In search of the keyword method/vocabulary comprehension link

Previous research has indicated that the keyword method of vocabulary learning facilitates students' performance not just on simple tests of definition recall, but on comprehension-demanding tasks as well. The present study was conducted to determine whether the “comprehension” finding could be accounted for by keyword subjects' superior definition recall per se. The results generally supported that conclusion: When conditions and subjects within conditions were equated with respect to their initial levels of definition recall, the comprehension advantage of keyword subjects disappeared.     

A comparison of sentence-learning errors in children of different achievement levels

Theoretical analyses of the multiple-choice test format suggest that a test constructor should give serious consideration to the form in which correct and incorrect alternatives are presented. In this experiment, third and fourth graders were tested for previously exposed information by multiple-choice items in which: (a) correct alternatives were stated in either verbatim or synonym form; and (b) incorrect alternatives consisted of plausible responses that were either familiar or new. Comparisons of errors and error patterns were made between high and low achieving students who had been given one of two different information-processing strategies. Based on a dual test function argument, it was concluded that synonym correct alternatives combined with plausible new responses are the most desirable of the four multiple-choice variations studied here. In particular, such items were sensitive to achievement level and strategy differences without systematically increasing students' likelihood of retaining misinformation.     

Performance of Montessori and traditionally schooled nursery children on tasks of seriation, classification, and conservation

It was hypothesized that the Montessori curriculum accelerates the acquisition of a number of concrete operational skills. To test this, eighty 4-year-old children were given three Piagetian problems—seriation, classification, and conservation. Half of the subjects were from Montessori schools, and the other half were from more traditional nursery settings. Within each type of school, half of the children were first year and the other half were second year enrollees. Results showed that significantly more Montessori than traditional children seriated and classified objects like concrete thinkers but that there were no differences on the conservation problem. Year of enrollment did not influence performance on any of the tasks. It was concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed and that the failure to find acceleration of conservation performance was due to its advanced nature relative to the other problems and/or the tangential manner in which Montessori exercises deal with the critical concepts that underly it.     

浅析《刑法修正案（八）》之缓刑制度新规定的缺陷

《刑法修正案（八）》在缓刑适用对象、实质条件、排除条件、考察主体和内容以及撤销条件等方面对我国缓刑制度进行了大幅度修订,缓刑制度取得新的发展。但新规定亦存在缺憾。     

Effect of personalized basal stories on the reading comprehension of fourth-grade poor and average readers

Forty fourth-grade children were assigned randomly on a stratified basis to read either standard or personalized basal stories and answer comprehension questions. The results of the study indicated that children previously identified as poor readers comprehended more information when they read personalized, as opposed to standard, stories. No difference was found among children of average reading ability on this variable.     

Student behaviors, teacher reinforcement, student ability, and learning

Ninety-eight children were observed for 6-min periods on each of 10 days during 50-min, small-group classes in either mathematics, science, geography, or language usage. Two student behaviors (on-task behavior and accuracy of responding to teacher-directed questions) and three types of teacher reinforcement (verbal reinforcement for on-task behavior and accurate responding and tangible reinforcers) were coded during each observation period. A post-test of achievement, directly related to the content of the lessons, was administered at the end of the 10 days of instruction. The causal effects of student behaviors, teacher reinforcement, and student ability (reading achievement and intelligence) on achievement were evaluated using path analysis. The strongest effects were from student ability measures, with accurate responding by students and teacher reinforcement of accurate responding exhibiting smaller, but significant effects. Findings are discussed to qualify the relationship between overt classroom behaviors and degree of learning and the mediating effects of student ability.     

The keyword method and children's vocabulary learning: An interaction with vocabulary knowledge

Fifth-grade students with either high or low levels of vocabulary knowledge were taught a list of new vocabulary words according to the mnemonic keyword method. The children were randomly assigned either to one of three keyword instructional conditions that varied in the degree of structure provided by the experimenter, or to a no-strategy control condition. All three variations of the keyword method facilitated students' vocabulary learning. Aptitude × treatment interactions involving vocabulary knowledge materialized, however, such that the degree of keyword method structure made far less of a difference for the high knowledge students than it did for the lows. In particular, when the children had to execute the dual components of the keyword method entirely on their own, low vocabulary knowledge students experienced considerably more difficulty than did highs.     

Effects of word frequency and number of meanings for fast and slow readers

Using a lexical decision task, the effects of frequency and number of meanings are investigated for fast and slow readers. It is shown that different patterns of results emerge for fast and slow readers. For fast readers there are general effects of both frequency and number of meanings; for slow readers the effects are considerably attenuated.