EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLES INTENDED TO REPRESENT A CONTINUUM OF REINFORCEMENT FOR SEARCHING BEHAVIOR WERE--REINFORCEMENT BY PRAISE ONLY (1), AND REINFORCEMENT BY PRAISE PLUS INDIRECT GUIDANCE ON HOW TO PROCESS INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE LEARNER (2). A THIRD INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITION REQUIRED MINIMUM TEACHER-LEARNER INTERACTION AND DIRECT PRESENTATION…

THE AUTHOR POINTS OUT PROBLEMS IN TEST RESEARCH AND INTERPRETATION, SOME OF WHICH ARE DUE TO CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE FINDINGS OF THE DATA ANALYST WHO IS RESTRICTED TO BASING HIS DECISIONS ON SELECTED DATA ONLY, AND THE TEST INTERPRETER WHO IS AWARE OF VARIABLE VALIDITIES OF SUCH UNTESTED FACTORS AS SITUATIONAL ANXIETY, PERSONALITY, MOTHER-TONGUE…

CERTIFIED SCHOOL COUNSELORS WERE ASSIGNED TO TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO DEVELOP, USE, AND TEST VOCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL MATERIALS. ASPIRATION LEVELS OF STUDENTS IN ONE CLASS EACH IN THE SECOND, FOURTH, AND SIXTH GRADES IN EACH SCHOOL WERE ALSO EXPLORED AND RELATED TO OCCUPATIONAL POTENTIAL. METHODS OF USING OCCUPATIONAL MATERIALS EFFECTIVELY…

The purpose of this study was to clarify the age of emergence of differential attributions for the success and failure of girls and boys on feminine and masculine tasks. Subjects were 192 children attending either preschool or third grade. From this group 6 boys and 6 girls from each grade level were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions…

A study was conducted using a longitudinal, multivariate, multimethod approach to determine the effects of parent education programs on black mothers and children from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Black infants from lower status communities, ages 22-41 months, were evaluated during the early intervention study. Instruments used included…

A study was devised for investigating developmental change in the extent to which children use a speech recoding process during silent reading to obtain meaning from sentences. The subjects, 48 second and 48 sixth grade students, were shown a series of single sentences that included equal numbers of sentences at the second, fourth, and sixth grade…

The extent to which financial concerns cause high-ability high school students who desire highly-selective colleges to choose less-selective institutions was investigated, as was the influence of student and parent characteristics on this decision. Data collected from 1,483 students in six cities in the United States show that the more a…

The major purposes of this study were: (1) to determine whether there were differences in student use of time in elementary schools; (2) to determine whether students who spend more time in reading and mathematics classes exhibit greater gains in reading and mathematics achievement; and (3) to determine whether there are quality measures of time…

A sample of 48 second grade and fifth grade children, containing equal numbers of high and low ability readers, participated in a study that explored the degree to which oral and silent reading represented the same cognitive process for different age and ability level children. Their reading rates and comprehension scores for both oral and silent…

The purpose of this study was to determine how teachers use group I.Q. test scores for planning instruction. Teachers were surveyed on: 1) use of I.Q. tests, 2) reasons for nonuse of I.Q. tests, and 3) instructional strategies based on test results. The widest use of test scores was in parent teacher conferences. The major reasons for not…

A review of the literature indicates that reading ability is related to measured mathematical achievement. This study attempts to develop a valid testing technique for assessing mathematical reading. As a corollary to this function, reading-difficulty rankings of expository mathematics materials measured by narrative readability formulas were…

A review of the literature on assessing communications skills is presented. Communication skills are dividied into five areas: reading literacy, writing literacy, functional literacy, oral communication, and listening. Within each area, a definition is given, current assessment views are listed, and descriptions of relevant research are provided.…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. Among the topics covered in the 26 titles are the following: self concept and reading achievement; eye movement patterns and reading ability; psychological and neuropsychological measures of performance of children with variations in…

This study examined the specific effects of picture and object stimuli on two types of language performance: comprehension and performance. Subjects were 48 4- and 5-year-olds who were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Groups were matched for SES, sex, and age and tested individually with one of the four measures: language comprehension…

Commonality analysis is a statistical technique used within the context of a study to examine school effects among disadvantaged students. The research investigated the unique and common contributions of background, mental ability, program and parental involvement variable sets to the reading vocabulary and comprehension of students participating…