Describes procedures used to measure students' cognitive learning in an American government course. The procedures combined evaluation of instructor effectiveness, teaching efficiency, student learning, and student demographic characteristics. (AV)

Thought processes as they are observed during problem solving are discussed. A theoretical framework is designed to establish the correspondence between the tactics the subjects use to solve problems and thinking processes. (NCR)

Discusses a study designed to determine whether children differing in age and construct system complexity differ as well in their ability to spontaneously perceive differences in psychological states of listeners and use the perceptions to determine communicative choices. (MH)

Repeats an earlier study by the authors concerning informants' ability to report their communication accurately and confirms results indicating that people do not know those with whom they communicate. Expands the original experimental design and offers recommendations for future research. (MH)

Cognitive controls were isolated through factor analysis with 59 intermediate-grade gifted students, and three cognitive styles were defined by cluster analysis. The cognitive style labeled "strict percept-strict concept" was associated with greater facility in divergent thinking. Study findings support explanations of giftedness through…

Argues that the typical psychometric model of human intelligence is limited because the database fails to take account of the many manifestations of intelligent behavior that are displayed in the world outside the testing room. Suggests that cognitive processes are influenced by test situation or setting and examiner's level of expertise. (PS)

Assessed the degree of comparability between the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (McCarthy) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) for "at-risk" (low birthweight, Head Start, and developmentally delayed) and "normal" preschool children. Describes the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite (MPC) and McCarthy…

Investigated the validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with a sample of black low socioeconomic status preschool children enrolled in a Head Start program. Used the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale as a criterion. Demonstrated convergent and construct validity, but suggests that the K-ABC is no more culture fair for…

This article views learning and attitude formation within the context of joint production. Tables show summary statistics and estimated marginal products and rates for each output. These estimates reveal trade-offs within the learning process that differ for men and women. (PB)

The New Jersey Task Force on Thinking has taken the first steps toward statewide assessment of students' thinking skills. Efforts were made to (1) define requisite thinking competencies, (2) explore measurement of thinking competencies, and (3) make recommendations accordingly. Preliminary findings are reported. (TE)

Investigated was the hypothesis that conservation tasks are unifactor by administering eight different conservation tasks to 96 seventh-grade science students and performing a principal component analysis on the data. Results indicated that conservation tasks may measure up to three different components of cognitive thought. (SL)

Youth violence is a serious global public health problem. Despite a decline in homicide rates across the United States during the 1990s, homicide rates are again rising and continue to claim the lives of many young people. The human and economic toll of violence on young people, their families, and society is high. Homicide is the second leading…

This paper reports on an assessment of the cognitive skills section of the "Test of Communication Knowledge." The test was designed by Dr. Rebecca B. Rubin to evaluate learning by undergraduate communication majors in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University (Ohio). In particular, the test is based on a set of…

Explored the hierarchical structure of mental abilities by comparing principal component analysis with a hierarchical cluster analysis algorithm on a short test battery for 182 children. Both the linear principal component analysis and the nonlinear hierarchical clustering analysis confirmed the hierarchical organization of mental abilities. (JAC)

Measures of memory for order were correlated with measures requiring mental manipulation, achievement, and aptitude using college and fifth grade students. A significant relationship was found for fifth graders but not for college students, suggesting that the nature and capacity of short-term memory changes with age. (Author/PN)