Cognitive Design Principles and the Successful Performer: A Study on Spatial Ability

An important trend in educational measurement is the use of principles of cognitive psychology to design achievement and ability test items. Many studies show that manipulating the stimulus features of items influences the processes, strategies, and knowledge structures that are involved in solution. However, little is known about how cognitive design influences individual differences. That is, does applying cognitive design principles change the background skills and abilities that are associated with successful performance? This study compared the correlates of two spatial ability tests that used the same item type but different test design principles (cognitive design versus psychometric design). The results indicated differences in factorial complexity in the two tests; specifically, the impact of verbal abilities was substantially reduced by applying the cognitive design principles.     

能力测量发展中的若干新趋势

在认知心理学、现代测量模型探索与信息技术的推动下，21世纪的能力测量，出现了测验连续性校订、计算机化自适应测验、智能化项目创编以及跟教学结合在一起的动态测量等新趋势，从而使能力测量技术革新和对教育与社会生活的影响，出现崭新局面。     

Division business

We examine characteristics of classroom contexts that influence motivations for reading. We frame the discussion in terms of design principles. First, we propose several general criteria that a set of design principles should meet if the set is to be sufficient to increase long-term motivations for reading. Next, we propose 8 principles derived from research on motivational and cognitive processes, instructional research, and classroom innovations. These design principles relate to (a) conceptual themes, (b) real-world interactions, (c) self-direction, (d) interesting texts, (e) social collaboration, (f) self-expression, (g) cognitive strategy instruction, and (h) curricular coherence. We constructed these design principles from sets of design principles offered by psychologists and educators, our studies, and a literature review we conducted. In particular, we note problems of underspecification typical of psychologists' proposed sets of principles and problems of overspecification typical of educators' designs. We conclude with suggestions for needed research on classroom contexts for increasing students' motivations for reading.     

Item Arrangement,Cognitive Entry Characteristics,Sex, and Test Anxiety as Predictors of Achievement Examination Performance

This study’s general research question was: Given male and female students in an introductory educational psychology course who vary in cognitive entry characteristics and test anxiety, how do three item arrangements (easy to difficult, difficult to easy, and random) located within a 50-item multiple-choice achievement examination influence students’ total test performance? Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The four predictor variables and their interactions were tested for the amount of variation that they explained in the dependent variable. The main finding within the context of this study is that item arrangements based on item difficulties do not influence achievement examination performance.     

Understanding Examinees’ Responses to Items: Implications for Measurement

Examinees' thinking processes have become an increasingly important concern in testing. The responses processes aspect is a major component of validity, and contemporary tests increasingly involve specifications about the cognitive complexity of examinees' response processes. Yet, empirical research findings on examinees' cognitive processes are not often available either to provide evidence for validity or to guide the design or selection of items. In this article, studies and developments from the author's research program are presented to illustrate how empirical studies on examinees' thinking processes can impact item and test design.     

Ten Principles of Learning Revised in Accordance With Cognitive Psychology: With Implications for Teaching

The principles of learning that have been taught to teachers at all levels are revised in terms of modern cognitive psychology. Ten basic learning principles are identified arising from the educational psychology literature used in teacher-preparation programs. Revisions are suggested according to current theory and research in cognitive psychology. In particular, the earlier contributions of E. L. Thorndike, Guthrie, Lewin, Tolman, and Skinner are reinterpreted through the work of Anderson, Ausubel, Bandura, Farley, Gagne, McKeachie, Nuttin, Marton, Pavio, Rychlak, Weiner, Wittrock, and others. A set of 10 revised principles of learning is derived and presented together with interpretations of this analysis for the work of teachers.     

TYPES OF EXAMINATIONS IN HISTORY STUDIES

In psychometric studies disagreement among experts is frequently treated as error void of informational value. The present study deviates from this approach and utilizes disagreement among experts in item classification as a source for examining the structural characteristics of the classification scheme. Guttman's smallest space analysis applied to an agreement-disagreement matrix suggests that the item-classification scheme reflects two different approaches to testing outcomes of studying history: that of the cognitive psychology and that of the philosophy of history.     

