Increasingly, papers in scholarly journals are listing over 100 researchers as coauthors. In 40 years, the average number of authors of scientific papers has doubled. Some say the problem reflects the growing complexity of the research process in many disciplines. Journal reviewers find these papers generally of high quality. (MSE)

The relationship between the verbal ability of 50 fifth graders and the adaptive nature of questions they asked while trying to find vocabulary synonyms was studied. Those with high verbal ability asked more necessary questions and, when items were difficult, asked more unnecessary questions, probably to increase confidence. (SLD)

Two investigations involving 700 candidates for medical specialty certification suggest that test items with only 4 options perform as well as the same items with 5 options. Results also suggest that five-option multiple-choice items can be reduced to four-option items by removing a nonfunctioning item. (SLD)

This longitudinal 1-year study examined the continuity of temperamental difficulty in a school-based sample of 975 middle adolescents. Data suggest that continuity and level of temperamental difficulty are linearly related to ratings of psychosocial functioning in several domains. Gender differences are also discussed. (SLD)

Optometry educators can be assisted in making complex concepts understandable to students by using rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, analogies, parables, and allegories. As an example, the difficulties in communicating everyday but complex clinical concepts regarding inflammatory disorders are discussed and use of rhetorical devices…

Current coaching practices used in training test wiseness for analogy items on standardized test batteries were investigated in a 3-group design involving about 100 undergraduates in each condition. The largest improvement came in items in the middle range of difficulty, but overall effects of coaching were important. (SLD)

Teachers and parents of 45 students (ages 8-17) with learning disabilities completed the Homework Problem Checklist. The study found that students with learning disabilities experienced nearly two and a half times the level of difficulty with specific homework problems as their nondisabled peers. (JDD)

Two groups of 10 adult aphasics received auditory-verbal "yes-no" questions, including egocentric, environmental, pictorial, and relationship items, either in a consistent order or random order. Support was found for the existence of a hierarchy of difficulty among the types of questions, but there was no significant difference between…

A meta-analysis of the difficulty and discrimination of the "none-of-the-above" (NOTA) test option was conducted with 12 articles (20 effect sizes) for difficulty and 7 studies (11 effect sizes) for discrimination. Findings indicate that using the NOTA option does not result in items of lesser quality. (SLD)

Adolescents and young adults (n=120) were assessed on their use and understanding of concordant and discordant adverbial conjuncts. Results demonstrated an increasing ability with age to use and understand these words in the written mode, with mastery in usage trailing understanding. Concordant and discordant conjuncts were equally difficult.…

A 3-year study involved having 19 fifth and sixth grade students attend school with Russian peers for 10 days and, later, having Russian students attend U.S. schools. Findings indicated that the Russian students perceived greater difficulty in a differentiated curriculum for gifted students than did the U.S. sample. (DB)

This study with 56 students (mean age 15 years) with mental retardation and 53 nonretarded students (matched for mental age) found that students with mental retardation were more likely to rely on all kinds of external cues (task-relevant, incidental, or misleading) in problem solving, especially when the preceding task had been difficult.…

This study of the haptic processing of 9 children with specific language impairment and 9 normal-language children (ages 5-7) found that both groups performed similarly when the response modality was tactile and task requirements were minimal and performed differently when response demands included cross-modal processing or increased symbolic and…

Comparison of problem preferences of six meaning-oriented and five number-oriented junior high school students found that the successful meaning-oriented students preferred solving multistep and nonroutine problems, whereas the less successful number-oriented students preferred simple routine problems. However, in graded situations all students…

Studies with 174 college students and 41 college faculty attempted to define trick questions and to determine whether students could distinguish between trick and not-trick questions. Evidence seems to suggest that the concept of trickiness is not as clear as some test construction textbooks indicate. (SLD)