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     

Selective attention and response strategies as factors in serial reversal learning.

3 experiments investigated the basis of serial-reversal improvement in 40 white Carneaux pigeons. In the 1st, Ss trained on either color or position reversals alone performed more accurately than Ss initially trained on interspersed color and position reversals, and then shifted to 1 type of problem only. This suggests that the selective strengthening of attention to a single relevant dimension is 1 factor underlying rapid reversal learning. In 2 further experiments, Ss were trained on delayed conditional discriminations, the requirements of which were similar to those of a win-stay, lose-shift strategy. Ss' poor performance on these problems implies that such strategies do not play an important part in reversal learning in these Ss. (French summary) (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)     

Enhancement of conjunctive concept attainment in older adults.

Studied 30 community-dwelling females (mean age, 71.4 yrs) to determine whether older adults' performance on a complex concept identification task could be enhanced through training designed to promote the use of a specific problem-solving strategy. Ss were assigned to 1 of 3 groups (training, practice, or control) and were tested individually on the pretest problem followed by the posttest problem 4 days later, with the relevant dimensions used in these problems counterbalanced. Ss were given detailed instructions on all facets of the task. Stimulus cards were presented one at a time, with as much time as needed for response. Ss in the control condition were given only the pre- and posttest problems. The training and practice groups all received 3 additional sessions. Statistical analysis on transformed trials to criterion showed significant main effects due to treatment. The substantially enhanced performance of the trained Ss indicates that a training procedure combining operant and cumulative learning hierarchy principles effectively promoted elderly Ss' use of an appropriate bidimensional conjunctive concept identification strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of self-esteem and performance feedback on future affective preferences and cognitive expectations.

Tested the hypothesis that individuals, regardless of their chronic levels of self-esteem, affectively prefer success to failure but cognitively continue to expect success or failure in a manner consistent with their chronic levels of self-esteem. 64 high, moderate, and low self-esteem females (Texas Social Behavior Inventory) were given either success, failure, or no feedback regarding their performance on an "analogies test." Ss' preference for performance, perceived ability for performance, and predictions for actual performance on a future task were assessed. As predicted, Ss preferred future success to future failure regardless of chronic level of self-esteem. Ss with high or low chronic levels of self-esteem perceived ability for future performance and expected actual future performance in a manner consistent with their chronic levels of self-esteem rather than consistent with feedback on current performance. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation in a task situation as a function of ability and control over the task.

102 psychology students participated in the task of constructing and validating an "academic aptitude test." Training (level of ability) and amount of control over the task were manipulated in a 2 X 2 factorial design. For untrained Ss, performance was positively related to control. The performance of trained Ss was negatively related to control, contrary to prediction. This reversal was tentatively attributed to unintended "side effects" of the training manipulation. As predicted, expected success was positively related to training, perceived ability, and perceived control. A manipulation of success and failure in the task led to results consistent with predictions: Success produced incerases in satisfaction and perceived ability, while failure led to decreases in perceived ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elaborative verbal rehearsals and college students' cognitive performance.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the potential of elaborative verbal rehearsal (EVR) as a learning strategy for high-risk college students. In Exp 1, a correlational inquiry was used to explore the relation between Ss' EVRs and their overall test performance. Sixty-four Ss studied an extended text, prepared an EVR, and then took the test. There were significant correlations between the quality of Ss' EVRs and their overall test performance. In Exp 2, 50 Ss were trained to produce either EVRs or verbatim rehearsals and then took the same test in immediate and delayed conditions. The EVR Ss performed significantly better on almost every variable. EVRs appear to be a powerful learning strategy for high-risk students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

Metacognitive differences between skilled and less skilled readers: Remediating deficits through story grammar and attribution training.

Designed a metacognitive intervention program to remediate the failures of 42 4th-grade boys in using metacognitive skills to aid their reading comprehension. The program consisted of 2 components: story grammar training, designed to increase comprehension monitoring; and attribution training, designed to increase awareness of effort in efficient reading. Ss were assigned to 3 groups: 1 group received both components and the other 2 groups each received one component alone. 14 skilled 4th-grade male readers served as a contrast group. Maintenance was assessed through free and probed recall; generalization was assessed through a metareading test and an error detection and correction task. Results indicate that strategy training produced dramatic gains in comprehension. Only Ss receiving attribution training alone showed poorer performance than skilled readers. Partial support was obtained for generalization on the metareading assessment. It is concluded that strategy training improved poor readers' comprehension by providing them with metacognitive skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of rime-based orthographic analogy training on the word recognition skills of children with reading disability.

