Studied longitudinal changes in performance at both the student and school district level in major content areas of a widely used norm-referenced grade-level testing program. Used data from grades 3 to 4 and from 7 to 8 of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (in Iowa). Reports descriptive statistics and empirical norms and reliability estimates for…

The relation between mastery motivation and expressive language was studied in 200 children (ages 7-67 months) with hearing loss. When demographic and hearing loss variables were entered into a regression equation, increased social/symbolic persistence was significantly related, and increased object-oriented persistence was marginally related, to…

Examined developmental and individual differences in tendencies to favor analytic over heuristic responses in three tasks (inductive reasoning, deduction under belief bias conditions, probabilistic reasoning) in children varying in age and cognitive ability. Found significant increases in analytic responding with development on first two tasks.…

A study investigated 10 Auslan/English interpreters' use of translation style when interpreting for a university lecture. Results found the interpreters predominantly used a free or literal interpretation approach, but switched between translation styles at particular points of a text, leading to the suggestion of the concept of translational…

Used observations and interview of mothers and children to test a mediational model in which committed compliance and opposition influence the child's emerging view of self on moral dimensions and this "moral self" regulates moral conduct. Found that the model, involving committed compliance and opposition in the "don't" demand…

Investigates the relationship between employee performance with new technology and perceptual and communication factors. Finds strong correlational evidence that three aspects of employees' perceptions of a new technology's attributes and two types of messages affect their productivity levels with that technology. (MG)

The use of predictable and unpredictable trial sequences during small-group instruction was evaluated in teaching word and abbreviation identification to 4 students (age 8-10) with learning disabilities. No consistent effects of the trial presentation methods were found across 3 investigations, which involved progressive time-delay procedures and…

There is strong evidence that massed practice depresses performance and learning when learning is assessed by absolute retention measures. This finding is discussed relative to other literature on distribution of practice as well as recent issues in motor learning. (JD)

Nine articles in this festschrift for Herbert Goldhor explore relatively new and innovative approaches to problem solving in libraries. The articles identify and discuss methods and techniques of applied and evaluative research, consider conceptual and practical issues related to problem solving in libraries, and recognize Goldhor's many…

Findings of two experiments involving third and fifth graders indicated that subjects' confidence in the correctness of their solutions to verbal tasks influenced the frequency and type of help they sought. Frequency and type of help sought varied with self-assessments for older children more than younger. (RH)

Two studies involving 203 and 107 high school students investigated the relationship between adolescent efforts to achieve several academic and non-academic classroom goals, social and task-related standards for performance, and academic achievement. Motivation to achieve socially prescribed and cognitive outcomes was found to be relevant to…

The relationship between knowing that organization during study will facilitate performance (metamemory) and grouping pictures by semantic category was examined in a free recall task for 60 first-graders and 48 fourth-graders. Results suggest that how and when reflective activity occurs may be crucial for learning effectiveness. (SLD)

Results of five experiments showed that in certain situations recall varied with processing difficulty for both children and college students. This was primarily due to enhanced cue discriminability. The relation between processing difficulty and developmental increases in recall seemed to be mediated by constructability problems and resource- and…

Examined the role of individual differences in working memory and lexical access in age- and reading skill-related differences in performance on phonological synthesis tasks. The performance of 28 kindergarten, first-, and second-grade students with normal reading skills, and that of 28 reading-disabled second graders, was compared under four…

A 4-year study of 131 preschool children with severe/profound hearing losses found that children tended to be placed first in auditory/oral programs and later moved to total communication programs. Evaluated are the performance of children in both types of programs on measures of spoken language, receptive language, and mother-child communication.…