Effect of rehearsal of temporal and spatial aspects on the long-term retention of a procedural skill.

The study examined several rehearsal techniques as means of facilitating the retention of a discrete procedural task. 4 rehearsal conditions were defined as: whole task rehearsal, temporal rehearsal, spatial rehearsal, and no rehearsal. All groups were trained for 5 days, given 10 days of no practice, 5 days of rehearsal, 11 more days of no practice, and a retention test. The number of commissive errors showed significant retention differences, with the whole rehearsal group performing best. Omissive errors and reaction time did not show group differences. It was also found that Ss emphasized those metrics of performance which gave the most immediate feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The retention and generalization of operant conditioning effects in an interview situation.

In a study of the conditioning of complex verbal habits, each of 30 female Ss had her established verbal habits assessed in 2 sessions by being asked to talk about herself. In subsequent sessions, the Ss in the experimental groups were positively reinforced (by a head nod and an "mm-hm") for either independence or affection statements, whereas control groups Ss were reinforced every 30 sec. regardless of the content of their speech. The results showed that: conditioning occurred, i.e., the experimental Ss increased in their use of the reinforced category; retention also occurred, i.e., the conditioning effects were stable over a 24-hr. period; and generalization did not occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining a classwide application of cover-copy-compare with and without goal setting to enhance mathematics fluency.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of cover-copy-compare alone and combined with two forms of goal setting to a control condition on the mathematics fluency of 173 third-grade students. Treatment sessions occurred twice weekly for a total of 6 weeks, and multilevel modeling was used to examine progress across intervention sessions. Results suggested that combining cover-copy-compare with goal setting (problems correct) leads to steeper slopes and higher final scores than most other treatment conditions, the effects of which were retained over 1 month and generalized to similar stimulus conditions. Initial scores on a third-grade general outcome measure significantly affected growth over time but not final score. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle-school students.

Using structural equation modeling the authors evaluated the contribution of morphological awareness, phonological memory, and phonological decoding to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, spelling, and accuracy and rate of decoding morphologically complex words for 182 4th- and 5th-grade students, 218 6th- and 7th-grade students, and 207 8th- and 9th-grade students in a suburban school district. Morphological awareness made a significant unique contribution to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, and spelling for all 3 groups, to all measures of decoding rate for the 8th/9th-grade students, and to some measures of decoding accuracy for the 4th/5th-grade and 8th/9th-grade students. Morphological awareness also made a significant contribution to reading comprehension above and beyond that of reading vocabulary for all 3 groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's responses to anomalous scientific data: How is conceptual change impeded?

Four experiments with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders addressed conceptual change in response to anomalous data about empirical regularities in science. Impedance to conceptual change in response to anomalous data could potentially occur at any of 4 cognitive processes: observation, interpretation, generalization, or retention. In the 4 experiments, conceptual change was blocked most strongly at observation. The students had difficulty making accurate observations, but they did not simply observe what they expected to observe. The students usually aligned their conceptions with their observations, evincing an implicit epistemology in which they distinguished conceptions from evidence and changed beliefs in response to evidence. Providing explanations to students promoted conceptual change, evidently because the explanations provided a schema that guided the observation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Putting Transfer Back on Trial: Modeling Individual Differences in the Transfer of Decoding-Skill Gains to Other Aspects of Reading Acquisition.

The authors explored a new means of assessing responsiveness to decoding-skill intervention to model individual differences in the transfer of decoding-skill gains to other aspects of reading acquisition in 35 children, Grades 3 through 5, with reading disabilities. Seven different parameters, representing responsiveness to decoding instruction, were estimated for each child and used to predict gains on standardized reading tests assessing word attack, word identification, and text reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Results indicated that several estimates of an individual's responsiveness to instruction were related to gains in other aspects of reading. Results also suggested that the most appropriate unit of analysis for examining transfer is the individual, not the group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching elementary school students to identify story themes.

An instructional program focused on story theme was administered to 2nd and 3rd graders (high-, average-, and low-achieving students, including some with disabilities) in a high-poverty school. Compared with more traditional instruction, the program improved theme comprehension and the identification of instructed themes when they appeared in new stories. However, the program did not help students apply a theme to real-life situations or identify and apply noninstructed themes. Findings indicated that at-risk children (at all achievement levels, including those with disabilities) were able to achieve some degree of abstract, higher order comprehension when given instruction that combined structured lessons, a strategy, and discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's meaning got to do with it: The role of vocabulary in word reading and reading comprehension.