The aim of this study was to determine whether metacognitive strategy training in the use of rime spelling units would be an effective intervention strategy for children with reading disability. Thirty-six disabled readers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 training groups, a rime analogy training group or an item-specific training group. Posttreatment measures were taken at the completion of the training, and 1-year follow-up data were obtained from the 2 training groups and a sample of 20 normally developing readers. Systematic strategy training in the use of rime spelling units produced generalized achievement gains and transfer to uninstructed materials and was more effective than training that focused on item-specific learning and sentence-level strategies. The superior posttreatment performance of the rime analogy group over the item-specific group was maintained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of maximally different cognitive strategies and expectancy in attenuation of reported pain.

Ninety-six Ss rated pain during baseline and posttreatment exposures to cold pressor pain. Between trials, Ss in four groups were trained to use one of four cognitive coping strategies involving (a) imaginal reinterpretation, (b) imaginal distraction, (c) nonimaginal reinterpretation, or (d) nonimaginal distraction. Two additional groups were given: (e) an expectation for analgesia but no coping strategy and (f) no treatment. The four coping strategies produced equivalent attenuation of pain ratings and equivalent expectancies for analgesia. Expectancy control Ss expected analgesia, but reported no significant pain reductions. No treatment control Ss neither expected nor achieved any significant pain reductions. Among cognitive strategy groups, the Ss' absorption added significantly to the variance in pain reduction above and beyond the effects of expectancy. Theoretical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School applications of the mnemonic keyword method as a study strategy by eighth graders.

Examined the applicability of the keyword method to learning to pair names with facts, and technical terms with their definitions. Ss were 42 8th graders. After 5 training sessions, Ss were able to carry out the sequence of operations constituting the keyword method, including the generation of concrete keywords and of compound images bridging keywords and response terms. Subsequent unprompted tests showed substantially higher performance by trained than by untrained Ss. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influences of categorization on perceptual discrimination.

Four experiments investigated the influence of categorization training on perceptual discrimination. Ss were trained according to 1 of 4 different categorization regimes. Subsequent to category learning, Ss performed a Same–Different judgment task. Ss' sensitivities (d's) for discriminating between items that varied on category-(ir)relevant dimensions were measured. Evidence for acquired distinctiveness (increased perceptual sensitivity for items that are categorized differently) was obtained. One case of acquired equivalence (decreased perceptual sensitivity for items that are categorized together) was found for separable, but not integral, dimensions. Acquired equivalence within a categorization-relevant dimension was never found for either integral or separable dimensions. The relevance of the results for theories of perceptual learning, dimensional attention, categorical perception, and categorization are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testwiseness as a factor in readiness test performance of young Mexican-American children.

Assessed the effects of training in test-taking skills on kindergarten children's performance on a school readiness test with a sample of 131 Spanish-speaking children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Half of the Ss were trained in content-free test-taking skills, and half were provided comparable time in nondirected paper/crayon activities. All Ss were tested in both Spanish and English, with order of administration balanced. Trained Ss performed better than untrained Ss in both languages. Males were more influenced by training than were females, but overall females outperformed males. Spanish administration scores were higher than English administration scores. Order of test administration was significant in that performance in English was improved when the test was taken first in Spanish; no influence of English on subsequent performance was found. Findings support the hypothesis that test-wiseness is an important influence on test performance of young children from nonmajority backgrounds and should be taken into account in readiness assessment programs. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of client affective self-disclosure and counselor experience on counselor verbal behavior and perceptions.

60 untrained, trained, and professional counselors (average age 20 yrs, 26 yrs, and 38 yrs, respectively) responded to an audio presentation of client affective self-disclosures consisting of either high or low intimacy content. Quality and type of response were measured. Ss then completed a reaction form to assess their clinical impressions of the client. No intimacy effects were found. In contrast, consistent differences for experience occurred. Results indicate that untrained Ss made lower quality responses than either trained or professional Ss with no differences between professionals and counselors-in-training. In terms of response type, untrained Ss relied on direct guidance and silence; trained Ss preferred reflection, and professionals utilized silence, open question, and reflection. When silence as an initial response was removed from consideration, the preferred mode of responding for untrained and trained Ss was strengthened. In contrast, professionals utilized 2 responses (reflection and open question) equally. Finally, the counselor reaction data indicated that untrained Ss had less liking for the client as a person and viewed the client as less motivated to change than trained or professional Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schemata training and transfer of an intellectual skill.