Cognitive Diagnostic Multistage Testing by Partitioning Hierarchically Structured Attributes

In cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs), a set of fine-grained attributes is required to characterize complex problem solving and provide detailed diagnostic information about an examinee. However, it is challenging to ensure reliable estimation and control computational complexity when The test aims to identify the examinee's attribute profile in a large-scale map of attributes. To address this problem, this study proposes a cognitive diagnostic multistage testing by partitioning hierarchically structured attributes (CD-MST-PH) as a multistage testing for CDM. In CD-MST-PH, multiple testlets can be constructed based on separate attribute groups before testing occurs, which retains the advantages of multistage testing over fully adaptive testing or the on-the-fly approach. Moreover, testlets are offered sequentially and adaptively, thus improving test accuracy and efficiency. An item information measure is proposed to compute the discrimination power of an item for each attribute, and a module assembly method is presented to construct modules anchored at each separate attribute group. Several module selection indices for CD-MST-PH are also proposed by modifying the item selection indices used in cognitive diagnostic computerized adaptive testing. The results of simulation study show that CD-MST-PH can improve test accuracy and efficiency relative to the conventional test without adaptive stages.     

当代进化心理学的哲学反思

进化心理学是用进化的观点来研究人类心理机制的一种新思潮,是生物科学和认知科学的交叉学科。其从认知心理学吸取了知识加工的心理机制学说,用自然选择的原则来解释人类信息加工心理机制形成及其发展过程,将系统整体论的思想贯穿于心理学研究,建构了不同于传统心理学的理论范式,为心理科学提供了新的世界观图景和方法论原则。     

In Search of a Metatheory for Cognitive Development (or, Piaget Is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself)

With the waning of influence of Piaget's theory and the shortcomings of information-processing perspectives of cognitive growth, cognitive developmentalists lack a common set of broad, overarching principles and assumptions—a metatheory—to guide their research. Development biology is suggested as metatheory for cognitive development. Although it is important for developmentalists to understand proximal biological causes (e.g., brain development), most important for such a metatheory is an evolutionary perspective. Some basic principles of evolutionary psychology are introduced, and examples of contemporary research and theory consistent with these ideas are provided.     

心理学混合实验设计的应用现状述评

混合实验设计是一种应用广泛的心理学研究方法,10年来,该研究方法在各类实证研究中,特别是认知心理学成果中占有重要的地位。当前,混合实验设计的使用频率相对较高,在实际运用中往往容易出现某些疏忽。准确理解并合理运用混合实验设计,应该是实证研究的客观要求,也是心理学发展的重要趋势。     

Using Differential Item Functioning Procedures to Explore Sources of Item Difficulty and Group Performance Characteristics

Statistics used to detect differential item functioning can also reflect differential strengths and weaknesses in the performance characteristics of population subgroups. In turn, item features associated with the differential performance patterns are likely to reflect some facet of the item task and hence its difficulty, that might previously have been overlooked. In this study, several item features were identified and coded for a large number of reading comprehension items from the two admissions testing programs. Item features included subject matter content, various properties of item structure, cognitive demand indicators, and semantic content (propositional analysis). Differential item functioning was evaluated for males and females and for White and Black examinees. Results showed a number of significant relationships between item features and indicators of differential item functioning—many of which were consistent across testing programs. Implications of the results for related areas of research are discussed.     

Cognitive task analysis for instructional design: Applications in distance education

The increasing complexity of the subjectmatters taught through distance education calls for a cognitive approach to instructional design. Cognitive task analysis‐based instructional design (CTA‐BID) is especially appropriate for distance education, which requires high‐fidelity instructional materials that teach cognitive content with little or no classroom instruction. CTA‐BID organises instructional materials around the results of a cognitive task analysis that identifies the optimal knowledge structures, mental models, strategies, and skills underlying expertise in the subject matter. CTA‐BID has produced innovative instructional programmes aimed at teaching cognitive skills, accelerating the development of expertise, and improving student performance and training efficiency. This article provides an overview of CTA‐BID and its applications in the design of instructional and testing materials for distance education. I also review recent developments in education, psychology, and instructional design that complement CTA‐BID.     

