Recently, Tunmer and Chapman provided an alternative model of how decoding and listening comprehension affect reading comprehension that challenges the simple view of reading. They questioned the simple view's fundamental assumption that oral language comprehension and decoding make independent contributions to reading comprehension by arguing…

In his opening statements, Humphry takes a critical attitude with respect to psychometric modeling. As he advances and discusses Michell's well-known criticisms, the reader is certain that this paper must have something on offer that deviates considerably from conventional psychometrics. After all "most psychometricians have either explicitly or…

This commentary reflects on the contributions to learning analytics and theory by a paper that describes how multiple theoretical frameworks were woven together to inform the creation of a new, automated discourse analysis tool. The commentary highlights the contributions of the original paper, provides some alternative approaches, and touches on…

Buchmann, Condron and Roscigno argue in their article, "Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment," that the activities in which students engage to prepare for college entrance exams are forms of shadow education, a means by which more advantaged parents seek to pass their privileged status along…

This rejoinder to McCall (Volume 56, 217-218) discusses the differences in viewpoint with respect to the relationship between models and theory, the notion of "direct" tests of propositions, and the use of measures of explained variance to evaluate model performance. (Author/BE)

This commentary on the research reported in this monograph stresses the importance of the analogy between the processes involved in pretense comprehension and the processes required to comprehend written or spoken text. The commentary also raises the concern that children could perform correctly on pretense problems using processes of text…

This rejoinder to comments on a previous article about research on the person-environment fit (PEF) model addresses issues in the relationship of congruence to vocational outcomes, the circumplex model, tests of Holland's hexagonal model, and advances in PEF theory and research. (Contains 61 references.) (SK)

Questions assumptions that process variables have fixed meanings, discretely contribute to outcomes, and have a decontextualized net worth, evaluated by their correlations with outcomes. Suggests conceptual framework that integrates theory-driven and discovery-oriented strategies into cyclical, ecologically oriented model. (Author/NB)

This special series focused on treatment integrity in the child mental health and education field is timely. The articles do a laudable job of reviewing (a) the current status of treatment integrity research and measurement, (b) existing conceptual models of treatment integrity, and (c) the limitations of prior research. Overall, this thoughtful…

A major problem of research into religion is whether religion is uni- or multi-dimensional; a model maintaining the advantages of both approaches is suggested with general religiousness as a broad construct (higher order factor) that is subdivided into a set of more specific factors. (CMG)

Describes several "inaccurate" statements made in L. Thomas' and T. Levine's article in this journal (volume 21, page 103) regarding the current author's research and positions on the listening construct. Suggests that Thomas' and Levine's model has serious methodological flaws. (RS)

Presents comments about R. Bostrom's article in this journal. Suggests that Bostrom missed the point of Thomas' and Levine's original article. (RS)

Several criticisms of Bandura's "reciprocal determinism" are offered: the unidirectional causal account works in cases cited by Bandura; Mackie's criticism of Russell's view of causation also applies to Bandura; and "reciprocal determinism" is a misleading expression when stressing person/environment interactions. (Author/BW)

Notes the inconsistent findings that characterize research on marital instability and proposes several potential methodological sources of these inconsistencies. Presents an illustrative application to data from two recent national representative probability samples. (JAC)

Implications of controlled studies for health professions education are explored. An alternative research strategy is proposed, in which descriptive account of a situation allowing the important factors to become apparent throughout the observation is emphasized. This facilitates an hypothesis-generation strategy. (GK)