This research-subject attrition study evaluated differences between 45 subjects who completed a 22-month longitudinal study and 34 who dropped out. Subjects were blue-collar employees. Discriminant analysis proved to be a useful tool for determining some of longitudinal data bias. Attrition was predicted by situational rather than personality…

C. S. Dweck's achievement goals model was tested by examining relationships between individual differences in achievement-goal tendencies and perceived causality for 123 undergraduates (45 males and 78 females). The stronger each performance-goal tendency, the more unstable and controllable low ability was perceived. Inconsistencies with Dweck's…

Describes the Theme Months concept implemented at Grand Valley State University to coordinate the delivery of educational programs for students. Concept incorporates health issues (sexuality, alcohol and drugs, and wellness) and several other topics (career development, academic skills, and respect for individual differences) into a student life…

Programs implementing the Regular Education Initiative (REI) are criticized for their relatively simplistic approaches to the instructional problems created by learner diversity. Such programs as "Success for All" and teacher consultation programs do not adequately consider what happens to those students and teachers who do not succeed under the…

Individual differences in inhibition were moderately but significantly stable over the two years of the study. Compared to other children, inhibited children engaged in less high quality peer play at home and in day care, and were less able to play alone in the mother's absence. Other findings underscored the predictive and construct validity of…

This study surveyed personal factors influencing reasoning of 61 adult citizens about federal budget deficit solutions. Reasoners were motivated to present a strong argument for their answers and generally did not offer counterargument unless prompted to do so. Education level was not significantly related to quality of argument. (SLD)

A seventh-grade teacher compared three current delivery systems associated with learning style and multiple intelligences: Beatrice McCarthy's "4MAT," Kathleen Butler's "The Learner's Dimension," and Carolyn Mamchur's "Cognitive Type Theory and Learning Style." All have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Gardner's…

Two types of personalized instruction, interaction and thoughtfulness, transcend the behavioral paradigm to include experiences building on individual student differences. Teachers can facilitate learners' progress from cognitive skill development to mastery and real-life problem solving by stressing experiential and inquiry learning, independent…

Explores the effect of individual speaking style on the self-correction behavior of second-language speakers. The project involved 30 Hungarian learners of English studying at various levels of proficiency and made use of self-report data. (Author/VWL)

Compared the "on-line" (real time, ongoing internal representation) understanding of ongoing social events of boys with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Found that younger children and those with ADHD showed less integrated on-line representations, accounting for poor recall and reasoning. (Author/KB)

Examined variation in and relationships among delinquency, attachment to adults, optimism about occupational future, and disposition toward aggressiveness in German adolescent apprentices. Found considerable variation across the four variables. Attachment to adults predicted attitudes toward delinquency and optimism regarding occupational future.…

Describes a recent longitudinal case study of the concordancing strategies used by two nonnative English-speaking postgraduate students at Monash University, Australia. In the study, a computer-assisted technique was used to correct English expression in sections of the students' written texts; these texts were then used in the corpus for the…

Moving beyond question of whether on-line education is beneficial or harmful, explores conditions under which one or another of six instructional methods lecture, collaborative learning, experiential learning, learning contracts, televised courses, and Web-based learning work best. Finds specific methods more appropriate for some subject matters,…

Examined individual, ethnic, and age differences in structure of mother-adolescent conversations. Found Latin American mothers dominated conversations more than European Americans; mothers dominated conversations about sexuality/AIDS more than conversations about conflicts; older adolescents reported less satisfaction, less openness, and more…

Reports on two studies. The first, a brain-imaging study evaluating brain-processing differences between high- and low- performing middle-school students attempting a spatial visualization task, establishes the connection between brain-processing patterns and task-learning efficiency. The second study, involving 33 women graduate education majors,…