浅谈农业科研选题

农业科研选题是农业科研的重要环节，要选准选好农业科研课题，必须坚持四个原则，即需要性原则，创造性原则，科学性原则，可行性原则；必须遵循二个导向，即农业基础研究选题要以科学发展为导向，农业应用研究和农业开发选题要以市场需求为导向；必须掌握五个技巧，即把握方向、了解动向、在观察思考中想出课题，注视趋势、了解基础、在探索新旧技术共性和个性中发现课题，在已有的研究成果中寻找有待补充深化或重新认识的问题、从中找出课题，更新思维方式、采用新学科理论、运用移植研究方法设计课题，根据选题方向、在大量地查阅文献资料中确立课题。     

Principles of Integrated Instruction for Engagement in Reading

Our purpose in this article is to propose a set of design principles to serve as a structural framework for enhancing engagement in reading. We provide a rationale for our emphasis on engagement, which we believe is an important aim of reading instruction. We discuss the sources of the proposed design principles. These design principles consist of a set of features of the classroom context including: conceptual themes, real-world interactions, self-direction, interesting texts, social collaboration, self-expression, cognitive strategy instruction, time for engaged reading, and coherence. We present empirical support from the educational psychology literature for each principle. For illustration, we provide a brief depiction of each principle functioning within a framework of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI). We emphasize that each principle is dependent on several others, and we describe how the functioning of each principle is contingent on the occurrence of several affiliated principles in the vignettes of CORI.     

关联理论的交际认知心理及对翻译的指导作用

关联理论认为支配交际的原则为最佳关联,在交际过程中听话人倾向以最小的努力获得最佳语境效果,从信息加工论来看就是人们倾向于在长期记忆系统中以最小的努力找到与外界信息的最佳对应。从信息加工心理学(认知心理学)角度剖析关联理论交际观的认知操作过程,并以此指导翻译实践。     

Using the Attribute Hierarchy Method to Make Diagnostic Inferences about Examinees’ Cognitive Skills in Critical Reading

The purpose of this study is to apply the attribute hierarchy method (AHM) to a subset of SAT critical reading items and illustrate how the method can be used to promote cognitive diagnostic inferences. The AHM is a psychometric procedure for classifying examinees’ test item responses into a set of attribute mastery patterns associated with different components from a cognitive model. The study was conducted in two steps. In step 1, three cognitive models were developed by reviewing selected literature in reading comprehension as well as research related to SAT Critical Reading. Then, the cognitive models were validated by having a sample of students think aloud as they solved each item. In step 2, psychometric analyses were conducted on the SAT critical reading cognitive models by evaluating the model‐data fit between the expected and observed response patterns produced from two random samples of 2,000 examinees who wrote the items. The model that provided best data‐model fit was then used to calculate attribute probabilities for 15 examinees to illustrate our diagnostic testing procedure.     

Moral psychology for the twenty-first century

Lawrence Kohlberg slayed the two dragons of twentieth-century psychology—behaviorism and psychoanalysis. His victory was a part of the larger cognitive revolution that shaped the world in which all of us study psychology and education today. But the cognitive revolution itself was modified by later waves of change, particularly an ‘affective revolution’ that began in the 1980s and an ‘automaticity revolution’ in the 1990s. In this essay I trace the history of moral psychology within the broader intellectual trends of psychology and I explain why I came to believe that moral psychology had to change with the times. I explain the origins of my own social intuitionist model and of moral foundations theory. I offer three principles that I think should characterize moral psychology in the twenty-first century: (1) Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second, (2) There’s more to morality than harm and fairness and (3) Morality binds and blinds.     

现代认知心理学视野中的学习迁移观

关于学习迁移的探讨历史长达约一个世纪 ,但是关于学习迁移的实质、学习迁移范围等的探讨至今还没有一个较为统一的观点。从现代认知心理学的视角重新审视学习迁移的基本理论 ,在三种认知理论的指导下 ,提出发现学习迁移的基本原则 ,这不仅有助于学习迁移的研究 ,而且对树立“为迁移而教”的教育理念亦有益处。     

Does the Brain Have a Place in Educational Psychology?

Byrnes and Fox (1998) present the case for the relevance of cognitive neuroscience in educational psychology, including both logical and empirical arguments. In this commentary, I begin by briefly reviewing the history of the case for including the brain in educational psychology: Early educational psychology—as reflected in Thorndike's (1926) educational psychology textbook—emphasized the neuronal basis of learning; contemporary educational psychology—as reflected in educational publications—tends to ignore the brain; and future educational psychology will need to overcome the pitfalls encountered in previous misuses of brain research. Next, I examine two logical arguments for Byrnes and Fox's case, namely, that including cognitive neuroscience research makes educational psychology more complete and more plausible. Then, I examine the empirical argument of Byrnes and Fox by focusing on the value of cognitive neuroscience research in attention and memory as well as in reading and arithmetic. Finally, I suggest criteria for evaluating the contributions of cognitive neuroscience research in educational psychology, including the need for research on educationally relevant tasks and issues.