The Relationship between Examinee Anxiety and preference for Self-Adapted Testing

In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that the previously found positive effects of self-adapted testing are attributable to examinees having an increased perception of control over a stressful testing situation. Examinees were randomly assigned to either (a) take a computerized-adaptive test (CAT), (b) take a self-adapted test (SAT), or (c) choose between taking a CAT or SAT. Results showed that the strongest preference for SAT was shown by examinees reporting high levels of math anxiety. Moreover, highly mathanxious examinees who were allowed to choose between the test types exhibited higher mean proficiency estimates than examinees who were assigned to test type.     

高校教师工作价值观与组织承诺等相关变量的关系研究

本文运用相关分析、方差分析的方法,探讨了人口学变量（性别、年龄、职称和高校类型）对教师工作价值观的影响。同时运用结构方程建模的方法,利用自编的教师工作价值观量表和其他标准化量表考察了工作价值观与组织承诺、工作满意度、工作绩效、离职倾向的关系。结果显示,工作价值观能直接影响组织承诺的相关维度,也能直接提高教师的工作满意度,组织承诺能有效提高工作满意度,组织承诺和工作满意度又能显著降低离职倾向。     

Reading comprehension and lateral preference in normal readers

The effect of lateral preference on passage comprehension and short-term memory function was examined for 48 normal fourth-grade males. Scores on a self-report measure of lateral preference were used to divide the children into groups who differed in their laterality. The subjects were tested for basic comprehension on written and aurally presented prose in standard and nonstandard phrase form. Consistently lateralized readers recalled more information under the auditory than under the written conditions, while bilateral readers showed no preference for mode of presentation. Between-group comparisons showed bilateral readers to comprehend significantly more in the written conditions than did the other group. Groups did not differ on recall of auditorily presented material or on short-term digit memory. These results may be interpreted as demonstrating that bilateral preference need not be tied to reading difficulty.     

The relationship between Marcia's ego identity statuses and selected personality variables in an African context

Marcia's operationalization of Erikson's identity construct, the four identity statuses, was used in a study on late adolescent males in an African cultural context. Identity statuses were determined for 110 first-year university students in relation to global identity, as well as occupation, religion and politics, the content areas of Marcia's original Identity Status Interview. Personality dimensions were measured by the High School Personality Questionnaire and the IPAT Anxiety Scale. Contrary to findings obtained in Western settings, adolescents in the foreclosure status (global identity) displayed lower intelligence and concrete thinking patterns. Identity statuses relating to the individual content areas were both supportive and in conflict with findings obtained in Western studies, indicating possibly qualitative differences in an African situation.     

Relationship between WISC-R and WRAT in children referred for learning difficulties

Correlations between the WISC-R Full, Verbal, Performance, and Freedom from Distractibility Scale IQs, WISC-R subtest scaled scores, and Wide Range Achievement Test Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic standard scores were computed for a sample of 114 children (64 boys, 50 girls), aged 6 to 16 years, who were referred for psychological evaluation because of academic or learning difficulties. The Full Scale IQ, Verbal Scale IQ, and Freedom from Distractibility IQ correlated moderately with the three achievement area standard scores (rs of .48 to .59). However, the Performance Scale IQ correlated minimally with reading and spelling scores (rs of .26 and .27), but moderately with arithmetic scores (r = .40). The results support the concurrent validity of the WISC-R.     

Interventions for academically underachieving students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite decades of research on interventions for academically underachieving students, no clear answers have emerged. Synthesizing across existing intervention efforts can help in understanding not only the overall effectiveness for these interventions, but also the factors that may moderate such effectiveness. In the current study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effectiveness of interventions for academically underachieving students, exploring effects on achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Overall, findings from 53 studies revealed that interventions are moderately effective in improving achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Moderator analyses revealed that intervention effectiveness varied by grade level. Implications for research and practice are discussed, particularly the need for rigorous evaluations of well-designed interventions that consider the fit between students’ unique reasons for underachievement and the makeup of the intervention.     

