Measures of repetitive finger movement are used in neuropsychological evaluation of children and adults. A comparison of the Light Beam Finger and Foot Tapping Device with the Halstead-Reitan Finger Tapping Test (R. Reitan, 1979) for 33 adults shows similar psychometric properties for both and moderate to high correlations between the measures.…

Focuses on the comparative use of training from human performance technology (HPT) and traditional training perspectives, based on taxonomy. Concludes that the primary difference is a holistic systems performance improvement approach by eliminating barriers with HPT versus reaction or response to a set of business objectives in traditional…

Study (a) describes the hierarchical linear models approach to answer general meta-analytical questions for single-case data; (b) compares the approach with the Busk and Serlin approach; (c) presents hierarchical linear models that can be used in various situations for quantitative integration of single-case data; and (d) shows how the SAS…

Describes a writing exercise in which students write alternate versions of poems, and observes that interesting discussions about the nature and quality of poetry result when the class tries to identify the original poems. (MM)

A simulation study compares nonhierarchical clustering capabilities of a class of neural networks using Kohonen learning with a K-means clustering procedure. The focus is on the ability of the procedures to recover correctly the known cluster structure in the data. Advantages and disadvantages of the procedures are reviewed. (SLD)

Monte Carlo studies were conducted to compare four multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) simultaneous test procedures (STPs) in terms of power and Type I error under various conditions including violations of MANOVA assumptions. Results do not support the hypothesis that the moderately restricted STP is a good compromise between…

Studies the later course grades of students enrolled in freshman calculus taught using traditional texts through 1994-95 and the Harvard method which was fully adopted starting in 1995-96. Reports that, in some cases, the results were indistinguishable but some statistically significant patterns were found. (Author/ASK)

Compared two methods for evaluating youth empowerment programs. One program used a traditional, open-ended style of service planning and program tracking, and the other used precoded measurement procedures that invited the direct participation of youth in goal setting and evaluation. Discusses the relatively greater usefulness of the precoded…

Used Monte Carlo simulations to compare Type I error rates and the statistical power of three tests in detecting the effects of a dichotomous moderator variable in meta-analysis. The highest statistical power was shown by the Zhs test proposed by J. Hunter and F. Schmidt (1990). Discusses criteria for selecting among the three tests. (SLD)

Studies aggressive automated word removal in text categorization in large databases based on corpus statistics to reduce the noise in free texts and to enhance the computational efficiency of categorization. Topics include stop word identification, categorization methods for comparison, tests on four document collections, and evaluation…

Asserts that Maria Montessori's concept of education is a theory, explaining that Montessori did not teach a method, but rather a vision for child development. Compares Montessori theory with five other educational theories. Emphasizes the power of different visionary, utopian educational theories which seek a definition of humans and their aims.…

Discussion of word frequency and keywords in text focuses on a method to estimate automatically the stability classes that indicate a word's popularity with time-series variations based on the frequency change in past electronic text data. Compares the evaluation of decision tree stability class results with manual classification results.…

The authors of the paper on growth mixture modelling (GMM) give a description of GMM and related techniques as applied to antisocial behaviour. They bring up the important issue of choice of model within the general framework of mixture modelling, especially the choice between latent class growth analysis (LCGA) techniques developed by Nagin and…

This paper reports on an ongoing effort to incorporate a programming component into exploratory mathematics courses and analyzes some of the many practical considerations required for successfully managing such a course in large lecture hall classes. Two pedagogical paradigms (top-down and bottom-up) are compared and contrasted for teaching Visual…

In psychometrics, it is often the case that one encounters data that may not be considered random but selected in a systematic way according to some explanatory variable. In this article, maximum likelihood estimation is considered when data are supposed to arise from a bivariate normal distribution that is truncated in an extreme way. Two methods…