Results indicate that at least three factors contribute to the linguistic complexity of "wh-questions" and help to determine sequence of acquisitions: the syntactic function of the individual "wh-forms," the relative semantic complexity of different verbs, and contingency relations in discourse. (MP)

Finds that the usual adult superiority in speed of processing could be markedly reduced if children were given equivalent amounts of domain knowledge. The effect was domain specific; differences in knowledge affected processing rates in both knowledgeable adults and children to about the same extent. (Auther/RH)

Describes a study that assessed (1) differences in causal ascriptions for a given performance outcome between males and females; and (2) sex differences in performance expectations, pretest anxiety, desire to take similar tests in the future, and expectations of performance outcomes on future tests. Contrasts results with previous findings by…

This study investigated how students felt about two types of career education instructional models: field exposure and didactic. Students who received field exposure training felt more positive about their training experience than students who received didactic instruction, possibly explaining why field exposure training is more effective in…

Examined the effects of emotionality of study tasks on face and word recognition in four studies. Results showed face recognition performance was best after an emotional nonself study task. Concluded that self-images are less effective mnemonic aids than the propositional self-concept. (WAS)

Investigates the effect of anxiety in musical performance and assesses the quality of subjects' performances under enhanced and reduced anxiety situations. Adjudicators compared tapes made by 95 graduate and undergraduate music students during performances done in isolation and in front of audiences composed of other music students and…

Results of an initial experiment show that motoric imagery can produce relatively large increases in the ability of young children, as well as adults, to recall meaningful sentences. Results of a second experiment show that motoric imagery can, to some extent, facilitate free recall of word lists when visual imagery has no effect. (Author/RH)

To determine to what extent disabled students may be selected and integrated into the regular schools in Nigeria, 42 normal and blind students were compared for differences in selective attention in a task involving letters and numbers. The hypothesis was substantiated that, because of the sociocultural stigma attached to blindness, normal…

Thirty-six three- and four-year-old children were given a battery of six metalinguistic tasks and two measures of language development. Results indicate that the majority of preschoolers were able to make at least some metalinguistic judgments and that metalinguistic performance improved with age. (Author/MP)

Seven- and eight-year-old children were given two memory trials on each of five consecutive days. Results indicate that children who were given only demonstrations and directions to use particular mnemonic strategies did not perform as well as children who were provided explanations and feedback regarding the mnemonic value of these actions. (MP)

Describes an experiment testing whether pre-exam study sessions improved student performance on tests and whether study sessions helped better students more than poor ones. Eighty-five general psychology students, pretested for academic ability, attended optional study sessions and then took an examination on course materials. Findings supported…

Compared the efficiency of cognitive-behavioral therapy, emphasizing self-instruction and attention-focusing techniques, with behavior rehearsal and with a waiting-list control in the treatment of debilitating musical-performance anxiety. Multivariate analyses indicated that both the cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavior-rehearsal programs…

Female college students were given a training task involving anagrams, mathematical problems, perceptual identifications, or all three. Results indicate that increasing the variety of training tasks at high or low levels of required effort contributes to the student's abstraction of a general principle concerning degree of effort required for…

Children who lacked subtraction skills received didactic training in subtraction with effort attributional feedback concerning past achievement, with feedback concerning future achievement, or with no feedback. Results showed that attributional feedback for past achievement led to more rapid progress in mastering subtraction operations, greater…

This article explains a performance-oriented approach to outlining technical training needs. The performance improvement cycle is discussed and the three main activities in that cycle are described. They include need detection, task identification, and collection of task performance data. (CT)