There is at present no clear consensus as to the nature of the relations between oral vocabulary and specific literacy skills. The present study distinguished between vocabulary breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to better explain the role of oral vocabulary in various reading skills. A sample of 60 typically developing Grade 4 students was assessed on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary breadth, depth of vocabulary knowledge, decoding, visual word recognition, and reading comprehension. Concurrent analyses revealed that each distinct reading skill was related to the vocabulary measures in a unique manner. Receptive vocabulary breadth was the only oral vocabulary variable that predicted decoding performance after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. In contrast, expressive vocabulary breadth predicted visual word recognition, whereas depth of vocabulary knowledge predicted reading comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of interrelations between phonological and semantic factors in the acquisition of distinct reading skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade.

First-language (L1) and 2nd-language (L2) oral language skills and L2 word reading were used as predictors to test the simple view of reading as a model of 2nd-language reading comprehension. The simple view of reading states that reading comprehension is related to decoding and oral language comprehension skills. One hundred thirty-one Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) were tested in 1st grade and many were followed into 2nd grade, including a full sample of 79. Structural equation modeling confirmed that a 5-factor measurement model had the best fit, suggesting that L1 and L2 phonological awareness should be viewed as separate but related constructs and that L1 and L2 oral language proficiency, measured by vocabulary and grammatical awareness, were separate constructs. The structural model indicated that for this group of ELs, who were educated in English, English oral language proficiency and word reading were the strongest predictors of English reading comprehension. Other models that deleted 1 of these crucial components resulted in significantly poorer fit. Therefore, the results support the validity of the simple view of reading as a model for the development of reading comprehension in young ELs. Implications for theory and practice, specifically assessment of ELs, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving vocabulary and pre-literacy skills of at-risk preschoolers through teacher professional development.

In a randomized control study, Head Start teachers were assigned to either an intervention group that received intensive, ongoing professional development (PD) or to a comparison group that received the “business as usual” PD provided by Head Start. The PD intervention provided teachers with conceptual knowledge and instructional strategies that support young children's development of vocabulary, alphabet knowledge, and phonological sensitivity. Results indicated that, after 1 academic year, teachers in the intervention group created higher quality classroom environments, as measured by the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (M. W. Smith, D. K. Dickinson, A. Sangeorge, & L. Anastasopoulos, 2002) and Classroom Assessment Scoring System (R. C. Pianta, K. M. La Paro, & B. K. Hamre, 2007), and by videotapes of their classroom book readings. Further, children in the intervention group performed significantly better than comparison-group peers on measures of receptive vocabulary and phonological sensitivity but showed equivalent alphabet learning. Moreover, variation in classroom quality and fidelity to the intervention were linked to child outcomes, illuminating which particular aspects of teachers' improved practices were linked to children's gains. Findings provide new details about the mechanisms through which intensive and intentional PD can enhance Head Start teachers' classroom practices and, by extension, improve Head Start children's language and preliteracy outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and incremental changes in working memory and mathematical problem solving.

Cross-sectional and incremental age effects on cognitive processes that underlie individual differences in components of working memory (WM; phonological loop, visual-spatial sketchpad, executive processing) and mathematical problem-solving accuracy were examined in elementary schoolchildren. A battery of tests was administered that assessed problem solving, achievement, memory, and cognitive processing (inhibition, speed, phonological coding) in children in Grades 1, 2, and 3 (Wave 1) and 1 year later (Wave 2). The results showed that (a) 31% of the explainable within-person changes across testing waves and 42% of the age-related differences in word problem-solving accuracy were related to executive processing and (b) executive processing and reading performance in Year 1 were the only variables that contributed unique variance to Year 2 problem-solving performance. The results support the notion that growth in the executive system is an important predictor of children's problem solving abilities beyond the contribution of reading and calculation skills and that growth in executive processing can operate independently of individual differences in phonological processing, inhibition, and processing speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School-based prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms in early adolescence: A pilot of a parent intervention component.

Previous studies suggest that school-based cognitive-behavioral interventions can reduce and prevent depressive symptoms in youth. This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program, the Penn Resiliency Program for Children and Adolescents (the PRP-CA), when combined with a parent intervention component. Forty-four middle school students and their parents were randomly assigned to the enhanced PRP (the PRP-CA plus parent program) or control conditions. Students completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms at baseline and 2 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after the intervention ended. The combined version of the PRP significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety during the follow-up period. Children assigned to the intervention condition were less likely than controls to report clinical levels of anxiety symptoms. Findings suggest that school-based cognitive-behavioral interventions that include parents may prevent depression and anxiety symptoms in early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of preschool phonological processing abilities and their relations to vocabulary, general cognitive abilities, and print knowledge.

