Seven-year-olds and university students were questioned about hidden or visible colored counters. Under certain testing conditions, the children were able to demonstrate one of the major characteristics of formal operational thought, namely the ability to reason in terms of verbally stated hypotheses without reliance on direct, physical…

Class inclusion problems differing in size of the array and in superordinate class were given to 84 boys and girls in grades 1 through 4 in a first experiment, and 41 boys and girls in grades 3 and 4 in a second experiment. The experiments sought to determine performance variables explaining the developmentally late appearance of class-inclusion…

Female high school students participated in a motor task to assess the effects of success/failure feedback and extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. It was found that a significant change in intrinsic motivation was due to the effects of success/failure feedback, but not to the effect of a tangible reward. (Authors/FG)

Examined the accuracy of estimating correctness to responses on the WAIS by elderly adults and considered whether extraneous variables influenced either judgement accuracy or IQ score. Findings suggest that older persons seem uncomfortable with ambiguity and possess an unrealistic fear of failure. (Author)

Measures of limit setting and control in a toy cleanup situation were developed as part of a longitudinal study of lower-SES mothers and children through the first five years of life. Several findings suggest a distinction between mothers' seductive behavior and warmth or affection. Developmental implications are discussed. (Author/RH)

Dichotic stop-consonant-vowel identification was investigated in two experiments using two groups of learning-disabled children, demonstrating clinical manifestations of auditory-processing disorders, and two groups of matched, control Ss (eight to ten years old). (Author)

Twenty mothers and 20 fathers were brought into the laboratory with two of their children (one preschool-age, one toddler) and given a cognitive task that competed with child care for their attention. A phenomenological approach was used to predict changes in parental behavior under conditions of task competition. (Author/MP)

Discusses the positive effects of contingent rewards (verbal praise and house-points) as effective reinforcers of correct handwriting responses in elementary classrooms. Points out that direct contingency rewards proved effective in changing behavior, while implicit contingency rewards possessed aversive qualities. (JD)

There were initial positive effects from delegating choice over the selection of goals. The aspect of the task being delegated appears important. One cannot assume allowing others choice over some aspects of the task will be associated with positive outcomes. (Author)

An examination of the role of metacognitive thinking (a secondary level of understanding in which an individual shows knowledge of his/her own cognitive process and products) in the cognitive training of exceptional students is presented. (PHR)

The effects of feedback on the approaches of 20 hyperactive and 20 hypoactive children (ages 6 to 10) to a vigilance task were studied. Results showed that hyperactive Ss had more errors than hypoactive Ss under the feedback for correct responses condition and fewer errors under the feedback for false alarms condition. (PHR)

A question is raised as to how much emphasis should be placed on the use of technical terminology in lectures, reading assignments, and tests, particularly in introductory college courses, if all that is facilitated pertains to factual recall. (JD)

A review of handwriting research conducted in the 1970s reveals that innovative statistical designs were being used, a large number of experimental studies were conducted, and there was increased emphasis on teaching handwriting to handicapped students. (JD)

Investigated the relationship between self-esteem and performance outcome as related to causal attribution. Results indicated that: (1) success was attributed more to ability and effort; (2) performance outcomes consistent with self-esteem were attributed more to ability and task difficulty; and (3) performance outcomes inconsistent with…

The effects of task-overlapping linguistic noise on activity and performance of hyperactive and control children were assessed. Results suggest that task difficulty may play a role in the effects of overlapping stimulation on both groups. (Author/GK)