Studied modeling individual latent growth curves of older adults on measures of fluid intelligence by fitting second-order polynomial curves reflecting initial test performance improvement followed by relative stability/drop to the recorded scores of each of 248 subjects. Results suggest substantial plasticity in fluid intelligence of older…

Assessed age-related changes in 2- to 4-year olds' verbal and nonverbal memory for the same unique event. Found that children's performance on each memory measure increased as a function of age. Children with more advanced language skills reported more during the verbal interview and exhibited superior nonverbal memory relative to children with…

Discusses assessment of Web-based instruction and reports results of a study that investigated whether segmentation of information and the provision of an overview of the Web system differentially facilitated learning performance, measured with recall questions and a short essay question, for individuals with different cognitive styles. (LRW)

Discussion of approaches to studying used by students in higher education focuses on a study at the Open University (United Kingdom) that administered the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory to students taking a Web-based course in computing. Discusses student perceptions of academic quality associated…

Recounts a study documenting the actual learning trajectory of the classroom community and the diversity in eighth-graders' reasoning as they participated in the classroom mathematical practices that constituted this trajectory. Describes the learning of the research team by documenting conjectures about students' statistical learning and the…

Presents a study examining individual differences, such as sex, gender, self-discrepancies, and self awareness. Determined how the differences affect anger and verbal aggressiveness among a sample of U.S. college students (n=445). Reports that repressing anger is explained by masculinity and public self-awareness; while expressing anger is caused…

Children's phonological processing abilities, reading skills, and vocabulary were assessed annually from kindergarten through grade four. Found that individual differences in phonological awareness were related to subsequent differences in word-level reading, and that individual differences in letter-name knowledge were related to subsequent…

Investigated linkage between delay-of-gratification dimension of impulsivity and social information processing in 80 second-graders and 80 fifth-graders. Found that low-delay ability and younger participants made less use of social cues than did older and high-delay ability participants; however, these findings were qualified by grade and gender…

Studied possible interactions of students' inter-individual differences and features of cooperative learning in samples of 208 eighth graders and 138 12th graders. Uncertainty oriented students in the first study used the opportunities of cooperative learning to discuss results with others. In the second study, the degree of implementation of…

Examined early development of guilt in 106 children observed in laboratory paradigms in which they were led to believe they had damaged valuable objects during 2 sessions at 22, 33, and 45 months. Found support for a mediational model in which fearful temperament contributed to guilt proneness, which served to inhibit children's tendency to…

Compared key demographic and individual difference variables of distance and non-distance learners. Found significant differences in gender, age, employment status, motivation, and risk-taking propensity between distance and non-distance learners. (EV)

Explored genetic and environmental etiologies of individual differences in printed word recognition and related skills in identical and fraternal twin 8- to 18-year-olds. Found evidence for moderate genetic influences common between IQ, phoneme awareness, and word-reading skills and for stronger IQ-independent genetic influences that were common…

Discusses factors that contribute to powerful learning experiences based on the results of two studies that examined diverse groups and more coherent groups of individuals. Topics include the highly individual nature of learning; problems that can create for instructional designers; relevance of learning to life and/or work; active learning; and…

Data from the fourth followup to the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 suggest greater complexity in the individual trajectories, or careers, that characterize the movement from adolescence to adulthood than in earlier years. Understanding the role schooling now plays in the lives of U.S. adults may require a more expansive view than…

The questions of "untracking" and cooperative learning for the academically gifted are important, because arguments concerning this small population are often used to defeat tracking reduction or elimination efforts for other students. This article rejects ability grouping for high achievers and recommends cooperative programs involving all…