This paper presents a discussion, based on current research, of what can be done to help children achieve the highest level of cognitive development (Piaget's formal operations). The four factors which Piaget found to be involved in cognitive development are discussed in relation to recent research. These factors include: (1) organic growth and…

A conventional vocabulary test and two forms of a stradaptive vocabulary test were administered by a time-shared computer system to undergraduate college students. The two stradaptive tests differed in that one counted question mark responses (i.e., omitted items) as incorrect and the other ignored items responded to with question marks.…

This study empirically investigated the validity and utility of the stratified adaptive computerized testing model (stradaptive]developed by Weiss (1973). The model presents a tailored testing strategy based on Binet IQ measurement theory and Lord's (1972) modern test theory. Nationally normed School and College Ability Test Verbal analogy items…

This illustrated booklet on prenatal care and birth is part of a related curriculum on parenting and child development designed for school-age mothers. Conception, embryonic and fetal development, the birth process, nutrition during pregnancy, and emotional and physical characteristics of pregnant women are explained. Short quizzes and answers are…

A series of Piagetian concrete operations period tasks dealing with classificatory concepts was administered to 280 children (40 subjects from each of seven levels--preschool, kindergarten, and first, second, third, fourth, and sixth grades). Significant main effects for age were found for all the tasks. Few significant sex differences were…

This study examined (1) the incentive for achievement motivation of female and male Mexican American and Anglo American children and (2) the relationship between language behavior, as a possible indicator of acculturation, and modes of achievement motivation. A questionnaire type scale was developed to provide a viable assessment measure that is…

This study investigates the preference and ability components of cognitive style as measured by a verbal test for fifth-grade children. Performances from an intellectual ability test, a pictorial cognitive style test, and school achievement tests were included as construct validity variables. The results supported conclusions drawn by Robinson and…

This study investigated the relationship between visual attending and learning in a group of 16 Head Start children from low income families. Attending behavior (defined as "eyes oriented towards the teacher and/or teaching materials for a full 5-second interval") was measured for each child during a 10-minute story period on four…

A number of strategies are described for adapting ability test items to individual differences in ability levels of testees. Each strategy consists of a different set of rules for selecting the sequence of test items to be administered to a given testee. Advantages and disadvantages of each strategy are discussed, and research issues unique to the…

This paper was intended to promote a deeper understanding of a statistical method called balancing developed by National Assessment of Educational Progress. Problems in estimating main effects when populations are disproportionate, balancing solutions to these problems, methods equivalent to balancing, interpretation of balanced results, and some…

While debates over the heritability of IQ and the potential for culture bias in measuring instruments have generated much research and public comment, it is also possible to investigate the significance of interracial differences in mean IQ by ignoring both the foregoing issues and instead examining the social psychology of the test situation…

Three evaluators with different backgrounds and interests were involved in a program evaluation at Cornell University's Center for International Studies, where two of the evaluators had serious conflicts and the third served as an in-house mediator. The third evaluator questioned why he had credibility with the first two, looked at how he…

A 15-stage pyramidal test and a 40-item two-stage test were constructed and administered by computer to 111 college undergraduates. The two-stage test was found to utilize a smaller proportion of its potential score range than the pyramidal test. Score distributions for both tests were positively skewed but not significantly different from the…

A study was designed to test the expectation that different individuals have different cognitive styles, which, if true, may be useful in investigating characteristics and psychological impacts of media utilization. Cognitive style refers to an individual's way of acquiring and processing information. Characteristics of the visual type and haptic…

A study was made to determine whether different methods of visual presentations would affect the retention rate of individuals with two distinct types of perception--visual and haptic. The visual type, according to a study by Viktor Lowenfeld in 1957, is marked by the following characteristics: (1) ability to see wholes, break them into visual…