Two experiments examined the role that college students' verbal aptitude and evaluation anxiety play in the production of persuasive letters. Results showed that verbal aptitude should be considered when predicting the quality of students writing. Taking writing anxiety into account did not increase the predictive power of verbal aptitude scores.…

In an effort to improve performance of high school students on intelligence tests, a large-scale study involving 296 Yugoslavian students was carried out by Radivoy Kvashchev. Results indicate that it is possible to achieve small improvement and that improvement remains a year after the end of training. (Author/LMO)

Provides a general description of the aims of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and focuses on the reasons for the recent declines in verbal and math scores. Also notes the best sorts of preparation--both general academic and specific preparation--for achieving high SAT scores. (JW)

This study examined the cross-lingual equating process adopted by a large scale testing system in which target language (TL) forms are equated to the source language (SL) forms using a set of translated items. The focus was on evaluating the degree of error inherent in the routine cross-lingual equating of the Verbal Reasoning subtest of the…

Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal, reading comprehension, and vocabulary scores are similar to the Nelson-Denny total, reading comprehension, and vocabulary scores. Correlation coefficients developed from these comparisons, when viewed as validity coefficients, are moderately high. (Author)

A Wherry-Wherry hierarchical factor solution was obtained on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) subtest performance of 100 adolescent retardates. The hierarchical arrangement of abilities obtained was consistent with Vernon's model of cognitive structure and previous reports. A g-factor and two major group factors were evident.…

An information-processing framework is presented for understanding intelligence. Two levels of processing are discussed: the steps involved in solving a complex intellectual task, and higher-order processes used to decide how to solve the problem. (MH)

Finds that extraverted children did better than introverted children on both a nonverbal coding task and simple and complex verbal fluency tasks. Notes that anxiety influenced girls' performances on the more complex verbal fluency task, but did not alter boys' performances. Compares these findings to those of similar studies of adults. (RL)

The authors cite reasons for the poor standard of spoken French in British secondary schools and put forward some practical ideas for oral activities. (SJL)

Investigated how verb causality in question formulation affects the locus of causal origin for answers. Hypothesized questions formulated with action verbs cue the logical subject of the question sentence as the causal origin for answers. Reverse tendency was expected for state verbs. Verb type in question formulation was found to affect…

A study measured interrater reliability among 140 United States and Canadian surgery exam raters and the influences of age, years in practice, and experience as an examiner on individual scores. Results indicate three aspects of examinee performance influenced scores: verbal style, dress, and content of answers. No rater characteristic…

A 5-year study investigated the effect of training on question-asking skills of 42 licensing examiners in orthopedic surgery. Results indicate that a three-hour training session resulted in examiners' asking many more open-ended and/or problem-solving questions, suggesting the effectiveness of the training program. (Author/MSE)

Adult musician's brains show structural enlargements, but it is not known whether these are inborn or a consequence of long-term training. In addition, music training in childhood has been shown to have positive effects on visual-spatial and verbal outcomes. However, it is not known whether pre-existing advantages in these skills are found in…

The collection of verbal reports is one way in which cognitive and developmental psychologists gather data to formulate and corroborate models of problem solving. The current use of verbal reports to design and validate educational assessments reflects the growing trend to fuse cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. However,…