The article draws on interpretive frameworks from diffusion research and social network analysis to explore one particular "travelling reform"--outcomes-based education--that went global. The argument is made that by virtue of studying late adopters of a travelling reform one is examining globalisation. The cases in point for late…

In recent research, two qualitatively different classes of mental operations have been identified. The performance of one type of cognitive task requires attention, in the sense of mental effort, for its execution, while the second type can be performed automatically, independent of attentional control. Further research has shown that automatic…

A program of research was conducted to study transitions from preoperational to concrete operational forms of spatial imagery (area 1), to compare results from spatial imagery studies based on open-ended measures (such as drawings) with results based on reaction time measures (area 2), and to study anticipatory imagery in the contexts of memory…

Judgments that favorably set an individual apart from others tend to be made more rapidly, suggesting that the self-concept is both an effective and a cognitive entity. Subjects rated the self-applicability of traits on a 100-point scale. As in other studies using dichotomous judgements, judgement speed increased with increasing self-applicability…

Two techniques were used to modify an impulsive conceptual tempo on a visual discrimination task. The subjects were 42 first grade white children who had previously been classified as impulsive or near-impulsive on the Matching Familiar Figures Test given to 82 children. These subjects, who had scored above the median on errors and below the…

Describes study conducted with U.S. Marine Corps enlisted personnel to measure response time to computer-administered questionnaire items, and to evaluate how measurement of response time might be useful in various research areas. Topics addressed include mood states; the occurrence of straight lining; and experimental effects of sleep loss and…

Reactions of preschool children from urban and rural Quebec to several animated and other representational television characters were obtained. Visual elements consistently appealing are identified, and responses are reviewed for sex, cultural, and location differences. Application of results in the production of a televised antismoking promotion…

Describes a computer-based methodology that obtains simple timed responses to sets of words and word-like nonsense items, then presents pilot data depicting estimated vocabulary knowledge and relating it to word frequency and decision response time. (FL)

Tests seven- , 10- , and 13-year-olds for developmental differences in processes and strategies involved in geometric matrix solution and the relationship between strategy differences and item complexity. (AS)

A study involving eight boys with autism and eight boys with Down syndrome (ages 6-10) with similar adaptive behavior levels used an ecological approach to study the in-depth structure of the behavior stream. Narrative records were collected and analyzed based on duration and frequency of behaviors. Each record was analyzed by marking the behavior…

A study of foreign students' English acquisition used short-term memory tasks to determine if phonological encoding of visually presented verbal material occurred during reading. Students not using oral repetition in English showed greater phonological interference and longer reaction times. Correlation with reading proficiency was small.…

Down's syndrome adolescents were compared with age- and I.Q.-matched non-Down's syndrome retardates on a two-point finger tapping task. Results supported the hypothesis that Down's syndrome retardates show a deficit in developing and utilizing preprogramed motor sequences. (CM)

Ratcliff's theory of memory retrieval which posits parallel processing and Sternberg's serial processing explanation of memory scanning are reviewed and contrasted. Discrepancy between the two theories may arise because they focus on different aspects of the data. If scanning without comparisons takes place, the two views may be reconciled.…

A cross-section method was used to study the developmental changes in elementary decoding and encoding processes of 163 Swedish-German bilingual students, whose length of residence in Sweden varied. It was demonstrated that decoding in two languages, expressed in terms of reaction time, develops faster than encoding. (SW)

Assessed effects of sleep restriction and extension on 9- to 12-year-olds' neurobehavioral functioning. Found that modest sleep restriction led to improved sleep quality but to reduced reported alertness. Children who extended sleep improved significantly from baseline their performance on the digit forward memory test and reaction time on the…