor analysis of a multi-trait multi-source assessment instrument (The Barclay Classroom Climate Inventory), six cluster groups of characteristics…