The potential application of decision process models to the development of a class of empirically derived and testable models of the behavior of individuals in peer rating situations is explored. (Author)

Results of this study of eight liberal arts colleges, traditionally women's colleges, suggest that multiple-discriminant analysis provides a rigorous and practical basis for adding an important and largely unexplored between-group dimension to studies in the prediction of within-group performance. (Editor/LBH)

Examines issues related to the measurement of potential learning problems of young children. Looks at the rationale for screening, the instability of behavior, the use of inappropriate measures; defines the "at-risk" population, and problems in prediction. Presents a method for calculating the predictive validity of a screening measure. (RJM)

While Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing Program (ACT) scores are viewed as reliable, and colleges and universities continue to use them, they are often misunderstood and misused. They are reliable for predicting freshman grades only when comparisons are made within one racial group. They also do not account for student…

Replies to Mellow's (1996) criticism of the authors' second language acquisition model. The article argues that this model is based on the psychological concept of exchange of linguistic information and that Mellow's evaluation of various types of transformational analysis is irrelevant. The article also addresses several points of detail in…

The predictive validity of a hypothesized model of 5 factors associated with the development of juvenile delinquency was evaluated with 68 children (ages 6-11) who had been referred for delinquent behavior. Analysis of clinical files indicated that aggressiveness and variety of conduct problems accounted for 31% of variance in delinquent behavior.…

Reviews the eye-movement paradigm and refers to recent experiments applying the paradigm to issues of spoken word recognition (e.g., lexical competitor effects), syntactic processing, reference resolution, focus, as well as issues in cross-modality integration that are central to evaluating the modularity hypothesis. (Seven references) (Author/CK)

Distinguishes two types of materials evaluation: a predictive evaluation designed to make a decision regarding what materials to use, and a retrospective evaluation to examine materials already used. Describes a procedure for conducting task evaluations, suggesting that they constitute a kind of action research that can contribute to reflective…

In this study, non-French participants learned gender-appropriate adjectives for 24 French nouns. Findings indicate that learning the same set of feminine French nouns could be made more or less difficult when the nouns in the masculine category created more or less competition. (45 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the overprediction of minority students' college grades in studies using test scores and high school grades. Describes a study of 790 fourth-year undergraduates, analyzing both academic and nonacademic measures to see if more accurate predictions could be obtained. Reports that the addition of nonacademic constructs resulted in better…

Examined 128 children for contributions of biomedical risk conditions, SES, and HOME scores to prediction of intelligence, and association of extreme scores on HOME and SES to intelligence-test performance. Found home environment was the most important predictor of intelligence at all ages, with SES showing a smaller effect beginning at age 5.…

Examined validity of Standard Aptitude Test scores and Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) in predicting grades and persistence for Black, Mexican-American, and White freshmen. Results revealed that noncognitive dimensions were not predictive of college grades or persistence for Black students, nor for persistence for Mexican-American students. NCQ…

Developmental Record protocols were obtained from archival files for 1,069 institutionalized mentally retarded adults and children. Analyses revealed high internal reliabilities, but questionable validity. The Developmental Record did not adequately discriminate the five areas of functioning it purportedly assesses (self-care, perceptual-motor,…

Investigated relation between marital distress, therapeutic alliance formation, and treatment outcome in group marital skills training program in which 63 couples met for 9 weeks. Results indicated that levels of marital distress neither impaired nor facilitated alliance formation. Strength of alliance appeared to be more powerful predictor of…

A sequential decision-making approach based on college grade point averages and test scores for teacher licensure decisions within the conjunctive model is contrasted with the compensatory model for decision making. Criteria for choosing one model over another and a rationale for favoring the conjunctive model are provided. (TJH)