Race differences on nonverbal analogy test performance as a function of verbal strategy training.

Hypothesized that the relatively poor performance of Black students on nominally nonverbal reasoning tests (A. R. Jensen's Level II) (see record 1974-24027-001) may be due to their failure to use verbal problem-solving strategies efficiently and spontaneously. 200 4th and 5th graders, both Black and White, showed no race differences on Level I ability (digit-span memory). Half of the Ss of each race were then trained to use a verbal strategy on nonverbal analogies. For Ss who received no special training there were significant race differences on the analogies test (p     

Effect of self-efficacy, goals, and task strategies on task performance.

Manipulated self-efficacy and task strategies in the training of 209 undergraduates under high strategy, low strategy, and control conditions. Ss underwent 5 trials and were administered a self-efficacy scale after each trial. Results show that ability, past performance, and self-efficacy were the major predictors of goal choice. Ability, self-efficacy, goals, and task strategies were related to task performance. Self-efficacy was more strongly related to past performance than to future performance but remained a significant predictor of future performance even when past performance was controlled. Self-efficacy ratings for moderate to difficult levels of performance were the best predictors of future performance; a reanalysis of 2 previous goal-setting studies by the first author confirms this finding. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of learning and performance in an associative memory/substitution task: Task constraints, individual differences, volition, and motivation.

The way that cognitive abilities, learning task characteristics, and motivational and volitional processes combine to explain individual differences in performance and learning was investigated. A substitution task was studied over practice, and it was discovered that students used 2 different strategies: a learning strategy focused on memorization and a performance strategy in which students persisted in scanning items. Five experiments investigated strategy differences and the ability and motivational correlates of task performance. First, ability correlates of performance and strategy use were demonstrated. Next, reducing task difficulty increased use of the learning strategy. With periodic memory tests, effective reliance on the learning strategy was increased, and task performance correlations with reasoning ability were lowered. Finally, a combination of self-focus and goal-setting interventions increased both general performance levels and use of the learning strategy. Results are discussed in terms of the goal of developing a more comprehensive understanding of learner differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfert d'une stratégie de mémorisation chez des enfants de 10 ans: étude des différences individuelles.

Studied spontaneous or induced use of an organization strategy on free recall tasks by children differing with regard to perceptual field dependence–field independence (i.e., global vs analytic perceptual style). Human Ss: 72 normal male and female school-age children (mean age 10 yrs). In a 2 by 2 by 2 experimental design, Ss were divided into 8 groups according to gender, perceptual style (global vs analytic), and treatment (control vs experimental). The groups received a brief illustration of a semantic organization strategy designed to promote memorization of verbal material. Ss performed 3 successive and identical recall tasks followed by 2 different tasks requiring either a transfer of maintenance or a transfer of generalization. Intergroup differences in memorization strategies and recall performances were analyzed. Tests used: The Group Embedded Figures Test. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of information feedback on matrices learning for differing socioeconomic levels.

Examined the differential effect of 2 kinds of information feedback on performance when used to train matrix completion strategies. A matrices training task was administered to 120 white male Ss representing Grades 1 and 3 and low- and middle-socioeconomic status (SES) levels. After 4 enclosure-type items had been learned under 1 of 2 feedback conditions, Ss responded to a transfer set of 10 similar items. Results indicate that the 3rd-grade Ss learned more quickly than the 1st-grade Ss (p 1969-02983-001) concerning differential conceptual performance abilities characteristic of different SES levels. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exhaustive memory scanning in Rattus norvegicus: Recognition for food items.

Eight male and 8 female Long-Evans rats were trained with a forced correct decision technique to find and freely consume 1–6 foods in a modified food item recognition task to further test the suggestion in previous research of a convergence of human and nonhuman memory strategies. Results show that older, maze-wise, richly experienced Ss exhibited serial, exhaustive memory scanning of food items in the task. This strategy was observed whether the test food item matched or did not match a memorized set. There was no serial position effect noted, but there was an error phenomenon, which suggested an interaction between the opportunity to self-order handling of food items and a memory capacity limit. Findings provide support for convergence of memory strategies across mammalian species and suggest the need for thinking within a natural-selection framework. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An aptitude?×?strategy interaction in linear syllogistic reasoning.

