Identifies key variables within and outside the learning context that could affect motivation to learn during training. Bases the theoretical framework on sociotechnical systems, total quality management, and training transfer theories that could influence employee and organizational performance. Considers task autonomy, organization's orientation…

Examined ability of individuals biologically predisposed to poor spatial skills to capitalize on opportunities to develop these skills. Found that for girls with brothers, those from all right-handed families had lower mental-rotation scores than did others. Among children participating in mental-rotation-type activities with their brothers,…

This study examined how 14 Hispanic adolescents either with or without learning disabilities fared academically and socially during the transition from elementary to middle school. Students had been in a sixth grade consultation/collaboration inclusive classroom. Findings suggested that both groups of students experienced the transition similarly…

Results of a study of 20 creative people in Brazil found they felt that their mothers had most influenced their creativity and mentored them, that many had experienced feelings of loneliness and being different from their adolescent peers, and that they had received understanding, acceptance, and admiration from their teachers during elementary…

A British study that compared 12 musically gifted children (ages 8- 11) and 12 children gifted in fine arts with controls, found environmental circumstances, especially at home, were of vital importance for exceptionally high-level performance, even when there was provision at schools for developing talent. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Reviews the development phase of a collaborative inquiry initiative undertaken among staff in the Center for Distance Education, Athabasca University, Canada, to identify competencies required of master's-level experts in distance education. The competencies are clustered in four skill sets, and basic procedures for developing a taxonomy of…

Responds to Needham and Baillargeon's criticisms and offers an alternative resolution of the conflicting results between the laboratories regarding abilities of infants less than 12 months to use property/featural information for object individuation. Maintains that kind concepts are acquired as infants approach their first birthday and that…

Presents ideas about how the workplace affects job performance, how to diagnose workplace-related problems, and how to make modest improvements. Highlights include: workplace-imposed limits on performance; the mental and physical steps of work; screening behavior; how adaptation interferes with performance; task- and human-based workspaces;…

Investigates the information representation power of different modalities in the video data in order to collect empirical evidence for video surrogate creation and thus better support effective video browsing and information retrieval. Three types of video surrogates were created and compared under two user tasks--verbal comprehension and visual…

Discussion of information technology training focuses on an evaluative study at the Department of Defense that investigated whether new information technology training could improve job performance. Highlights include determining training effectiveness; job transfer evaluation; return on investment; use of software features; and the impact of…

One frequently used research protocol involves presenting several conflict scenarios to participants during a single session. However, in real-life situations multiple conflicts rarely occur within short periods of time, and the nature of presentation may change adolescents' reports of conflict behaviors. Trend analyses of responses suggest that…

This article describes the design and outcomes of a project to promote the reintegration of pupils with emotional and behavioral difficulties at transfer to secondary school. It reports on a series of successful placements and discusses the factors that have helped sustain the inclusion of the pupils. (Contains four references.) (Author/CR)

Considers the relative lack of research attention to retention in developmental psychology and recent findings on age differences in retention. Highlights unresolved issues and how Bauer and colleagues' work may help set the research agenda and contribute to a shift in how early childhood retention is studied. Discusses memory strength,…

Assessed predictions from social identity theory (SIT) concerning acquisition of young children's intra- and intergroup attitudes and cognitions. Found that children as young as 5 years of age were sensitive to the status of their social group, and that ingroup status had important implications for their desire to remain group members and their…

Two experiments examined developmental changes in reasoning about intensive quantities--predicting mixture intensity of pairs of liquids with different intensities of red color. Results showed that cognitive averaging in this domain developed late and slowly. Predominating up to 12 years was an extensivity bias, a strong tendency to use rules that…