A probabilistic approach is introduced to classify and diagnose erroneous rules of operation resulting from a variety of misconceptions ("bugs") in a procedural domain of arithmetic. The model is contrasted with the deterministic approach which has commonly been used in the field of artificial intelligence, and the advantage of treating the…

Pure research in school law is not possible, since the researcher must rely on inquiry that can be verified by experience and observation in the field. The studies produced in the past year tend to fall into the following classes: compliance, accountability, impact, cost-effectiveness, Supreme Court decisions, and the process by which minority law…

Two studies compared the effects of spontaneous and controlled imagery on reality monitoring decisions. Reality monitoring refers to the decision processes involved in discriminating perceptual memories from imaginal ones. In Experiment 1, 6-year-olds and adults were shown pictures and words and they responded to one of two questions: (1)…

The application of the "back-propagation" learning algorithm to the task of determining the right set of features corresponding to the words in an input sentence is described. Features that are specific to particular nouns and verbs, that indicate whether a nominal constituent is singular or plural, definite or indefinite, and that…

Two types of operating principles thought to play an important role in early lexical development are discussed. The principles are those concerned with: (1) assignment of reference or meaning to words; and (2) formation and evolution of categories. Discussion also addresses related issues, such as the developmentally important relationship between…

The contributions of Peter Stephen DuPonceau and John Pickering to American linguistics in the early nineteenth century are reviewed and discussed. Despite their probable status as amateurs in the study of American Indian languages and their very limited fieldwork, they made some significant contributions to the general field of language studies…

Two types of classification error are possible in competency tests: erroneous classification of an individual as a "master" of the subject (Type II error), and erroneous classification of a master as a "nonmaster" of the subject (Type I). If steps are taken to minimize Type II errors, an artificially high number of true masters…

This document reports on a workshop on coral species present in Thailand and on the status of coral taxonomy in central Indo-Pacific countries. The report discusses workshop aims, summarizes field and laboratory studies, provides a tentative checklist of hermatypic coral species from Thailand, assesses the status of coral taxonomy in participating…

Violent individuals are a heterogeneous group, making it unrealistic to think that a single psychological profile can classify them. Adolescents (N=72) at the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry who had committed homicides were studied in an effort to distinguish clinically meaningful subtypes based on the motives and circumstance of their…

The Kuder Interest Card Sort (KICS) is presented as an interest exploration process prepared to assist psychologists, vocational counselors or career advisors in assessment of vocational preferences when a detailed interest-inventory is unnecessary. The card sort concept and rationale, physical and content format, administering procedure, and uses…

Crystallization of Magma is one of a series of single-topic problem modules intended for use in undergraduate geology and earth science courses. Through problems and observations based on two sets of experiments, this module leads to an understanding of how an igneous rock can form from molten material. Environmental factors responsible for…

To gain a greater understanding about how people comprehend a set of directions, a macro-level research approach is needed. Researchers must first decide on the domain of activity that is to be investigated. In our society instructions are used for building things from parts, disassembling things, determining the functional characteristics of…

A study was conducted to determine the validity of two separate item classification schemes for the reading comprehension subtest of the McGraw-Hill Test of Adult Basic Education, Level D, Form 4. The first of the two schemes was developed by the publisher and presented as a means of classifying errors for the purpose of diagnosing individual…

Discussed are results of studies of the cognitive development of 2- and 3-year-old children which suggest that the mind makes gains in the ability to think as gains in language development are made. "Thinking" in this context refers to the judgments children made as they selected objects and maneuvered them into one arrangement or…

The automatic/controlled processing theory proposal that the modification of long term memory (LTM) occurs only during controlled processing, and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no resulting LTM effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were shown words while performing tasks involving either…