Advice and feedback pertaining to analogical reasoning were manipulated to produce varying practice conditions for college-age Ss. Following training, Ss were administered a transfer task that was used to identify the transfer of a general or a specific procedural strategy for solving verbal analogies. Both a general transfer effect for verbal analogy solution and a procedural transfer effect for cause–effect relationships were obtained. These transfer effects were observed for both immediate and delayed transfer. Results are discussed within the theoretical context of schema theory (Royer, 1979, 1986) and Sternberg's (1985a) componential subtheory of intelligence. Data provide support for a schema-based interpretation of training and transfer within a subset and class of intellectual skills identified as inductive reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of communication skill training on high school students' ability to function as peer group facilitators.

Conducted a study with 60 high school students to assess the effect of training vs nontraining on their ability to function as peer facilitators in a group setting. R. Carkhuff's Helping and Human Relations (1969) provided the basis for the training. Expert judges and peers rated training Ss significantly higher as group facilitators than they rated untrained students. In addition, trained Ss functioned at significantly higher levels of communication than did their untrained counterparts. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Components analysis of cognitive strategy instruction: Effects on learning disabled students' compositions and self-efficacy.

The viability of self-instructional strategy training among learning disabled (LD) students exhibiting composition deficiencies was investigated. Furthermore, the theoretically proposed incremental effects of explicit self-regulation procedures were examined in terms of writing performance measures at posttest, maintenance, and generalization, and in terms of Ss' self-efficacy. Ss were 22 LD and 11 normally achieving students in the 5th and 6th grades. Results indicated that self-instructional strategy training produced meaningful and lasting effects on Ss' composition skills and a significantly heightened sense of self-efficacy. Explicit self-regulation procedures did not significantly augment strategy-instruction effects for either writing performance or self-efficacy. Composition performance after instruction among LD Ss did not differ significantly in terms of story grammar elements from that of a contrast group of normally achieving, competent writers. However, normally achieving students' compositions were longer and received significantly higher quality ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes as predictors of word recognition and reading comprehension in learning-disabled and skilled readers: Revisiting the specificity hypothesis.

Examines how cognitive processes interrelate as well as predict learning-disabled (LD) readers' word recognition and reading comprehension performance. Correlations between phonological, orthographic, semantic, metacognitive, and working memory measures with reading performance were examined in LD and skilled readers (aged 8–12 yrs). LD Ss were deficient on all cognitive processes compared with skilled Ss, but these differences do not reflect IQ scores. Reading ability group differences emerged on a component composed primarily of working memory measures (referred to as "g") as well as unique components, suggesting that these differences emerge on both general and specific (modular) processes. G best predicts reading comprehension for both groups, and phonological awareness best predicts skilled Ss' pseudoword reading, whereas g best predicts LD Ss' pseudoword performance. Overall, LD Ss' information processing difficulties were described within a general working memory model that views such children as having difficulty accessing and coordinating both general and specific processes. Results suggest that the cognitive processes that contribute to reading deficits are best understood in the context of their combination with other operations rather than in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of acute trimethyltin exposure on appetitive acquisition and extinction performance in the adult rat.

16 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were given an intragastric infusion of 7 mg/kg of trimethyltin chloride (TMT), and 16 additional Ss (controls) received saline, to investigate TMT's effect on Ss' appetitive acquisition and extinction performance. Ss from each condition were divided into 2 equal groups and trained with either partial or continuous reinforcement (PRF or CRF) in a straight-alley maze 21 days after dosing. The acquisition training phase contained 40 trials (4 trials/day) and was followed by 20 trials of extinction training (4 trials/day). Analyses performed on total speed revealed that TMT Ss performed at lower levels during acquisition than controls, regardless of schedule condition. Also, the rate of resistance to extinction was significantly reduced for TMT Ss compared with that of controls, regardless of the training schedules used during acquisition. A PRF extinction effect was observed for both control and TMT Ss, independent of dose regimen. PRF training occasioned greater persistence during extinction than did CRF training. Findings are discussed in terms of issues relating to TMT-induced hippocampal lesions. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)