This study, involving 24 preschool children with stuttering problems, found no significant differences between subgroups based on stuttering severity and phonologic ability. Phonologic difficulties of the disfluent word, and the fluent word following it, did not contribute to fluency breakdown regardless of the children's stuttering severity or…

This study, with a young autistic child and a young adult with profound mental retardation, demonstrated the effectiveness of a gradual, changing criterion process of stimulus shaping in training subjects to independently perform tasks with relatively high task requirements. (DB)

Grammatical deficits (e.g., missing feature, surface account, and missing agreement) reported for children with specific language impairment (SLI) were evaluated in spontaneous language transcripts from 108 preschool children. Results indicated that children with SLI do control number marking but find number agreement across clausal boundaries…

The extent to which variables from a previous study (P. Mosenthal, 1996) on document processing influenced difficulty on 165 tasks from the pose scales of five national adult literacy scales was studied. Three process variables accounted for 78% of the variance when prose task difficulty was defined using level scores. Implications for computer…

Examined the role that gender differences play in the determination of the components influencing the difficulty of spatial ability items. Results for 2,245 examinees taking a spatial ability test that is part of the Dental School Admission Battery show that component difficulties show little variation across gender. (SLD)

Exploration of collaboration preferences of six mathematically gifted children (ages 11-12) in solving complex, novel problems found collaboration was preferred only when the task was sufficiently challenging. When collaboration was encouraged there was the development of mutual scaffolding, shared cognition, critical thinking, and discernment and…

Compares Angoff and Nedelsky methods for setting passing scores on tests. Using one of the methods, 84 college students were taught to estimate their probable scores on a vocabulary test. Estimates were compared to their later actual scores. The Nedelsky method was considerably less accurate under certain conditions, and both methods…

A well-constructed test sheet not only helps the instructor evaluate the learning status of the students, but also facilitates the diagnosis of the problems embedded in the students' learning process. This paper addresses the problem of selecting proper test items to compose a test sheet that conforms to such assessment requirements as average…

Fifteen counseling center supervisors were interviewed about 3 instances related to important feedback with an intern supervisee: in which the feedback was given easily, in which it was given reluctantly or with difficulty, and another in which it was not given. Supervisors indicated that easy feedback was most often about clinical problems, was…

Three studies compared 98 children with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM)--a disorder associated with high rates of math disability and spatial deficits--to 94 typically developing children on multidigit subtraction and cognitive addition tasks. Children with SBM were classified into those with reading decoding and math disability, only math…

This study was designed to determine a word problem difficulty classification in children with arithmetic learning disabilities (ALD; n = 104) in comparison with typically achieving students (n = 44). We tested variables such as (a) semantic structure (Change, Combine, Compare, and Equalize), (b) operation (subtraction and addition), and (c)…

The complexities of autonomy and connectedness in the self-conceptions of late adolescent European Americans provide empirical support for the theoretical position that autonomy and connectedness are multifaceted and interrelated self-characteristics that reflect cultural values about individuals in relation to others.

The effect of item parameters (discrimination, difficulty, and level of guessing) on the item-fit statistic was investigated using simulated dichotomous data. Nine tests were simulated using 1,000 persons, 50 items, three levels of item discrimination, three levels of item difficulty, and three levels of guessing. The item fit was estimated using…

Test validity issues considered by test developers and school districts rarely include individual item readability levels. In this study, items from a major standardized test were examined for individual item readability level and item difficulty. The Homan-Hewitt Readability Formula was applied to items across three grade levels. Results of…

Kowalski and Zimiles (2006) and O'Hanlon and Roberson (2006) address an age-old question: Why do children find it difficult to learn color terms? Here these articles are reflected on, providing a focused examination of the issues central to this question. First, the criteria by which children are said to find color naming difficult are considered.…