The role of lexical analogies in beginning reading: Insights from children's self-reports.

The research addresses the role of lexical analogies in early reading by examining variation in children's self-reported strategy choices in the context of a traditional clue-word reading task. Sixty 5- to 6-year-old beginning readers were given a nonword version of a traditional clue-word reading analogy task, and changes in strategies were examined using measures of immediately retrospective verbal reports. The findings revealed that the children's performance was accompanied by their use of a wide repertoire of reading strategies, the most prominent being the use of lexical analogies and grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence rules. Distinct profiles of reading were derived from an analysis of the children's strategy choice, showing strong patterns of individual differences with regard to the extent to which children reported making analogical responses and applying grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence rules to aid their nonword reading. The benefits of using immediately retrospective verbal reports of strategies as a way of examining individual differences in children's early reading are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive strategies, experimenter modeling, and expectation in the attenuation of pain.

Obtained verbal reports of pain from 120 female undergraduates during a base-level pretest and also during a posttest conducted under 1 of several experimental treatments. The pain stimulus was a heavy weight applied to a finger for 2 min. During the posttest, Ss who had been asked to utilize cognitive strategies for reducing pain (i.e., to imagine pleasant events or to imagine the finger as insensitive) showed a reduction in pain as compared to uninstructed control Ss. Ss led to expect a reduction in pain, but not provided with cognitive strategies, also showed reduced pain during the posttest compared to controls, but the reduction was smaller than for Ss using cognitive strategies. An E modeling procedure, used with half of the Ss under each experimental treatment, was effective in reducing verbal reports of pain only for Ss with high pretest levels who were asked to imagine pleasant events. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of causal attributions about recall performance to assess metamemory and predict strategic memory behavior in young children.

27 1st graders and 24 2nd graders were exposed to a memory task in which their recall performance varied as a function of their incidentally elicited sorting behavior. When asked what had affected their recall, only some Ss at each grade identified sorting as a causal factor, although all had used sorting. Attributions about sorting could not be accounted for by differential memory for sorting behavior or by differential use of sorting on previous trials. Causal attributions, but neither previous sorting nor nonattributional verbal reports about sorting behavior, predicted use of a sorting strategy in a standard, study-recall task 1 wk later. Ss who had attributed recall to sorting tended not to use rehearsal strategies on the subsequent task, suggesting that causal attributions reflected their views about what were the most important influences on recall. Ss' ability to assess their recall performance and their insight into possible mechanisms by which sorting affects recall are discussed as avenues for future research into how children acquire their ideas about factors that affect memory. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The validity of verbal reports in children's subtraction.

To assess the validity of verbal reports in children's subtraction, students in Grades 1, 3, and 5 were asked to solve a set of simple subtraction problems and were placed in the no-report, retrospective-report, or concurrent-report conditions. Two aspects of verbal report validity were assessed: reactivity, or whether providing a verbal report alters subsequent task performance, and veridicality, or whether the verbal reports are accurate reflections of solution strategies. Students in all grades and in both the retrospective-report and concurrent-report conditions were able to provide veridical strategy reports, and the instruction to verbally report had few effects on task performance. Informal findings indicate that students had less difficulty reporting retrospectively than concurrently. (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)     

Effects of aptitudes, strategy training, and task facets on spatial task performance.

A pilot study, with 8 high school students, demonstrated that 3 item characteristics accounted for most of the variation in item difficulty in a paper-folding task: number of folds, number of obscured folds, and number of asymmetric folds. Retrospective reports suggested that Ss employed 2 strategies when attempting to solve these items: a visualization strategy and an analytic strategy. In the main experiment, these 2 strategies were demonstrated via motion picture models; 24 Ss received visualization training, and 24 received analytic training. Training effects of the demonstration films were compared with a performance feedback condition given to 8 Ss. All Ss performed 74 paper-folding items and 60 surface development transfer items following treatment. Error and latency data suggested that the treatments affected strategy selection and efficiency on both tasks. Treatment effects depended on item characteristics and response mode as well as on Ss' fluid-analytic/visualization and verbal abilities, as assessed by the Concept Mastery Test, WAIS Vocabulary test, and Raven Progressive Matrices. Sex differences were also noted, with verbal ability being important in the performance of females but not males. Implications for a process theory of human abilities are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's strategy use in computational estimation.

Examined strategic aspects of children's performance in computational estimation. 23 5th-grade children (aged 10 yrs old) were asked to provide estimates of 48 3- by 3-digit addition problems. After each problem, Ss were asked to say how they found the solution. Verbal protocols, speed, and accuracy were collected for each problem so as to identify which computational estimation strategy is used on each trial, and how each strategy is used, selected, and executed. The results show that children used 4 strategies: rounding with decomposition, rounding without decomposition, truncation, and compensation. Strategies appeared to differ in frequency and effectiveness. Finally, children chose strategies in an adaptive way so as to obtain fast and accurate performance. Implications of these findings for understanding children's computational estimation performance and strategies in numerical cognition in general are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

A Further Comparison of Imagery and Vocalization Strategies in Children's Discrimination Learning.

