Many (digital) learning materials are often based on a combination of text and pictures, whereby pictures often only serve a decorative (learning-irrelevant) function. Such decorative pictures were proven as detrimental for learning success. In contrast, research on retrieval cues (also known as "memory cues") showed that a…

The main challenge for theories of multitasking is to predict when and how tasks interfere. Here, we focus on interference related to the problem state, a directly accessible intermediate representation of the current state of a task. On the basis of Salvucci and Taatgen's (2008) threaded cognition theory, we predict interference if 2 or more…

Voluntary action can be studied by giving participants free choice over which task to perform in response to each presented stimulus. In such experiments, performance costs are observed when participants choose to switch tasks from the previous trial. It has been proposed that these costs primarily index the time-consuming operation of top-down…

This study examined the percentage of task-sampling variability in performance assessment via a meta-analysis. In total, 50 studies containing 130 independent data sets were analyzed. Overall results indicate that the percentage of variance for (a) differential difficulty of task was roughly 12% and (b) examinee's differential performance of the…

This paper is based on data from Work Unit UTILITY research on job performance of men at different ability levels. The paper deals with data testing performance in four jobs: Armor Crewman, Vehicle Repairman, Supply Specialist, and Cook, of various Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) levels over specified periods of time. (Author)

Performance assessments have become the norm for evaluating language learners' writing abilities in international examinations of English proficiency. Two aspects of these assessments are usually systematically varied: test takers respond to different prompts, and their responses are read by different raters. This raises the possibility of undue…

This study examined the role of perceptions of task difficulty in relation to self-perceptions of ability, intrinsic value, attainment value, and performance. Seventy-nine 8th graders completed surveys prior to task instruction and after the last practice session. Two days later, they completed a skill test. Participants who perceived the Lunastix…

Social facilitation as a self-presentational display, and social performance impairment attributable to perceived public failure, are examined in a study of context effects in verbal learning. Female undergraduates (N=72) served as subjects with one male who served as an "audience." Performance data indicate that, consistent with the present…

Various experiments demonstrated that the difficulty level of several performance-type intelligence test tasks is determined directly by stimulus and task variables that vary the information to be processed. The implications of these findings for intelligence and the problems of an experimental approach to the measurement of intelligence are…

An equating study was conducted on the Certifying Examination for Primary Care Physician's Assistants to compare the ability of current examinees with the standardization group and to determine if current test items are more difficult than previous items. Using 46 common items from the multiple choice section, the 1978 exam was equated to the 1976…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether particular aspects of movement control influenced the performance of 2-year-old children on a standard developmental test, and thus influenced assessments of intellectual progress based on that test. Six cerebral-palsied (CP) children were compared with six children not suffering motor system…

This report examines the "Performance Indicators in Primary Schools" (PIPS) test as a reliable and cohesive instrument to assess early literacy and numeracy skills among Indigenous children. The process includes the examination of the reliability of the PIPS test using the Cronbach Alpha and the Split-half method with Pearson's r…

Matrix tasks designed to assess the logical properties of multiple classification and multiple seriation were administered to 105 first, third, and fifth grade children. The tasks included cross-class and double series matrices, each of which had a reproduction and a transposition instructional set, and a revised set of cross-class and double…

A study was designed to examine relationships of aptitude level to training performance on tasks of varying complexity and to determine if differential job training might be required. A complexity rated training battery with eight tasks (simple/choice monitoring, rifle assembly/disassembly, equipment preparation, map symbols, phonetic alphabet,…