Relationship between imaginative play and language development in hearing-impaired children

The relationship between imaginative play and language development was investigated in a group of 20 severely and profoundly hearing-impaired children between the ages of 3 and 6. Each child was videotaped in a 60-minute session interacting with the investigator and playing with three sets of toys: a miniature house, barn, and garage. Analysis of the subjects' language revealed that 15 were operating in Brown's (1973) Stage 1, one in Stage 3, and four in Stage 5. Play was analyzed along three dimensions: (a) percentage of time engaged in imaginative play; (b) use of planned pretend; and (c) use of story line. A significant relationship was found between imaginative play and language development. Results revealed no relationship between imaginative play and chronological age. Correspondences were found between language development and use of planned pretend and story line.     

Relationship between PPVT and WISC-R in children with reading disabilities

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Form A was compared to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in two samples of children with reading disabilities. One group of 14 children, referred to a university clinic, were administered the WISC-R, followed by the PPVT. The second group of 38 children from a private learning disability center were administered the PPVT first, followed by the WISC-R. In the combined sample, the PPVT IQ (X̄ = 109.2) was significantly higher than the WISC-R Verbal IQ (X̄ = 98.9), Performance IQ (X̄ = 97.0), and Full Scale IQ (X̄ = 97.5). Similarly, the PPVT IQ was significantly higher than the WISC-R Full Scale in both samples separately, regardless of which test was administered first. In one case, the PPVT IQ was 50 points higher than the WISC-R IQ. Correlations between the PPVT and WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were significant (rs = .56, .29, and .50, respectively). The results suggest that the two tests do not provide interchangeable IQs for a population of reading disabled children.     

Predicting conflict management based on organizational commitment and selected demographic variables

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between different levels of organizational commitment (compliance, identification, internalization) of teachers and their different conflict management strategies (compromising, problem solving, forcing, yielding, avoiding). Based on a questionnaire survey of 418 teachers, this study indicated that male teachers are more likely to experience commitment based on compliance, and are more likely to avoid conflicts than female teachers. As teachers get older they are more likely to experience commitment based on internalization and on identification, and they are more likely to use problem solving conflict management strategies than those who are younger. The results also revealed that both identification and internalization are significant determinants of the use of compromising and problem-solving conflict management strategies. Commitment based on compliance is the only significant predictor of forcing behavior. Commitment based both on identification and compliance are found to be the important determinants of avoiding behavior. Of these two, identification was found to be the most significant predictor of avoiding conflict behavior. Conflict resolution through yielding was not predicted by any level of organizational commitment.     

Structural and linguistic variables in selected inference patterns for bilinguals in grades six to ten

Summary This study is a preliminary correlational study. Consequently, the statements given in the discussion are tentative and imply no cause-effect relationships. In general this study supports the idea that the ability to recognize valid principles is not a unitary ability which develops with age and levels off at a fixed age in the age range 11–16 years. For one thing, decisions made by children concerning the validity of inferences do not seem to be made solely on a formal basis but also on the kind of the linguistic structures of the natural language used. Moreover, there are structural variables which seem to reflect developmental growth and variables which do not. The most important single one in the latter is decidability, i.e., ability to recognise principles with no logically necessary conclusions. Further research is being planned with the hope of refining the model and isolating and studying different variables under experimental control.American University of BeirutThis research was supported by The Science and Mathematics Education Center (SMEC) of the American University of Beirut with funds from a Ford Foundation Grant.     

Relationships between cognitive variables,memory and phonological awareness in children with a specific reading difficulty

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between verbal short‐term memory, phonemic awareness, and reading ability, in children with a specific reading difficulty. The results confirmed the frequently reported finding that most, if not all children with a specific reading difficulty have poor phonological awareness. In addition, poor phonological awareness in the reading‐difficulty group was associated with significantly poorer nonword reading ability, and with poorer phonological memory. When the reading‐difficulty group was further subdivided with respect to Digit Span performance there was no difference in nonword reading with respect to this overall verbal short‐term memory measure. However, poor short‐term memory, regardless of phonological awareness level, was significantly associated with a lower WISC III Verbal IQ, in particular, significantly poorer performance on the WISC III Vocabulary, Comprehension and Similarities subtests, as well as with significantly poorer reading comprehension. In addition, poor short‐term memory regardless of phonological awareness ability was associated with poorer spelling and arithmetic performance.