A study of 60 successful males and females with reading disabilities found both genders developed high level literacy skills through avid reading of high interest texts, females were more likely to be discouraged from pursuing academic interests, and both genders were discouraged from pursuing mathematics and science. (Contains references.)…

A review of 913 studies involving students with learning disabilities found treatment outcomes were significantly affected by the following violations: teacher effects, establishing criterion levels of instructional performance, reliance on experimental measures, using different pretest and posttest measures, using a sample heterogeneous in age,…

Two experiments used Visual Expectations Procedure to investigate development of expectations in infants up to 12 months old. Reaction time improved and the percentage of anticipations increased between 6 and 9 months using an alternation pattern or a complex pivot pattern, and between 4 and 8 months when using a left-right alternation or a…

Three experiments investigated 4-, 6-, and 8-month-olds' perception of the audible, visible, and combined attributes of bimodally specified syllables. Results suggested that at 4 months, infants attended primarily to the featural information, at 6 months primarily to the asynchrony, and at 8 months to both features independently. (Author/KB)

This article describes a potential teacher compensation structure that is consistent with standards-based education reform and that is an example of the kinds of compensation practices required for successful implementation. Skill- and competency-based pay and group performance models are included. (SLD)

Examines the effect of test method on the reading performance of two levels of early-stage second-language (L2) readers of French. The study compares two global response modes, the summary and the recall protocol. Results indicate a significant qualitative difference in the performance on the two tasks. The summaries contained significantly more…

Human performance technology (HPT) models are compared. One model groups performance factors by their relation to the performer (internal or external). A second model categorizes factors by which organizational level has the most control over them (executive, managerial, or individual). A third model considers rational and emotional intelligences;…

Tested whether social comparisons with probably less fortunate others differently affected boys and girls' cognitive performance in circumstances maximizing concerns about social integration and peer acceptance. Results from 64 French 10- to 12-year-old children show boys performed better than girls when adverse social comparison was anticipated,…

Describes a study that compared performance differences (perceived, actual, and temporal) for a strategic business information acquisition experimental task when subjects used a library versus using the Internet. It was found that task performance decreased and time to completion increased when using the Internet. (Author/LRW)

This article presents the "Piirto Pyramid" framework for identification of talent potential. It explains how the pyramid identifies influences that are significant in the development of talents, including genetics, personality attributes, cognitive ability, talent, vocational, and environmental. Examples using Roy Rogers and Michelangelo are…

Examines relations between academic self-concept (ASC) and measures of reading-related performance and self-concept in 60 beginning school children who were assessed as having positive, negative, or typical ASCs. Data reveals that children with negative ASCs performed poorly on reading-related tasks and reported more negative reading self-concepts…

This study of students at the University of Tampere (Finland) analyzes how changes in relevance criteria are related to changes in problem stages during the task performance process in information retrieval. Provides a conceptual framework, including Kuhlthau's information search process model and prior knowledge; and compares bibliographic…

Surveyed 47 students in an online business course at an Australian university to determine their attitudes toward, and use of, the online course delivery system. Identified three critical success factors: (1) the technology; (2) the instructor; and (3) previous use of the technology by the student. (SLD)

Two experiments related structure of a task to underlying cognitive mechanisms. Found that 3-year olds were no better at predicting behavior from partially true beliefs than from entirely false beliefs. Three- and 4-year olds, and autistic children had distinct performance profiles across tasks. Concluded that conceptual foundations for a…

Performance Centered Design (PCD) offers an alternative to the old methodology of software development. The author suggests one design possibility that could be used to create a more universally satisfying interface for existing applications, an adaptive mini-program that "sits" between the larger application and the user. Potential…