An experimental study examined the comprehension of sentences containing concessive connectives, considered from an argumentative-conclusive point of view, in 8- to 10-year-old French children (n=24). Two tasks were used: (1) subjects had to choose between opposite preceding contexts of sentences and (2) conclusions that could be drawn from the…

Changes in children's understanding of experimentation are examined. Sixteen fifth and sixth graders worked on two experimentation problems consistent with an engineering and science model, respectively. The science model was associated with broader exploration, more selectiveness about evidence interpreted, and greater attention to establishing…

The performance of four direct service providers in feeding, positioning, and transferring physically disabled patients was measured. Use of written instructions led to slight and usually brief changes in performance. The introduction of feedback, especially a continuous schedule, resulted in marked improvements which were maintained. (Author/JDD)

Addresses problems in evaluation that are raised by constructivism. Highlights include a comparison of objectivism and constructivism; constructivistic criteria, including goal-free evaluation, which focus on authentic tasks, knowledge construction, context-driven evaluation, the appropriate stages of knowledge acquisition, and multiple…

This study aimed to determine the role of reading-related experience and processing speed on the time it took for children to name familiar stimuli. Children (n=168) were administered measures of global-processing speed, title and author recognition, naming time, and reading ability. Naming times were predicted by age-related change in processing…

Investigated the influence of morphologically complex and simple words on the production of morphologically complex and simple picture names in five picture-word interference studies. Two variants of picture-word interference were employed to separate morphological from semantic and phonological effects. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the effects of modality, information type, and language experience on recall by foreign language learners of Spanish. Fifty-four intermediate and advanced level university students participated in the study by reading and listening to an expository passage, and then performing a recall task. The protocols were then statistically…

Investigates the effect of time and attention on formal accuracy in the linguistic performance of 36 adult language learners with regard to the third person singular verb "-s" and the plural from of nouns, using a story retelling task as its elicitation technique. Results suggest that the attention variable had a significant impact on grammatical…

Presents a new method that can compare lexical priming (word-word) and sentential priming (sentence-word) directly within a single paradigm. Shows that it can be used to address modular theories of word comprehension, which propose that the effects of sentence context occur after lexical access has taken place. (Author/VWL)

Describes a simulated student that learns by interacting with a human tutor. Tests suggest that simulated students, when developed past the prototype stage, could be valuable for training human tutors. Provides a computational cognitive task analysis of the skill of learning from a tutor that is useful for designing intelligent tutoring systems.…

The steps of a task analysis research program designed to identify the in-session performances involved in resolving lingering bad feelings toward a significant other are described. A rational-empirical methodology of repeatedly cycling between rational conjecture and empirical observations is demonstrated as a method of developing an intervention…

Examines procrastination by college students (30 women, 7 men) of academic and nonacademic tasks at beginning and end of semester. Analysis found that procrastinated tasks early in the term were more effortful and anxiety provoking than other tasks during the term. Results imply that academic and nonacademic tasks should be challenging, yet fun,…

Reports the findings of a cross-sectional study that investigated the acquisition of relative clauses by 27 Tamil-speaking children who ranged in age from 2 years and 11 months to 6 years and 6 months. A picture-cued production task was used to elicit relative clauses from the child subjects. (Author/VWL)

In two masked priming experiments with Chinese characters, orthographic priming effects were observed in lexical decision and naming tasks despite the fact that the primes were phonologically unrelated to the target characters. Data suggest that the recovery of lexical information for Chinese characters does not depend on the prior activation of…

Analyzes the concept of civilization as it is construed in anthropology and history, and uses the various dimensions as a frame for understanding how children grasp and make active use of the concepts in their interpretation of historical information. Subjects were 9-year-old students whose understanding and use of the notion of civilization was…