A self-evaluation of one small but innovative agency providing supported living and other community supports to individuals with developmental disabilities is presented. Key elements that appear to perpetuate a culture of commitment among direct support and supervisory staff are described, including naturalness, individualization, introspection,…

This article describes factors affecting the achievement of 15 highly accomplished European American women in the fields of business, higher education, and law and government. Findings indicate participants tended to attribute their success to external factors while simultaneously employing proactive strategies to overcome potential barriers.…

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) President (1999-2000) reports on the State of the Profession. Part I compares the profession of human performance technology (HPT) to other professions. Part II discusses the nature of HPT and examines critical classes of variables affecting the mission of HPT. Part III illustrates…

Examined degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in children's and adults' categorization of faces. Found a developmental trend from analytic to holistic processing and an effect of face inversion with increasing age. Seven-year-olds processed faces comparably to nonfacial visual stimuli, whereas a growing proportion…

Uses a simple model of an information retrieval (IR) technology to examine performance measures for IR systems. Shows that, if a user is employing a system optimally, then reasonable performance measures will tend to be relatively robust, or insensitive, to small variations in assumptions about the user's behavior. (AEF)

Examines the effect of physical movement on the aural acuity of conducting subjects using the the Seashore Measures of Musical Talents. Reveals that subjects who received movement training showed significantly higher gain scores than those who had not. Proposes the integration of movement-based training into the conducting curriculum. (DSK)

A study investigated the role of three social-awareness components (sensitivity, insight, and communication) in the employment success of 125 adolescents with mild mental retardation. Results found that all three social-awareness measures were higher for adolescents who rated higher in work performance, particularly awareness of social…

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

Examines the argument that accelerated learning occurs in the presence of music. Summarizes animal and human research findings relating music exposure to enhanced learning, the role of introversion/extroversion on learning environment preferences, state-specific learning, the use of music to enhance second-language learning, and the impact of…

This article discusses research that examined the effectiveness of cochlear implants. Findings indicate children implanted at younger ages do better, children who have been deaf a shorter time do better, and higher-level central processes such as perception, attention, learning, and memory may play important roles in explaining effectiveness…

A study involving 75 elementary students, 51 with high-incidence disabilities, investigated variables associated with learning in an inquiry-oriented approach to the study of density and buoyancy. Preconceptions, scientific predictions, and academic achievement measures were not predictive of task performance. However, grade level and IQ were…

Results of a study indicate that of 37 students who met the criteria for hyperactivity-impulsivity-inattention and conduct problems in third grade, 13 continued to meet the criteria in fifth grade. Students who remained stable, who improved, or who became worse differed significantly on key risk and protective variables. (Contains references.)…

A study examined the extent to which different measures of speech reading performance correlated with cognitive abilities in 18 adults with hearing impairments. Younger participants were better speech readers and speech tracking correlated with written lexical decision speed. Speech reading for sentence comprehension correlated most strongly with…

A follow-up study examined the effects of different tactile aids on tasks of visual speech reading in 14 adults with severe hearing impairments. Compared with speech reading alone, tactile aids impaired sentence-based speech reading at first, although performance improved with training. No effects of vibrotactile aids or training were obtained for…

Three proposed models were tested to explore the inter-relationships affecting student academic performance and nonacademic factors using structural equation modeling. Results with 147 undergraduates suggest that a Bio-Model and a Family Mediated Model serve to predict academic performance moderately well. (SLD)