An efficiency model and a performance function are presented in this technical report. The efficiency model has been tailored to the needs of an information retrieval system while remaining consistent with established economic procedures. The performance function allows for the comparison of several information retrieval systems. A sample…

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)

THE RESPONSES OF EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN AND INTELLECTUALLY NORMAL CHILDREN OF SIMILAR MENTAL AGES TO TASKS INVOLVING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF LEARNING AND TRANSFER OF THAT LEARNING WERE STUDIED. THE MAJOR OBJECTIVE WAS TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE TEST PERFORMANCES BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS TESTED ARE…

THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE TO EXAMINE ONE ASPECT OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF APTITUDES, JOB PERFORMANCE, AND AGE -- SPECIFICALLY, TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE VALIDITY OF UNADJUSTED AND AGE-ADJUSTED GENERAL APTITUDE TEST BATTERY (GATB) APTITUDE SCORES FOR PREDICTING OCCUPATIONAL SUCCESS. ELEVEN LONGITUDINAL…

Most standardized testing programs do not furnish examples of the kinds of information young people actually know. Instead they indicate only (1) how far an individual student is above or below an average score, and (2) the average score of a classroom or a school in relation to others. In contrast, National Assessment evaluates educational…

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:…