The first purpose of this editorial is to indicate a parallel trend in two disparate areas of research: information processing and cognitive-behavior modification (CBM). The second purpose is to highlight the role that affect plays in intellectual functioning, noting implications following the assessment of intelligence. (Author/RD)

Measurement specialists and instructional personnel can join forces to create tests that are valid indicators of important skills and are instructionally attainable targets for teachers. Such tests can revolutionize education. (Author/IRT)

Prediction of academic performance was investigated among 76 introductory psychology students. Seven noncognitive and four cognitive measures were used. Sex differences emerged, the best predictors being the Basic Word Vocabulary Test (cognitive) and the American Core Values Test (noncognitive) accounting for about 50 percent of the variance. (JC)

Presents initial data from 725 college and university students on the construct validity of the Learning Environmental Preferences (LEP) instrument. Findings suggest that the LEP accurately measures the cognitive portion of the Perry scheme of intellectual development. (Author/TE)

Describes methods of cognitive assessment: interview based, questionnaires, constructivist, and cognitive structure based. Applies them to career undercommitment, overcommitment, work-related anxiety and depression, and work-related personality problems. (SK)

Two experiments with children five and eight years of age examined the effects of different types of similarity on analogical problem solving and explored the cognitive components responsible for these effects. Results indicated that superficial and structural similarity facilitated the process of drawing analogies. (WJC)

The n-back task requires participants to decide whether each stimulus in a sequence matches the one that appeared n items ago. Although n-back has become a standard "executive" working memory (WM) measure in cognitive neuroscience, it has been subjected to few behavioral tests of construct validity. A combined experimental-correlational study…

Article examined the concept of "learner verification", which questions the testing, development and revision of teachers' tools - texts, programs and instructional materials. (Author/RK)

In order to assist the accountability demands of current educational policy, this report recommends the employment of a cognitive style mapping inventory to determine what each individual may achieve in learning skills. It is indicated that when students were permitted to study in ways compatible with their recognized cognitive styles, achievement…

The cognitive characteristics involved in a relatively field-dependent or field-independent cognitive style and the personal characteristics associated with these contrasting styles have been shown to play a role in a) students' selection of electives and majors, b) vocational preferences they experience early in their academic careers, and c) the…

Data, secured by questionnaire from single household dwelling units in Warwick, Rhode Island, were used to ascertain differences among social status groups with respect to attitudes and conceptualization pertaining to water pollution and water supply. A social status index was used to delineate three status groups having high, middle, and low rank…

Some characteristics of the human figure drawings of 93 Vietnamese children were investigated. Drawings were scored according to the Goodenough method. Mental age scores were high in relation to chronological age and this result is explained in terms of cultural emphasis on the value of copying well. (SE)

Discusses three studies that generated six replications of the subjective message construct theory indicating that between 25 percent and 50 percent of the variance in belief change can be explained by the theory. Indicates that subjective probabilities can be used to construct valid operational measures of importance and novelty. (NKA)

On the occasion of Psychometrika's fiftieth anniversary, the past twenty-five years' developments in mental test theory are reviewed. Psychometrika articles treating topics in test theory are listed in a bibliography. (Author/LMO)