Thirty learning disabled boys from a segregated private school for learning disabled children and 22 from a public school mainstream program and 22 nondisabled boys performed two physical fitness tests. Normal achievers performed significantly better on one of the tests; there were no differences between the two samples of learning disabled…

Two experiments investigated 18- to 30-month-old children's memory for the location of a hidden object. Memory performance was significantly better when the object was hidden within the natural environment as opposed to when hidden in a set of boxes. Older subjects effectively used a landmark cue as a memory aid. (Author/RH)

Compared 12 old and 12 young adults in two information-processing tasks (a rotated figures task and a sentence verification task). The age difference was minimized when older adults adopted strategies that reduced processing. They were more disadvantaged when employing strategies that imposed greater processing demands or memory load. (JAC)

A causal-comparative analysis was made of college students' performance on a program of tests and retests. Gains in test scores, student response to testing and retesting, and characteristics of students who chose to be retested are discussed. (CJ)

In terms of second-language learning, examines: (1) What is the significance, educational and statistical, of the performance difference between field-dependent and field-independent students? and (2) Does the learner's cognitive style interact with other factors in the learning situation, such as the teacher's cognitive style, to affect…

Three dance performance tests to assess originality, fluency, and flexibility attributes of female dancers were analyzed with divergent-production measures and personological inventories. Variables were noninterrelated in four clusters for dance performance, verbal and visual-figural creativity, and personological information indicating…

To assess the performance characteristics of synthetic and leather basketballs, individuals were asked to discriminate perceptually between the leather and synthetic basketballs under four treatment conditions. Rebound characteristics on five playing surfaces were measured. Leather basketballs rebounded significantly higher; no significant…

An anagram task administered to high and low test-anxious subjects under varied levels of external distraction showed a significant main effect of test anxiety for the "hard" anagrams which also interacted with the subjects' sex and distraction. The effects of increments of anxiety arousal produced by distraction are discussed.…

Investigated effects of rational vs. irrational belief systems and rational vs. irrational self-verbalizations on anxiety and persistence. Subjects (N=40) were instructed to assemble a virtually insolvable task called Soma, and were assigned to either a rational or irrational self-talk condition. Rational self-talk subjects showed a significant…

Examines two motivational models: a drive reduction model in which media use and satisfaction are directed by the gratifications people seek, and an exposure-learning model in which the gratifications are largely received as an accidental result of exposure to media. Concludes that both can be used effectively to represent media use and…

Eighteen studies on the correlation of home environment and learning were selected, and their results synthesized. The analyses suggest that ability and achievement are more closely linked to the socio-psychological environment and intellectual stimulation in the home than they are to parental socioeconomic status indicators. (Author/BW)

Using a deep-level processing strategy, low test-anxious college students performed significantly better than high test-anxious students in learning a paired-associate word list. Using a superficial-level processing strategy resulted in no significant difference in performance. A cognitive-attentional theory and test anxiety mechanisms are…

Investigates the relative effects of systematic self-monitoring and self-reinforcement on children's academic test performances. Eighty-five fourth-grade children were measured on an experimenter-constructed curriculum of history facts, Spanish/English word pairs, and reading comprehension passages. (RH)

This study investigated the extent to which expectancies and performance of emotionally handicapped children could be altered by success or failure-induced experiences. Students were assigned to either of two experimental conditions. Results indicated that success and failure on a task were influential on subsequent expectancy estimates and…

Investigates the effect of competition on attributions for performance on male (intellectual and spatial) or female (social and design) tasks. Contrary to predictions, males rated themselves as luckier than females in competitive conditions. However, as predicted, females made fewer self-serving attributions for the male than the female task.…