Results of a study with 144 graduate and undergraduate students support the hypothesis that the efficiency of each of 4 alternative strategies for solving linear syllogisms—problems such as "John is taller than Bill; Bill is taller than Pete; who is tallest?"—would depend on Ss' patterns of verbal and spatial abilities. The research also had 3 subsidiary goals. The 1st was to determine whether it is possible to train Ss to use various classes of strategies for solving linear syllogisms; it was found that such training is possible. The 2nd goal was to compare the average efficiencies of 4 alternative strategies adopted spontaneously by Ss. It was found that one strategy (used spontaneously by only a small number of Ss but easily trainable) is more efficient than the alternative strategies that Ss seem to use spontaneously. The 3rd was to provide a series of converging operations for testing the validity of one particular account of linear syllogistic reasoning—a spatial–linguistic mixture model—for Ss receiving no explicit instruction in the solution of linear syllogisms. The validity of this model for the untrained Ss was supported. It is concluded that componential analysis (a series of conceptual and methodological techniques for investigating intelligent performance) can provide a useful means for studying interactions between aptitudes and experimental treatments. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Développement des stratégies cognitives et des habiletés d'autocontr?le chez les enfants de 8 à 14 ans.

Studied interactions between cognitive development and self-monitoring abilities. Human Ss: 19 normal male and female Canadian school-age children (aged 8 yrs). 20 normal male and female Canadian school-age children (aged 10 yrs). 21 normal male and female Canadian school-age children (aged 12 yrs). 21 normal male and female Canadian adolescents (aged 14 yrs). Ss were asked to solve 8 proportionality problems, using a balance scale. Cognitive development was determined by the strategy used and performance on each problem. Indicators of self-monitoring included amount of time spent on strategy planning, self-evaluation of expected performance, persistence, changes in strategies following failure, and verbal explanations of failure. Interactions between cognitive level and indicators of self-monitoring were analyzed, and the influence of task complexity was determined. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retention of sequences of responses by very young children as a function of instructional condition.

Eight males and 8 females in each of 3 age-groups (28-31, 34-37, and 42-54 mo) were tested for their ability to process verbal and nonverbal instructional sequences. Each S was presented 3 different lengths of instruction in each of 4 different conditions: In the static condition each test item was prearranged in a receptacle so that during the trial the E told the S where to place the item while pointing to each item in each container; in the verbal instructions condition the S was simply told how to place the items in the containers; in the modeling condition, the S watched the E perform the task first; in the final condition, both modeling and verbal instructions were combined to determine whether adding modeling cues to the verbal instructions improved performance. Statistical analysis showed that performance in the static condition was significantly poorer than the performance in all other conditions. When instructions only indicated the prearranged location of items in containers, completion of the task was impaired relative to performance when modeling cues were added. Very young Ss did as well in the verbal conditioning as in the modeling condition. This experiment fails to support the superiority of visual over verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and verbal abilities in children's crossmodal recognition: A dual coding approach.

Conducted 2 experiments to study the relative importance of visuospatial (VSAs) and verbal referential abilities (VRAs) to 184 English-speaking children's (aged 4 yrs 11 mo to 8 yrs) crossmodal performance under imagery, naming, and control instructions. Using the Minnesota Paper Form(s) Board Test Revised, imagery instructions induced Ss to implement a visual imagery strategy that depended primarily on VSA, whereas naming instructions promoted use of a naming strategy that depended relatively more on VRA. No instructions resulted in use of a verbal/naming strategy similar to that used by naming Ss. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of verbal fluency abilities and strategies in elementary-school-age children.

