The results of this study show a significant inverse relationship between subjects' written syntactic complexity and cloze test scores across the three grade levels tested (eight, twelve, and thirteen). (DD)

Examination of the effects of difficulty level of academic tasks on the behavior of 2 subjects (ages 9 and 12) with severe behavior disorders found that difficult tasks were generally associated with lower percentages of time-on-task and higher percentages of time engaged in disruptive behavior than were easy task conditions. (Author/DB)

Examined relations between algebraic word-problem attributes and students' strategies, errors, and problem difficulty. Found that constructed responses capture strategy formulation and high-level planning--as do traditional measures of quantitative reasoning--but are more sensitive to individual problem characteristics and procedural errors that…

Analyzes how 20 groups of management specialists in charge of a computer-simulated company behaved when confronted with complex problems that arose. Difficulties stemmed from an incorrect use of available knowledge, a tendency to avoid risks and reduce uncertainty, and a motivational process which sheltered the subjective sense of competence. (AEF)

Investigates the related characteristics of asynchronous learning material used for distance education and Web-based instruction and proposes a material characteristics model. Discusses the relationship among the degree of difficulty of the material, student characteristics, and student abilities; social factors; suitability of teaching materials…

The comparative translucency within and across 5 aided augmentative and alternative symbol systems for symbols representing 3 parts of speech (nouns, verbs, and modifiers) was investigated with 50 college undergraduates. Results indicated that translucency varies among systems or sets and among parts of speech. (Author/DB)

Under certain conditions it may be possible to determine the difficulty of previously untested test items. Although no recipe can be provided, reflections on this topic are presented, drawing on concepts of item banking. A functional constructive method is suggested as having the most potential. (SLD)

Two characteristics that determine problem difficulty--the nature of the move search space and its interaction with other aspects of the task--were investigated in experiments in which 26, 69, 42, and 42 community college students attempted to solve the Chinese Ring Puzzle. The origins and implications of difficulty are discussed. (SLD)

Forty elementary-school learning-disabled children completed a design assembly task and a vocabulary task. Results indicated a significant performance (success and failure)-by-maternal involvement (presence and absence) interaction for children's attributional ratings of effort, task difficulty, and luck, and for mothers' attributional ratings of…

The effects of semantic and syntactic complexity on the reading comprehension of content-area prose were investigated among 92 adolescents with learning disabilities. Subjects who read passages that had been modified syntactically or both syntactically and semantically exhibited improved comprehension. Semantic modifications alone did not affect…

Old and young adults participated in two experiments involving a standardized, hierarchically organized event. In interviews that assessed memory of the event, older subjects reported fewer event actions than did the young. Memory of old and young was influenced similarly by the hierarchical structure of the event. (RH)

This study of 114 children between seven and nine years used a procedure for directly observing child-produced and experimenter-produced strategies to examine the transitional period of strategy development. Findings revealed gradual changes in children's ability to produce, and to benefit from, a strategy of selective attention. (RH)

Violations of item unidimensionality on language tests produced distorted estimates of person ability, and violations of person unidimensionality produced distorted estimates of item difficulty. The Bejar Method was sensitive to such distortions. (Author)

The comparability of scores on test forms that are constructed through examinee item choice is examined in an item response theory framework. The approach is illustrated with data from the College Board's Advanced Placement Test in Chemistry taken by over 18,000 examinees. (SLD)

Discusses subject searching and describes a study that evaluated the match between the named terms and the expected subject headings by examining the subject search terms generated by students. Highlights include nonsemantic properties in evaluating search terms, including concreteness, complexity, and syndeticity; and metacognitive naming skills…