Four experiments investigated 3-year-olds' understanding of the differential importance of shape for categorizing solid objects. Found that they categorized rigid and deformable objects differently in a non-naming task and knew that material was important for deformable items and shape for rigid items. In two naming tasks, they generalized names…

Investigated whether Brazilian 4-year-olds held essentialist beliefs about animal categories. Found that middle class and poor children were equally likely to interpret labels as referring to mutually exclusive animal categories, and more likely to accept a common label for animals sharing internal properties than superficial properties,…

Defines dichotomous keys as common learning tools based on identification rather than memorization. Provides an example of a dichotomous key developed for introducing histology in human anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses and explains how students can use the dichotomous key. Discusses the goals of the exercises and the process of…

This study compared four systems for diagnosis of autism (Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of Mental Disorders III, III-R, and IV, and the International Classification of Disabilities-10) with 2 empirically derived taxa and 3 social subgroups (aloof, passive, and active but odd) in 194 preschool children with social impairment. Findings support…

A classification system for risk communication can serve two major purposes: it provides a practical guide to techniques and establishes a framework for further development. By using traditional models of communication elements and management operations, this taxonomy has the advantage of being more readily adapted to the needs of environmental…

People categorize items and concepts according to a prototypical image they build in their mind of what it is that represents the particular item or concept in question. The article argues that the notion of prototypicality has important implications for a discussion of genre. (35 references) (Author/CK)

The validity of intuitive classifications of experienced diagnosticians was examined for 10 experienced diagnosticians evaluating child behavior problems. Results showed that intuitive prototypes corresponded poorly with empirical core syndromes in the assessment system of T. M. Achenbach and others. Reasons for differences are discussed. (SLD)

Presents a brief review of the research on workaholism and the family and offers a typology of workaholism that more adequately portrays the various work styles of workaholics. This typology, based on level of work initiation and completion, denotes 4 types of workaholics: relentless, bulimic, attention-deficit, and savoring. (Contains 18…

Analyzes responses to the College Student Experiences Questionnaire from 51,155 undergraduates at 128 institutions to develop a student typology based upon their patterns of engagement in educationally purposeful activities and the progress they reported making toward important outcomes of college. The typology reported yields new insights into…

Investigates the construct validity of the Clark-Trow typology and its two dimensional substrate with principal components analyses, clarifying their relationships to a variety of higher educational variables. Study provides a conceptual basis for understanding student objectives in the pursuit of higher education. (Contains 20 references and 2…

Highlights the recent development of dynamic archival strategies for managing and achieving intellectual control over records. Discussion includes a definition of archival description; standards of archival description; the Australian "series" system approach to description and intellectual control of records; metadata and recordkeeping…

Explored the assumptions implicit in models reflecting three different approaches to missing survey response data using opinion data collected from Swiss citizens at four time points over nearly 2 years. Results suggest that the latently ignorable model has the least restrictive structural assumptions. Discusses the idea of "durable…

In a legal context, the classification of a worker as either an employee or an independent contractor can have significant consequences. Classification can vary depending on which test is used: common law, economic realities, or hybrid. (Contains 34 notes and references.) (Author/JOW)

Proposes a new method of text classification using stochastic decision lists, ordered sequences of IF-THEN-ELSE rules. The method can be viewed as a rule-based method for text classification having advantages of readability and refinability of acquired knowledge. Advantages of rule-based methods over non-rule-based ones are empirically verified.…

Two experiments tested a model of young children's induction that specified contributions of linguistic labels and perceptual similarity to children's induction. Results support model predictions and point to a developmental shift, from treating linguistic labels as an attribute contributing to similarity to treating them as markers of a common…