The DIF-free-then-DIF (DFTD) strategy consists of two steps: (a) select a set of items that are the most likely to be DIF-free and (b) assess the other items for DIF (differential item functioning) using the designated items as anchors. The rank-based method together with the computer software IRTLRDIF can select a set of DIF-free polytomous items…

Objective: Research on children's risk of injury reveals that parent and child factors are often interrelated. This study examined relations between children's risk taking, parent appraisal of this risk taking, and children's rate of injury in youth 8 and 9 years old. Methods: Responses to questionnaires and laboratory tasks were used to examine…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are faced with many challenging behaviors that could impede their learning. One commonly reported problem behavior is noncompliance, which is often defined as a delay in response (latency), decrease in rate of responding (fluency), or failure to complete a task. This failure to comply in an appropriate…

Starting from an explicit scoring rule for time limit tasks incorporating both response time and accuracy, and a definite trade-off between speed and accuracy, a response model is derived. Since the scoring rule is interpreted as a sufficient statistic, the model belongs to the exponential family. The various marginal and conditional distributions…

An intervention was introduced for truck loaders that used wireless vehicle mount computers that included auditory, visual feedback, and immediate data delivery. The implementation reliably reduced pallets from being loaded out of sequence for all outbound trucks in multistop routes. The role of the organizational behavior management (OBM)…

Purpose: The authors examined the influence of demographic variables on nonmainstream American English (NMAE) use; the differences between NMAE speakers and mainstream American English (MAE) speakers on measures of metalinguistics, single-word reading, and a new measure of morphophonology; and the differences between the 2 groups in the…

Talker variability in speech influences language processing from infancy through adulthood and is inextricably embedded in the very cues that identify speech sounds. Yet little is known about developmental changes in the processing of talker information. On one account, children have not yet learned to separate speech sound variability from…

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the comprehension of sentences with predicates and reflexives that are linked to a nonadjacent noun as a test of the hierarchical ordering deficit (HOD) hypothesis. That hypothesis and more modern versions posit that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty in establishing…

Although most psychological assessments are based on measures related to an individual's average level of performance, it has been proposed that measures of variability around one's average may provide unique individual difference information and have clinical significance. The current study investigated properties of within-person variability in…

The ultimate aim of our research project was to use the Google Web Speech API to automate scoring of elicited imitation (EI) tests. However, in order to achieve this goal, we had to take a number of preparatory steps. We needed to assess how accurate this speech recognition tool is in recognizing native speakers' production of the test items; we…

The use of standardized test results to drive school administrator evaluations pervades education policymaking in more than 40 states. However, the results of state standardized tests are strongly influenced by non-school factors. The models of best fit (n = 18) from this correlational, explanatory, longitudinal study predicted accurately the…

The present contribution focuses on Benigni's auteur film "La vita è bella" (Italy, 1997) as a tool for the development of language competence in L2 English, Spanish and German, as well as of translation skills from Italian into these languages. The project, developed at the CLASS Language Centre at the University for Foreigners of…

This paper reports on task interaction, task success and word learning among second language (L2) learners of different levels of word recognition from speech (WRS) proficiency who used a CALL application previously shown to be effective in the development of L2 WRS. Participants (N = 65) were categorised into three levels of L2 WRS proficiency…

This volume intends to address key issues related to research in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching and learning by bringing together current research at the intersection of the theoretical and practical dimensions of ESP. Readers will discover a treasury of information they will find useful to their own understanding of research into…

We evaluated the use of behavioral skills training (BST) to train caregivers to conduct procedures commonly associated with mand training. We trained two caregivers on the following procedures: (a) conducting preference assessments, (b) delivering preferred items contingent on appropriate behavior, (c) capturing and contriving motivating…