Decision-making is a complex process that is largely studied from an experimental perspective or in specific organizational contexts. As such, no generalizable framework exists with which to study decision-making from an individual differences perspective for predictive/selection purposes. By generalising a context-specific decision model proposed…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that transfer ability (positive and negative) varies depending on the nature of the problems, using the knowledge transfer matrix, as well as being dependent on the individual differences of the learner. A total of 178 participants from the United States and New Zealand completed measures of prior…

Symbolic play is a powerful vehicle for supporting emotional development and communication. It embraces all developmental capacities. This article describes how symbols are formed and how emotional themes are symbolized whereby children reveal their understanding of the world, their feelings and relationships, and how they see themselves in the…

This article aims to investigate how university students perform agency in an online course and whether the collaborative nature of the course affects such expression. A total of 11 online web forums involving 18 students (N = 745 posts in total) were qualitatively analysed through the use of a codebook composed of five categories (individual,…

This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to…

This study investigated the views of teachers and learners regarding the timing of grammatical instruction, conceptualized as a distinction between isolated and integrated form-focused instruction (FFI) proposed by Spada and Lightbown (2008). Both types of FFI are described as taking place in primarily meaning-based communicative classrooms. They…

Most of the individual difference variance in the population is found "within" families, yet studying the processes causing this variation is difficult due to confounds between genetic and nongenetic influences. Quasi-experiments can be used to test hypotheses regarding environment exposure (e.g., timing, duration) while controlling for…

Metacognitive strategy knowledge, motivation, and learning strategies play an important role in self-regulated learning (SRL). However, little is known about different profiles of self-regulated learners in schools that prepare students for the university entrance certificate. The aim of this study was to examine intraindividual differences in the…

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) population consists of a wide range of abilities with needs that may be unique to this set of learners. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relative contributions of phonological decoding and morphological awareness to spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension across a sample of ABE students. In…

This study examined accuracy in production and grammaticality judgements of verb morphology by eighteen Chinese-speaking children learning English as a second language (L2) followed longitudinally from four to six years of exposure to English, and who began to learn English at age 4;2. Children's growth in accuracy with verb morphology reached a…

This study describes the development of an observational tool, the Write Start! Writing Assessment, created to provide descriptive information on four features of preschoolers' writing: forms, directional patterns, intentionality (ways of assigning meaning to marks), and message content. Observational categories were generated from a review of…

We present the results of an in-depth qualitative study that examined ninth graders' conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions as well as their approach to mathematics learning, in particular fraction learning. We traced individual differences, even extreme, in the way that students combine the two kinds of knowledge. We also provide…

While factors influencing maternal emotional availability (EA) have been well investigated, little is known about the development of child EA. The present longitudinal study investigated the role of frontal brain asymmetry in young children with regard to child EA (child responsiveness and involvement) in mother-child interaction in a sample of 28…

This research examines the characteristics of reader understandings that vary from those stated in the text. Eighty-seven fourth graders orally read complex academic literary and scientific texts, followed by probed retellings. Retold ideas not directly supported by, or reflective of, the texts were identified. These differing understandings…

The present study estimates the global validity of existing constructs and serves as the basis for the development of the "Self-Reported Study Habits for International Students (SR-SHI)" used to identify at-risk students in international programs. One-year classroom observations, recollection of study habits though interviews with high…