Three experiments were conducted using fifth and sixth graders to determine the effectiveness of verbal and imaginal rehearsal strategies in children's discrimination learning. With verbal materials, imaging the referent of the correct item was more facilitative than vocalizing the correct item, as long as the imagery strategy was executed in the company of relevant motor activity. In fact, when children engaged in such a strategy, their verbal discrimination performance was virtually error free. No difference between the two strategies was found in pictorial discrimination learning, both resulting in performance very near ceiling. A possible interpretation of the results was provided. (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)     

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)     

Age-related changes in verbal and nonverbal memory during early childhood.

In the present experiment, age-related changes in verbal and nonverbal memory performance by 2- to 4-year-old children were assessed. All children participated in the same unique event, and their memory of that event was assessed after a 24-hr delay. Overall, children's performance on each memory measure increased as a function of age. Furthermore, children's performance on both the verbal and nonverbal memory tests was related to their language ability; children with more advanced language skills reported more during the verbal interview and exhibited superior nonverbal memory relative to children with less advanced language skills. Finally, children's verbal recall of the event lagged behind both their nonverbal recall and their general verbal skill. It is hypothesized that despite large strides in language acquisition, preschool-age children continue to rely primarily on nonverbal representations of past events. The findings have important implications for the phenomenon of childhood amnesia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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     

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)     

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)     

Selection and implementation of strategies in reasoning by analogy.

160 undergraduates were either trained to solve analogies using 1 of 3 different strategies or not given strategy training. Half of the Ss received analogies with integral attributes, and half received analogies with separable attributes. Ss were administered the Figure Analogies from the American Council on Education Psychological Examination for College Freshmen, the Abstract Reasoning from the Differential Aptitude Tests, and a questionnaire regarding their analogy-task performance. Findings indicate that (a) it was possible to train Ss to use various strategies for solving integral analogies; (b) Ss were not aware of the relative success or failure of the training; (c) Ss were aware of differences in the effectiveness of the alternative strategies, and their views were consistent with the actual differences; (d) scores on a figural series completion test were correlated with analogy solution latencies only for Ss who either were untrained or were trained to use the strategy they probably would have used if they had been untrained; (e) Ss' differential performance within content conditions on the analogy task was correlated in many instances with the Ss' metacognitive awareness of their success in strategy implementation; and (f) the preferred model used by untrained Ss was the most efficacious model and perceived to be the most efficacious one. Results show the importance of considering content variables, as well as task-execution and S variables, in the study of metacognitive and cognitive performance in information processing. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of brief exposure to symbolic model behavior on the information-processing strategies of internally and externally oriented children.

Conducted a study with 120 externally and 120 internally oriented 4th graders (as measured by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale) to examine the modifiability of children's information-processing strategies. Ss observed a constraint-seeking model or a change (contrasting response patterns) model which provided either minimal or augmented verbal cues and associated reinforcement contingencies. Ss in augmented modeling conditions required fewer questions to reach a solution and asked a higher proportion of constraint-seeking questions relative to the nonaugmented and no-model control groups. The effects of augmentation were more pronounced for the constraint-seeking than for the change model. Internals in augmented conditions required fewer questions to solution and asked a higher proportion of constraint-seeking questions than did externals, but there were no significant differences between internals and externals in nonaugmented conditions. The major findings on the immediate posttest were maintained on a transfer task administered 1 wk later, demonstrating the short-term stability and generality of the modeling effects. (16 ref) (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)     

Conscious and unconscious strategy discoveries: a microgenetic analysis

We examined second graders' strategy discoveries on a task that could be solved either by arithmetic computation or by a simple insight. Strategy use was assessed on each trial through both an implicit measure and an explicit one. The results provided unambiguous evidence that strategies can be discovered without conscious awareness. Almost 90% of children showed the insight at an implicit, unreportable level before they showed it at an explicit, reportable one. When children received the relevant problems on each trial, 80% reported the insight within 5 trials of when their solution times indicated that they first generated it. Implications for understanding the relation between unconscious and conscious discoveries and for the role of competing activations in strategy discovery are discussed.     

Verbal learning in children.

The major purpose of the review was to examine the validity of the assumption that the laws of verbal learning obtained on the college student will hold reasonably well for younger populations of Ss. Various areas of verbal learning, such as free learning, paired-associate learning, serial learning, transfer, retention, and retroactive-proactive inhibition, were reviewed in order to determine the extent to which the general findings of these areas, based on experiments in which the college student had served as S, have been investigated and replicated with children as Ss. The literature on children's verbal learning revealed a reasonable correspondence in the effective variables reported and in the relationships that have been identified with adult Ss. (64 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)