Two studies of the oral secondary school leaving examinations in Germany indicated variances in ratings made by different teachers. The differences were significantly influenced by speed of speaking, background information about past achievement, and contrast of performance related to sequence of presentation. (Author/MJL)

Assessed comparatively the state of the art of evaluation of four major organization development (OD) intervention types--laboratory training, survey feedback, team-building and process consultation. Analyzed 67 studies along the following dimensions: evaluator characteristics, subject characteristics, and methodology/design characteristics.…

Finke and Kurtzman report that fields of resolution increase with increases in the diameter of both perceived and imagined circular patterns. In contrast, we find no such increase for imagined circular patterns when the experimenter is not aware of the experimental predictions, even though our subjects received imagery training. (Author/RD)

Sex-oriented reading materials were found to have a differential effect on the recall scores of boys and girls ages 9-10. A similar, nonsignificant trend was found for the comprehension scores based on the cloze procedure. The sex of the tester had no significant effect on performance. (Author/SJL)

In this naturalistic study of essay marking, 15 university lecturers graded an examination paper and completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. A significant positive correlation was found between the marks given and the grader's lie score, indicating possible effects of staff-student interactions or social desirability on biases in grading.…

Higher WISC-R scores were achieved by high school students receiving positive nonverbal treatment than by those receiving neutral nonverbal treatment. (Author/RL)

This study indicates that social drive and valence theories of social reinforcement cannot adequately account for the results of three different measures of reinforcer efficacy (accuracy, rate, and persistence). Suggests that activation/arousal theories provide a better basis for behavior modification. (BH)

Explores the evolution of the relationship between researcher and participants in longitudinal, constructivist studies. Issues inherent in this evolving relationship are examined and the authors illustrate how the resolution of these issues influences the researcher. Asserts that the lessons learned can be applied to practice and advocate using a…

The special educator must be aware of possible sources of error in assessment of children with learning problems. Sources of error can be attributed to unconscious examiner bias, ambiguous test responses, linguistic and cultural differences of the examiner and examinee, previous test-taking experience, and problems with test reliability and…

Critiques ideas expressed by Gould in "The Mismeasure of Man." Agrees with Gould that many scientists who studied human intelligence were racist, but disagrees that their work must therefore necessarily be dismissed. Disputes Gould's claim that factor analysts who study human intelligence have reified their factors and that factor…

Illustrates a field experiment in which students studied whether people (1) respond to smiles with smiles and (2) fail to reciprocate frowns. Explains that the project facilitates understanding of methodological issues, such as random assignment, manipulation strength, and experimenter bias. Discusses the procedure and results from the project and…

More methodologically sound research in adventure therapy is needed if the field is to claim empirically-based efficacy as a treatment modality. Some considerations for conducting outcome studies in adventure therapy relate to standardization, multiple domain assessment, regression techniques, objective assessment of participant change, client and…

The validity of estimates of peak oxygen consumption (VO[subscript 2]peak) using submaximal exercise tests may be compromised when the participants being tested are not similar to the participants used to develop the test. This study compared ethnic differences in the heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO[subscript 2]) responses to submaximal…

It is argued that careful attention to the role of the researcher's experience in qualitative research is desirable for several reasons. A rationale for such examination is established, and the research and scholarly activity pursued by the author for the last 11 years are described to present a kind of career case study for analysis of the…

The prime objective of this review was to examine the existing literature relating to proposal development and evaluation in order to establish a perspective on any empirical base underlying the process. Findings related to seven areas are presented: preparing the proposal, utilization of support services, preparation cost and return…