Reasons for Changing Answers: An Evaluation Using Personal Interviews

Researchers investigating answer changing have consistently found the preponderance of changes on objective items to be from wrong to right, but little is understood about the mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. In this study, personal interviews were combined with instruction in answer-changing research to investigate further the processes involved in answer changing. Students changed answers and gained from changing, with those in the upper two thirds of the classes gaining the most. Each test-taking strategy produced a mean gain, but particular strategies were not significantly correlated with percentage of gain or percentage of change. Most students reported changing answers for thoughtful reasons such as rereading, rethinking, or remembering more information; very few changes were due to clerical errors. For each reason, most changes were wrong-to-right. We conclude that reconsideration of test items is probably underestimated in answer-changing studies. The role of memory should be considered in why people change and in how successful they judge their changing to have been.     

Visualizing statistical edutainment: What you see is what you get

Concepts of data visualization are explored using statistics educational fun items and illustrated by sharing results from the experiment we conducted on cartoon captions.     

A reinforcement model of the relationships of supervisors' general communication styles and conflict management styles to task attraction

The conceptual similarities and logical relationships between the constructs of general communication styles and conflict management styles suggested that they should be related in use by supervisors. Based upon reward and punishment concepts of reinforcement that underpin attraction theories, we predicted certain relationships among these styles and the task attraction of supervisors. To test these expectations, 227 questionnaires from subordinates in 12 companies served as the data base. Hypotheses were supported demonstrating substantial relationships between general communication styles and conflict management styles, as well as very substantial relationships between the style constructs and task attraction of supervisors.     

Gifted students with learning disabilities: who are they?

More than 20 years ago, psychologists first described gifted students with learning disabilities (LD). In the past decade, several sets of identification criteria have been proposed for this population. Many of the suggested assessment practices are unsupported by research in psychoeducational assessment, and some have been directly contradicted by recent research. We argue that an uncritical acceptance of the concept of concomitant giftedness and LD has led to unsound identification procedures and to interventions that are not targeted properly. Specific recommendations for future research and implications for current clinical practice are discussed.     

Current Validity of 1975 and 1985 SATs: Implications for Validity Trends Since the Mid-1970s

The aim of this study was to appraise whether different forms of the SA T used since the mid-1970s varied in their correlations with academic performance criteria in the same cohort of examinees. A 1975 form and a 1985 form were administered to two random samples of high school juniors, and self-reported grade point average and high school rank were obtained. The SAT-Verbal and SAT-Mathematical scores generally had similar correlations with the grade criteria in the two samples. The principal conclusion is that the 1975 form of the SAT does not have greater validity than the 1985 form in assessing academic performance, at least at the high school level. This outcome offers no support for the hypothesis that the decline in the SAT's ability to predict college grades since the mid-1970s, observed in recent research, is attributable to changes in the test.     

Are Letter Detection and Proofreading Tasks Equivalent?

When readers search for misspellings in a proofreading task or for a letter in a letter detection task, they are more likely to omit function words than content words. However, with misspelled words, previous findings for the letter detection task were mixed. In two experiments, the authors tested the functional equivalence of both tasks. Results reveal similar patterns of omissions for both search tasks when misspellings were produced by substituting one letter for another: There were more omissions for function words than for content words. However, when two letters were transposed, differences between the two tasks emerged. It is possible to conclude that letter detection and proofreading are based on common cognitive processes but the nature of the target can modulate the effects. Results are interpreted in light of the attentional disengagement model and the guidance organization model of the missing-letter effect.     

An early review of stroboscopic visual training: insights,challenges and accomplishments to guide future studies

ABSTRACT

Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) is a form of training in which an individual practices a task under intermittent visual conditions with the intention of enhancing subsequent performance under normal visual conditions. Training with stroboscopic devices is theorized to improve important visual, perceptual, and cognitive skills, which in turn transfers to enhanced sporting performance. Indeed, while there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence suggesting benefits of strobe training, empirical evidence is rarer and less conclusive. This lack of clarity is due, in part, to the challenging methodological issues faced when conducting experimental vision training studies in applied contexts. The present paper is an early review of the research to date with a focus on the key methodological decisions, such as the training and testing protocols employed, participant samples and control groups used, and practical considerations that enable such training in applied settings. Whilst still at an early stage, the existing studies point to SVT enhancing some aspects of foveal visual sensitivity and visual motor control, with notable benefits for some athletic tasks. Such improvements could have implications not just in sport, but in domains such as rehabilitation, education, and motor vehicle safety.     

The biomechanical effect of warm-up stretching strategies on landing mechanics in female volleyball athletes

ABSTRACT

Female volleyball athletes incorporate dynamic and static stretching into a warm-up, with evidence generally supporting dynamic stretching to improve performance. However, the effects of these stretching practices on injury risk during subsequent volleyball manoeuvres have yet to be fully elucidated in the warm-up literature. Three-dimensional kinematic data associated with non-contact, lower extremity injury were recorded on 12 female collegiate club volleyball athletes during unilateral landing tasks on the dominant and non-dominant limb. Participants performed landings as part of a volleyball-simulated manoeuvre prior to and post-dynamic (DWU) and combined dynamic-static (CDS) warm-ups. A significant reduction in non-dominant hip adduction angle was found at 15 min post CDS warm-up (p = 0.016; d = 0.38), however, no other warm-up differences were detected. The non-dominant limb demonstrated greater knee abduction (p = 0.006; d = 0.69) and internal rotation angle (p = 0.004; d = 0.88), suggesting that this limb demonstrates more risky landing patterns that are potentially due to altered trunk positioning upon landing. The results show that the majority of selected landing kinematics are unaffected by additional static stretching to a dynamic warm-up and that the non-dominant limb may be at a higher injury risk in female volleyball athletes.