This study of two experiments designed to examine children's abilities and strategies for completing tests of verbal fluency. In Experiment 1, 64 third graders and 71 sixth graders completed four fluency tasks constructed for the study as well as several tests of other verbal abilities. Subjects received two sets of scores for the fluency tasks: a fluency score and scores for strategies expected to distinguish more verbally fluent children from less fluent children. The results demonstrated that the two sets of scores were positively correlated. In Experiment 2, 40 third graders and 38 sixth graders completed expanded versions of two of the fluency tasks used in Experiment 1. The results revealed grade and gender differences in strategy use as well as in level of task performance. In addition, the results indicated that the children's scores for one of the two strategies were strong predictors of their performance on the verbal fluency tasks. The effects of strategy selection and implementation, grade, and gender (as well as their combined influence on children's verbal fluency skills) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Componential modeling of alternative strategies for performing spatial tasks.

Tested single-strategy and strategy-shifting models in a stratified random sample of 30 male high schoolers and undergraduates to explore relations among aptitude, spatial task solution strategy, and task performance. Results show that different models fit different Ss on each of 3 task steps (encoding, synthesis, and comparison), suggesting that different Ss used different strategies for solving the same items. Some of the best fitting models specified that Ss frequently and flexibly switch strategies in keeping with variations in item demands (a form of adaptive, within-task learning). For the encoding and synthesis steps, significant performance differences were found among Ss using different strategies. Aptitude may have affected strategy choice. Evidence for 2 types of strategy shifting (route and sequence shifting) was found. The shift models help explain individual differences in problem-solving processes employed in complex tasks such as the ones administered in this study. The strategy-shift models are appended. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conserving and retaining equalities and inequalities through observation and correction.

Investigated the effects of modeling and corrective feedback on the conservation of equalities and inequalities, with items spanning 3 stimulus dimensions (length, number, and 2-dimensional space). Ss were 48 kindergartners (24 boys, 24 girls). Brief observation of a model, briefer correction training (joining positive feedback with verbal rule provision), and the combination of observation and correction were all successful in producing learning and, without further training, transfer and retention of conservation. Unlike the controls (who also never correctly answered any equality items), the trained experimental Ss gave evidence of spontaneously generalizing their new learning to a task that required nonverbal behavior to manifest conservation. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-acceptance, acceptance-of-others, and verbal conditioning with mental hospital patients.

A previous study by the authors with military personnel demonstrated that (a) the frequency of endorsement of self-accepting questionnaire items can be increased by standard verbal conditioning techniques, and (b) this increase generalizes to similar but novel items as well as to items indicative of more positive attitudes towards others. The present study attempted to extend these findings to 60 male hospitalized psychiatric patients who scored low on a selected portion of a self-acceptance questionnaire. Experimental Ss were reinforced for accepting responses to 18 self-acceptance items on 3 successive days, while controls received no reinforcement. A postexperimental scale, comprising the original 18 self-acceptance items and an additional 32 novel items, was administered to all Ss. Results support the previous findings, showing that attitudes, which are theoretically relevant to social interaction, can be modified by means of verbal conditioning techniques. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pigeon memory: Same/different concept learning, serial probe recognition acquisition, and probe delay effects on the serial-position function.

In Exp I, 2 White Carneaux pigeons were trained with sets of 70 pairs of color-slide stimuli in a same/different task to perform at least 88% correct; 6 different sets were used in successive acquisitions. Ss transferred same/different performance to novel stimuli with 60% accuracy following their 6 acquisitions; further training and daily changes in the training stimuli revealed 71% transfer to novel stimuli. In Exps II and III, 4 Ss were trained (88% criterion) in a serial-probe-recognition task with 3 list items, and the list length was increased with successive acquisitions to 4, 5, and 6 items. Their serial-position functions changed for different delays between the last list item and the test item revealing a recency effect (last items remembered well) for 0-sec delay, recency and primacy effects (first items remembered well) for 1- and 2-sec delays, and only a primacy effect for a 10-sec delay. Results are discussed in relation to human memory performance and theories of memory processing. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Area and volume conservation among the elderly: Assessment and training.

