Two studies investigated the attribution of action to beliefs and desires in 15 adults and 45 children. Children and adults shared a similar construal of human action in terms of beliefs, desires, and false beliefs. (RJC)

Theoretical nonparametric conditions under which evidence from salary studies using observed merit measures can provide a basis for inferences of fairness are discussed. Latent variable models as parametric special cases of the general conditions presented are illustrated with real salary data. Implications for empirical studies of salary equity…

Two studies explored preschool children's beliefs about the relationship between perceptually based similarity among things and their predicted behaviors by focusing on form-function correspondences. Perceptual similarity, if motivated by intuitive beliefs about correspondences between form and function was found to be sufficient basis for…

Criticizes "The Bell Curve" for its lack of understanding of the philosophical nature of intelligence (and mind). Points out that various philosophical attempts to analyze the concept of intelligence are routinely ignored by empirical workers in the field of IQ testing because such philosophical work makes obvious the lack of connection…

Investigates whether individual differences in working-memory (WM) capacity are related to the ways readers use inferences to facilitate text comprehension. Finds several differences between low-memory-span and high-memory-span readers. Notes that readers with adequate WM capacity can keep interpretations open ended and await more information from…

First, second, and fourth graders listened to stories containing an inconsistent goal and outcome. Children provided a causal inference for the inconsistency, and attributed the inference to themselves or the story. Children's attributions were related to whether the story contained causal information linking the inconsistent events. (BC)

Determinants of similarity-based access to memory and determinants of subjective soundness and similarity of a match were studied in 4 experiments involving 225 undergraduates. Results indicate dissociation between similarity governing access to long-term memory and that used in present matches. A model is proposed. (SLD)

Examined whether developmental differences exist in availability of inferences during listening comprehension. Presented child and adult subjects with consistent and inconsistent passages to determine outcome of expected and unexpected messages on memory. Found that children were more likely than adults to retain incorrect information in active…

Presents a hierarchical Bayes approach to modeling parameter heterogeneity in generalized linear models. The approach combines the flexibility of semiparametric latent class models that assume common parameters for each subpopulation and the parsimony of random effects models that assume normal distributions for the regression parameters.…

Many evaluation students are still being taught the use of tests of statistical significance without being warned about their limitations. This paper discusses other estimates of treatment effects necessary to interpret between-group differences correctly. Sources to improve evaluation practice are also suggested. (SLD)

Describes ways to improve organizational learning for problem solving using advocacy and inquiry. Presents the ladder of inference model and discusses ways to use case method and lecture/discussion to strengthen collective learning. (SK)

The purpose of this paper is to address the concept of "intuition of education" from the pragmatic viewpoint so as to assert its place in the cognitive, that is inferential, learning process. The structure of the paper, consistent with the spirit of Charles Sanders Peirce's triadic semiotics, is threefold. As a point of departure, the author…

We present a framework for the rational analysis of elemental causal induction--learning about the existence of a relationship between a single cause and effect--based upon causal graphical models. This framework makes precise the distinction between causal structure and causal strength: the difference between asking whether a causal relationship…

In this study, we investigated whether the left and right hemispheres are differentially involved in causal inference generation. Participants read short inference-promoting texts that described either familiar or less-familiar scenarios. After each text, they performed a lexical decision on a letter string (which sometimes constituted an…

The phrase "nature of science" refers to the characteristics of scientific knowledge that necessarily result from the scientific investigations that scientists conduct to develop knowledge. Yet, these characteristics are assumed by many to be "difficult" to teach. Not so. Many important aspects of nature of science can be directly linked to…