Perceived time in complex cognitive functions was studied using college students' estimates of time spent taking a test in relation to examination performance. Significant correlations were found between true scores and students' estimated time. Differences in the perception of time were shown to be consistent with theories of attentional…

In two experiments, children ages six through eight, 10-year-old children, and college students were shown several series of slides. Each series told a unique "story" and was followed by oral questions. Results illustrated the increasing interdependence of the verbal and visual systems with age. (Author/MP)

Twenty-four girls and 19 boys who failed quantity conservation tasks on a pretest were retested after having been exposed to a classroom demonstration on conservation. Results indicated that children who understood number conservation improved their quantity conservation performance more often than children who showed no understanding of number…

Gender differences in predicting displaced volume did not reflect gender differences in spatial ability, field-dependence-independence, or Piagetian formal reasoning. In addition, gender differences were not accounted for by science and math course-taking experience. (Author/PN)

Two components of institutional performance are regarded as effectiveness, which is concerned with the congruence between outputs and goals or other criteria, and efficiency, which links output with inputs. The efficiency dimension is defined, and its relationship to the economic concepts of efficiency and productivity is examined. (Author/PN)

The authors review existing research which links three sets of variables: (1) organizational characteristics, (2) how efficacy operates within the individual, and (3) the individual and organizational effects with which efficacy has been empirically connected. Efficacy is defined in terms of the individual's expectancy of gaining valued outcomes…

Students were ranked in ability to anticipate the arrival of a relatively fast moving stimulus at a certain point along a trackway and compared with "narrow attentional focus," a measure of attentional style. An association between an individual's field independence and performance on an anticipation task was shown. (Author/CM)

Investigated persistence with the disposition to be self-attentive and outcome feedback on a prior task. Results showed feedback concerning prior outcomes had a direct influence on expectancies for the second task, but persistence on that task was a joint function of feedback and self-consciousness. (Author)

Students from four academic status groups, four class standing groups, and both sexes completed a survey of problems related to academic performance. Significant differences were found between status and class groups and sexes on the kinds of problems reported and between status groups on the total problems reported. (Author/RC)

In a memory search task with context recognition, three groups of children were examined: hyperactives, somewhat hyperactives, and controls. Both groups of hyperactive-rated children were slower in their cognitive processing than controls. (MP)

Two experiments investigated psychological factors determining preschoolers' success or failure on a sequence-completion task involving temporal and causal ordering of events. Overall findings demonstrate that while preschoolers do understand temporal/causal relationships, their abilities are dependent on process variables demanded by the task…

Investigated the allocation of positive and negative outcomes of joint work. College students (N=94) allocated gain or loss based on information about their own and partner's ability and effort and differences in performance. Allocations to discount differences in contributions were based on differences in ability rather than effort. (RC)

Compared performances for male and female groups using three different group problem-solving procedures: unstructured, structured-open, and structured-forced. Results indicated that female groups performed better with the structured-forced procedure than with the structured-open procedure. Male groups performed better with the structured-open…

Investigated whether retrospective and concurrent assessments in test anxiety research yield comparable data. Results indicated that concurrent and retrospective assessment groups did not differ on number of positive thoughts, negative thoughts, bodily sensations, or anxiety levels. Concurrent assessment did not affect test performance. (Author)

Elderly participants (N=64) were classified as to high or low rigidity and completed the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire. Previous findings were supported in that subjects preferred not to make decisions. Subjects were more cautious in making decisions applying to younger individuals and rigidity was related to risky decisions. (RC)