Conducted 2 studies to examine whether the elderly maintain the competence to adequately solve problems of logical thinking. In the 1st study the performance of 60 noninstitutionalized middle-class elderly females was assessed on area and volume conservation tasks. On overall performance only 33.3% of the Ss were classified as conservers. In the 2nd study a training paradigm was used to determine whether simple verbal feedback activated the strategies required for adequate performance on conservation tasks. 22 Ss who failed at least 2 conservation tasks in the assessment study were administered a 20-trial training procedure. Half of these Ss received simple verbal feedback following each response, while half received no feedback. Results on an immediate posttest indicated that the feedback group performed significantly better than the control group on the near transfer posttest task and on the majority of far transfer tasks. The results are discussed in terms of a distinction between competence and performance. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bilingual aphasia: semantic organization, strategy use, and productivity in semantic verbal fluency

A semantic verbal fluency task (Animals, Foods) was administered to 16 aphasic, bilingual adults in French and English. Each subject was tested twice in each language. The two goals of the study were to compare performance across languages and to determine the effect of a deliberate grouping strategy on productivity. All subjects claimed approximately equal prestroke abilities in both languages. The number of words subjects produced was not significantly different in the two languages. Semantic organization across languages was also similar on Test 1. On Test 2, 8 subjects were instructed to group items by subcategory and 8 simply repeated the task. There was no consistent between-group difference in number of correct words or in the semantic organization of responses. Implications for the clinical use of verbal fluency tests and for further research into bilingual lexicosemantic systems are discussed.     

Interactive effects of test anxiety, test difficulty, and feedback.

Examined interactive effects of item difficulty, test anxiety, and failure feedback in a study of 67 undergraduates (mean age 20.1 yrs) using multiple-choice verbal aptitude items. Ss' levels of test anxiety were measured on the Achievement Anxiety Test and the Test Anxiety Scale. Ss were then randomly assigned to receive either a hard or an easy test either with or without immediate feedback. Results indicate that ability estimates can be affected in complex ways by the examinee's anxiety level. The least anxious Ss in the sample did best on a very hard test, and moderately anxious Ss did best on an easy test, whereas the most anxious Ss did poorly on both tests. In addition, it was found that immediate feedback improved performance, especially for Ss given an easy test. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experience-dependent recovery of visuospatial functioning in older alcoholic persons.

Exposed 2 groups of alcoholic males to verbal and visuospatial paired-associate learning tasks known to be sensitive to alcohol dysfunction. Group 1, with 16 Ss (mean age 52.19 yrs), received 4 task administrations 3–4 days apart, beginning 4 days after drinking stopped. Group 2, with 14 Ss (mean age 49.79 yrs), received identical administration beginning 16 days after drinking stopped. An alternate form of the tasks was administered at the final session to assess transfer of training. Two matched nonalcoholic control groups of 12 Ss each (mean age 50.79 yrs) established normative performance on both forms of the tasks. Although the alcoholic Ss' verbal learning was unimpaired, visuospatial functioning was equally impaired initially in both alcoholic groups despite differing periods of abstinence, indicating the lack of time-dependent recovery. However, practice with the visuospatial task resulted in improved visuospatial performance and positive transfer of training not significantly different from normal Ss. It is suggested that since alcoholism treatment outcome is related to neuropsychological status, rehabilitation of cognitive functioning may improve treatment success. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal-discrimination learning: Varied familiarization on correct and incorrect items.

80 Ss in 4 groups were given 12 trials on a 30-pair verbal-discrimination (VD) list of very low-frequency words. The groups received different familiarization training prior to the VD task. Differential familiarization, given on correct and incorrect items, was initially beneficial, but more so when the correct item received the greater familiarization. More familiarization of incorrect than correct items resulted in a slower rate of improvement across trials than occurred when equal familiarization was given on correct and incorrect items, or when Ss received irrelevant familiarization. Equal familiarization of correct and incorrect items led to faster VD acquisition than irrelevant familiarization. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)