A study of two forms of the Auditory Reading Test with 53 elderly participants with normal or low vision and hearing found mild-to-moderate hearing loss did not reduce auditory reading rates as much as expected. Participants with low vision read as quickly using computers and natural speech as sighted participants. (Contains references.)…

Three experiments examined the relative importance of original function and current function in artifact categorization for young children and adults. It was concluded that 6-year-olds have begun to organize their understanding of artifacts around the notion of original function, whereas 4-year-olds have not. Data were examined in terms of how…

Describes connectionist model showing exclusivity asymmetries when categorizing visual stimuli, similar to pattern shown by infants. Examines asymmetries in terms of an associative learning mechanism, distributed internal representations, and statistics of feature distributions in the stimuli. Details test of model with infants, finding that…

Critiqued six methods that have been used to study the relationship between per pupil expenditures and student achievement and considered two methods used to summarize the results that have produced conflicting conclusions. Results of the critique suggest that a preponderance of the evidence supports the existence of a positive relationship…

Five knowledge management (KM) experts discuss answers to six fundamental issues of KM that address: a definition of knowledge and KM; relationship between business and KM; whether technology has helped the knowledge worker; relationship between learning, performance, knowledge, and community; the promise of knowledge ecology or ecosystem and…

Examined whether the presence of implicit links between social groups and high versus low status attributes affected formation of intergroup attitudes among 7- to 12-year-olds. Found that children's intergroup attitudes were affected by a status manipulation when teachers made functional use of the novel groups. Children who were members of…

Examined school improvement plans under conditions of high-stakes accountability. Found that schools responded to performance demands of the accountability system with a pattern of external obligation (e.g., state and local requirements rather than teachers') and internal managerialism. School improvement plans were less useful as tools for a…

Two experiments documented that conceptual knowledge influences 3-year-olds' extension of novel words. When objects were described as having conceptual properties typical of artifacts, children extended novel labels on the basis of shape. When same objects were described as having conceptual properties typical of animate kinds, children extended…

Three studies involved kindergartners in a categorization task with an adult in collaborative and noncollaborative conditions; tested subjects on memory of who had performed which actions; and asked them to recategorize items independently. Results suggested that one process contributing to children's internalization of knowledge may involve…

Six match-to-sample picture/object selection experiments explored 3- to 5-year-olds' knowledge about superordinate words and acquisition of this knowledge. Findings indicated that number of standards (one versus two), types of standards (different versus same basic-level categories), and nature of representation (pictures versus objects)…

This study questioned progress in the shift from training to performance. A survey administered to 62 training and performance professionals queried respondents about concepts relevant to performance: analysis, solution systems, cross-functionality, customer and collegial expectations, and shared knowledge. Overall, results showed that…

Currently there is little knowledge reuse across training, documentation, and performance support. Knowledge-based materials developed for one purpose are not shared or reused in others. The Knowledge Warehouse, a conceptual solution to this problem is discussed. Benefits and limitations are outlined and a definition of a standardized…

A study compared the performance of 15 children (ages 5-12) with visual impairments and 15 controls on the Comprehension and Similarities items of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Results indicated the children with visual impairments were disadvantaged by comprehension-type items with high visual content. (CR)

A study of 57 Australian children (ages 6-7) found that children who experienced a recurrent event were more accurate about details that remained constant across events in comparison with children who experienced the event only once. They also produced more responses to both free recall and to general questions. (CR)

Examination of how (and whether) particular types of institutional performance measures can be beneficially used in making resource allocation decisions finds that only easily verifiable "hard" statistics should be used in classic performance funding approaches, although surveys and the use of good practices by institutions may…