The development of reading-related phonological processing abilities represents an important developmental milestone in the process of learning to read. In this cross-sectional study, confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the structure of phonological processing abilities in 129 younger preschoolers (M = 40.88 months, SD = 4.65) and 304 older preschoolers (M = 56.49 months, SD = 5.31). A 2-factor model in which Phonological Awareness and Phonological Memory were represented by 1 factor and Lexical Access was represented by a 2nd factor provided the best fit for both samples and was largely invariant across samples. Measures of vocabulary, cognitive abilities, and print knowledge were significantly correlated with both factors, but Phonological Awareness/Memory had unique relations with word reading. Despite significant development of phonological processing abilities across the preschool years and into kindergarten, these results show that the structure of these skills remains invariant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of style difficulty, practice, and ability to efficiency of reading and to retention.

Two groups of Ss, one of high and one of low mechanical ability, read a technical passage before an eye-movement camera. An "easy" style and a "hard" style passage were used, and Ss read the passage once or three times. Reading efficiency measures collected were words read per second and per fixation; retention measures were scores on modified recall and word recognition tests. The high ability group scored better on all measures than the low ability group; three readings yielded superior scores on the retention measures; and the "easy" style gave higher scores on the reading efficiency and modified recall measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing and refining the direct and inferential mediation model of reading comprehension.

A significant proportion of American high school students struggle with reading comprehension. Theoretical models of reading comprehension might help researchers understand these difficulties, because they can point to variables that make the largest contributions to comprehension. On the basis of an extensive review of the literature, we created a new model of reading comprehension, the direct and inferential mediation (DIME) model. The model hypothesizes relationships among background knowledge, inferences, reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and word reading and addresses the direct and mediated effects of these 5 predictors on comprehension. The authors tested the fit of the model and 3 variations of the model to data from 175 students in 9th grade. The DIME model explained 66% of the variance in comprehension. Vocabulary and background knowledge made the largest contributions to comprehension, followed by inference, word reading, and strategies. Analyses of participants scoring below the 30th percentile on comprehension showed these students to have low scores on all of the measures. The authors suggest that vocabulary and background knowledge interventions might be the best way to begin improving the academic reading comprehension of students like those in the sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Stephan and Rosenfield.

Reports an error in the original article by Walter G. Stephan and David Rosenfield (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978[Aug], Vol 36[8], pp. 795-804). Two corrections are needed to correlations in Table 2 on page 800. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1980-02037-001.) Examined the determinants of changes in the racial attitudes of 65 White elementary school children during school desegregation. A multiple regression analysis showed that increases in children's self-esteem, increases in children's interethnic contact, low parental authoritarianism, and nonpunitive parental child-rearing practices were all significantly related to positive changes in racial attitudes. In addition, data are presented that indicate that parental opposition to integration is an indirect determinant of change in children's racial attitudes because of its impact on children's interethnic contact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Behavior and Beliefs as Predictors of Children's Social Adjustment in the Transition to School.

The current study focuses on the association between children's social adjustment in the transition to school and the early elementary school years and their fathers' and mothers' parenting behaviors and beliefs and quality of marital relationship. The authors found that the most competent and least problematic children from the teachers' perspectives are those whose fathers are sensitive and supportive of their children's autonomy, whose mothers' parenting beliefs support self-directed child behavior, and whose parents maintain an emotionally intimate relationship. These findings have implications for efforts to prevent early school problems in children and support the children's transitions into formal schooling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the pages of a book: Interactive book reading and language development in preschool classrooms.

The effects of a book reading technique called interactive book reading on the language and literacy development of 4 yr olds from low-income families were evaluated. Teachers read books to children and reinforced the vocabulary in the books by presenting concrete objects that represented the words and by providing children with multiple opportunities to use the book-related words. The teachers also were trained to ask open-ended questions and to engage children in conversations about the book and activities. This provided children with opportunities to use language and learn vocabulary in a meaningful context. Children who were in the interactive book reading intervention group scored significantly better than children in the comparison group on Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—III and other measures of receptive and expressive language. Book reading and related activities can promote the development of language and literacy skills in young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool Approaches to Learning and Their Relationship to Other Relevant Classroom Competencies for Low-Income Children.

The validity generalization of the Preschool Learning Behavior Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 2000) dimensions was assessed for low-income, urban, preschool children. A three-factor structure was found: Competence Motivation, Attention/Persistence, and Attitude Toward Learning. This structure was congruent with the PLBS structure derived from the national standardization sample. Multi-method, multi-source concurrent validity analyses further substantiated the PLBS dimensions for use with this population. Measures of interactive peer play behaviors at home and at school, dimensions of classroom self-regulation, and assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary provided convergent validity for the PLBS dimensions, while measures of disruptive and disconnected peer play behaviors at home and at school provided divergent validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)