The objectives of this study are to assess the current environmental knowledge base in a national probability sample of American high school students, and examine the distribution of environmental knowledge across several variables which have been found to be related to environmental knowledge in previous research (e.g. education and gender).…

In the traditional Angoff Standard Setting Method, experts are instructed to predict the possibility that a randomly selected, hypothetical minimally competent candidate will be able to answer each multiple choice question in the test correctly. These item performance estimates are averaged across panelists and aggregated to determine the minimum…

Similarities and differences in the univariate and multivariate analysis of repeated measures designs are discussed, using a hypothetical data set studying the effects of practice on the algebra performance of four students to illustrate both methods. When data are analyzed through the univariate approach and the homogeneity assumption is…

This study investigated the effect of input devices on the use of a computer program by 3- and 4-year-old handicapped (n=9) and nonhandicapped (n=9) children in a small community in northwestern Kansas. Children used a software program that taught them how to understand colors and shapes. This program was used to collect data on the user's number…

While self-efficacy has been described as a basic mechanism underlying arousal and performance, the hypothesis that belief of higher self-efficacy should produce lower anticipatory arousal and distress has not been proven. This study assessed perceived self-efficacy, self-report measures of fear and arousal, performance across sex, and a…

Shift workers appear to be more satisfied in situations where swiftly rotating shifts have replaced fixed-period rotating shifts. (Author)

A series of studies investigated the development of infants' understanding of the containment function of certain objects. In Experiment 1, infants' absolute preference for looking at either a can or a tube was tested. No preference was found. Two measures were used in Experiments 2 and 3. One assessed infants' looking response or gaze behavior…

The first step in a long-term research effort to investigate the relationship between knowledge and its use in the practice of leadership is described in this paper. Detailed interviews with a random sample of 37 senior West Point cadets to were conducted investigate the identification and causal representation of human performance problem…

To determine whether preschool children's memory for unfamiliar faces could be facilitated by giving them orienting information about faces, 4- and 5-year-old subjects were told that they were going to play a guessing game in which they would be looking at faces and guessing which ones they had seen before. In study 1, 6 boys and 6 girls within…

The aims of this study were (1) to assess the relative effectiveness of verbal and visual elaboration prompts and question-answering prompts on children's incidental memory, and (2) to determine whether performance improvement associated with pictorial elaboration could be augmented by either verbal elaboration or question-answering procedures.…

Research on performance appraisals has often overlooked the importance of attitudinal and organizational variables. To test a model of the influence of organizational contextual variables on the perceived utility of performance appraisals, 239 Virginia mental health workers completed a questionnaire. The 21 items were designed to measure the four…

The development and performance of typewriting were studied by collecting data from 18 typists. They ranged from beginning students in a typing class (about one keystroke per second) to expert professional typists (about 10 keystrokes per second). All typists became faster with practice, but the rate and amount of improvement varied for different…

The following papers are included in this collection: (1) "The Scientific Study of Athletes and Athletics" (Henry J. Montoye); (2) "The Limits of Human Performance" (David H. Clarke); (3) "Observations of Extraordinary Performances in an Extreme Environment and in a Training Environment" (E.R. Buskirk); (4) "Metabolic Requirements of Distance…

A model is presented in which a test score is influenced by three factors: (1) the test itself, including the nature of the item tryout samples, the nature of the standardization group, the item scaling model and methods, the manner of item subset generation, logical strategies in test building, the format of questions, the test appearance, item…

A study seeking how to identify potential student failure and some of its causes is reported. (Editor/PG)