This project explores "conceptual continuity" as a framework for understanding students' native ways of understanding and describing. Conceptual continuity suggests that the relationship between the use of words in one genre and the scientific genre can exist at varying levels of association. This perspective can reveal the varied relationships…

Neural representations of novel motor skills can be acquired through visual observation. We used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to test the idea that this "motor learning by observing" is based on engagement of neural processes for learning in the primary motor cortex (M1). Human subjects who observed another person learning…

The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of Torrance's "Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement" (TCAM) test and the relationship between TCAM and the Divergent Movement Ability (DMA) test. The TCAM and DMA tests were used for a sample of 115 children, while the whole experimental procedure included three…

Pointing to declines in self-reported criminality across waves of the National Youth Survey, several researchers have concluded that "testing effects" may render longitudinal self-report data unreliable. This article argues that the issue remains unsettled on two accounts. First, alternative explanations for the declines have not been fully…

In experimental designs with nested structures, entire groups (such as schools) are often assigned to treatment conditions. Key aspects of the design in these cluster-randomized experiments involve knowledge of the intraclass correlation structure, the effect size, and the sample sizes necessary to achieve adequate power to detect the treatment…

Most prior research testing the hypothesis of the social disorganization theory that residential instability increases crime has used cross-sectional data. Using a unique dataset linking home sales address matched to census tracts with crime data in Los Angeles, we test the direction of this relationship using a six-year panel data design. We also…

Retrieval practice can enhance long-term retention of the tested material (the testing effect), but it can also impair later recall of the nontested material--a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1994). "Remembering can cause forgetting: retrieval dynamics in long-term memory." "Journal…

A single-group (SG) equating with nearly equivalent test forms (SiGNET) design was developed by Grant to equate small-volume tests. Under this design, the scored items for the operational form are divided into testlets or mini tests. An additional testlet is created but not scored for the first form. If the scored testlets are testlets 1-6 and the…

Several alternatives for item selection algorithms based on item response theory in computerized classification testing (CCT) have been suggested, with no conclusive evidence on the substantial superiority of a single method. It is argued that the lack of sizable effect is because some of the methods actually assess items very similarly through…

Assigned textbook readings are a common requirement in undergraduate courses, but students often do not complete reading assignments or do not do so until immediately before an exam. This may have detrimental effects on learning and course performance. Regularly scheduled quizzes on reading material may increase completion of reading assignments…

This paper is a comprehensive meta-analysis of over 20 years of work-family conflict research. A series of path analyses were conducted to compare and contrast existing work-family conflict models, as well as a new model we developed which integrates and synthesizes current work-family theory and research. This new model accounted for 40% of the…

In addition to data on overall performance since 1973, this article presents NAEP data on items that were recently released to the public. They are presented as examples of current student achievement in relation to achievement in the 1980s. Performance was stable or improving on most of the released items, with greatest improvement on items…

This study considers the problem of testing the difference between treatment and control groups on m [greater than or equal to] 2 measures when it is assumed a priori that the treatment group will perform better than the control group on all measures. Two procedures are investigated that do not rest on the assumptions of covariance homogeneity or…

A resampling-based method of inference--permutation tests--is often used when distributional assumptions are questionable or unmet. Not only are these methods useful for obvious departures from parametric assumptions (e.g., normality) and small sample sizes, but they are also more robust than their parametric counterparts in the presences of…

The authors examined the relationships among achievement motives, emotional regulation, and emotions. They collected data from 425 college undergraduates (110 men, 315 women) and used several scales, including the Achievement Motives Scales (K. Hagtvet & L. Zou, 2000), the Emotional Regulation During Testing Scale (P. A. Schutz, C. DiStefano,…