Conditional inference and advanced mathematical study

Many mathematicians and curriculum bodies have argued in favour of the theory of formal discipline: that studying advanced mathematics develops one’s ability to reason logically. In this paper we explore this view by directly comparing the inferences drawn from abstract conditional statements by advanced mathematics students and well-educated arts students. The mathematics students in the study were found to endorse fewer invalid conditional inferences than the arts students, but they did not endorse significantly more valid inferences. We establish that both groups tended to endorse more inferences which led to negated conclusions than inferences which led to affirmative conclusions (a phenomenon known as the negative conclusion effect). In contrast, however, we demonstrate that, unlike the arts students, the mathematics students did not exhibit the affirmative premise effect: the tendency to endorse more inferences with affirmative premises than with negated premises. We speculate that this latter result may be due to an increased ability for successful mathematics students to be able to ‘see through’ opaque representations. Overall, our data are consistent with a version of the formal discipline view. However, there are important caveats; in particular, we demonstrate that there is no simplistic relationship between the study of advanced mathematics and conditional inference behaviour.

Teacher perceptions of the regular education initiative

A survey of 381 special and regular educators assessed perceptions and opinions surrounding the regular education initiative. Confirmatory factor analysis supported an a priori hypothesized structure of teachers' responses. Items factored into 14 categories. These factors describe issues related to preferred placement of students with mild disabilities, teachers' responsibility and ownership, teacher preparedness for meeting the needs of these students, achievement outcomes for all children, and the changes that would result from adopting the proposed consultant model rather than a pullout program. Results favored current special education practices (pullout programs) in elementary schools.     

The development of children at familial risk for dyslexia: Birth to early school age

Children at risk for familial dyslexia (n = 107) and their controls (n = 93) have been followed from birth to school entry in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD) on developmental factors linked to reading and dyslexia. At the point of school entry, the majority of the at-risk children displayed decoding ability that fell at least 1 SD below the mean of the control group. Measures of speech processing were the earliest indices to show both group differences in infancy and also significant predictive associations with reading acquisition. A number of measures of language, including phonological and morphological skill collected repeatedly from age three, revealed group differences and predictive correlations. Both the group differences and the predictive associations to later language and reading ability strengthened as a function of increasing age. The predictions, however, tend to be stronger and the spectrum of significant correlations wider in the at-risk group. These results are crucial to early identification and intervention of dyslexia in at-risk children.     

Student Learning in Higher Education

There has been relatively little systematic experimental investigation of individual differences in student learning. The findings of mainstream laboratory‐based research are of limited value, though they are generally consistent with the results of surveys of student performance. Nevertheless, it has been possible to demonstrate qualitative and commensurable variation among individual students in both the outcome of learning and the process of learning, and in both formal experimental tasks and in normal academic studies. There has been limited success in attempts to manipulate cognitive processing by varying the anticipated form of assessment or by inducing variations in motivational factors. However, there are radical effects of matching the instructional procedures to the subjects’ cognitive approaches. More recent research has demonstrated considerable variation within individual subjects across different learning situations. Current discussion concerns the consistency, variability, and flexibility of individual learners, the identification of causal relationships, the validity of introspective reports and the adequacy of traditional research methodology.     

Linking family hardship to children's lives

The impact of drastic income loss on children is mediated by a number of family adaptations, including the shift toward more labor-intensive households and altered relationships. Using newly developed codes on parenting behavior during the Great Depression, this study investigates the role of parental behavior (rejecting, nonsupportive) in linking economic hardship to children's lives in the Oakland Growth Study. The results extend beyond those reported in Children of the Great Depression by showing that economic hardship adversely influenced the psychosocial well-being of girls, but not boys, by increasing the rejecting behavior of fathers. The parenting behavior of mothers did not vary significantly by income loss. In addition, the rejecting influence of hard-pressed fathers was more pronounced in relation to less attractive daughters, as judged by physical features. Attractive daughters were not likely to be maltreated by their fathers, no matter how severe the economic pressure. These outcomes on family mediation and conditional effects underscore the importance of viewing economic decline in relation to both the child's characteristics and parenting behavior. An understanding of the effects of economic decline in children's lives requires knowledge of parent and child behavior within the family and life course.     

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED STUDENTS

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between intellectual, social, personal and personality variables of academically gifted secondary school students. A total of 297 tenth grade boys and girls were identified on the basis of three main criteria: 1. Academic achievement with special emphasis on Arabic language, science and math scores; 2. Behavioural traits; 3. General mental ability and general adjustment. Data related to socioeconomic status and personal characteristics were also collected. Results of the analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between gifted and nongifted groups in general mental ability, achievement, general adjustment, behavioural traits, personal and social variables, in favour of the former.     

Parents do matter: trajectories of change in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence

This study examined the relative influence of three parenting behaviors (support, behavioral control, and psychological control) and deviant peers on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. A white, working-to-middle-class sample of adolescents and their mothers and fathers in two-earner families participated in a 32-year longitudinal study (N = 109 families). The study began when the adolescents were in sixth grade (M age = 11.5 years). Analyses showed that parents' firm behavioral control seemed to halt the upward trajectory in externalizing problems among adolescents with deviant peers. Initial levels of internalizing problems were higher among adolescents with parents who reported lower levels of behavioral control and among adolescents with deviant peers. This study suggests that parenting exerts an important influence in adolescents' lives and may do so even in the face of potentially negative peer influence.     

Research note: Some corrections and suggestions for working with the national faculty survey databases

Our ability to understand the faculty work environment has been greatly enhanced by the availability of largescale national surveys of the professoriate since the 1950s. This technical note identifies ways to improve data comparability among the national faculty surveys. It begins by identifying the national surveys and some of their attributes. The study then estimates faculty sizes and calculates weights for faculty in selected disciplines and institution types. The weights are designed specifically for four surveys conducted in 1969, 1975, 1980, and 1988.