Structure of freshmen's causal attributions for exam performance.

This article explores the structure underlying causal attribution for achievement in an actual academic context. Ss were 859 university freshmen drawn from 4 samples. First, they rated the influence of 10 possible causes on their exam performance. Procrustes factor analysis of the causes revealed 4 factors in each of the samples reflecting the dimensions of locus, stability, control, and globality. The fit of the factor solution with theoretical predictions was r?=?.73. Second, 209 Ss drawn from the same population assessed 10 causes for exam performance along the dimensions of locus, stability, and control. The theoretical fit of these direct judgments was also substantial, r?=?.75. The author concludes that the four dimensions of locus, stability, control, and globality reflect the major characteristics of causal attributions given for academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rorschachbound: A 50-year memoir.

Originally introduced into America in the early 1920s, the Rorschach attracted students from many disciplines who revolted against the "trait" psychology that pervaded the psychological scene at the time. For 30 yrs, Rorschach students enthusiastically viewed the technique as a global method that could study the human personality as a whole and in depth. In the late 1960s, the Rorschach was challenged because of repeated failures in validating research, and interest declined in its development and application. Since 1970, however, it has emerged with more strength and vigor and on firmer theoretical foundations and sounder methodology. Greater prominence must be given to clinically oriented research, notably to the idiographic and interactional aspects of the method, so that the Rorschach can reach its ultimate goal of complete scientific validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of successful and unsuccessful students in the medical school at the University of Minnesota.

Test performance of 215 passing medical students was compared with that of 29 drop-outs because of scholastic failure. Mean score differences were computed for 9 measures, including high school rank, 2 honor-point ratio (grade) measures, ACE, Coop English Test, Medical College Admission Test, Minn. Medical Aptitude Test, SVIB, MMPI. Successful students make significantly higher pre-med course grades, Minn. Medical Aptitude Test scores, ACE scores, and lower scores on the L-scale of the MMPI. The other variable yielded only uncertain or no differentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of word recognition and reading performance in foveal and peripheral vision

Word recognition thresholds and rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) reading rates for both unrelated words and meaningful sentences were examined across the visual field. Both word recognition thresholds and RSVP reading rates for unrelated words can be equated across the visual field by an increase in size scale. RSVP reading rates for meaningful sentences cannot be equated across the visual field, with the fovea demonstrating a qualitative superiority over the periphery, irrespective of scale. The results suggest that the early visual machinery which underlies word recognition is the same across the visual field apart from a change in scale, whilst the periphery is qualitatively inferior to the fovea at interpreting sentences with meaning.     

A comparison of Queen's and Minnesota Kent-Rosanoff word association norms.

Compared a new set of queen's norms (for responses to 100 words from the kent-rosanoff word association test) collected in kingston, canada with minnesota norms reported by D. S. Palermo and J. J. Jenkins (see pa, vol. 39:17) for the 1st 9 primaries plus a 10th category for all other responses. Out of the 20 words compared, 19 were significantly different. In the light of previous evidence, word associations seem to have both a time and a place specificity, but its degree does not appear to be attributable to environmental-cultural differences between canada and the united states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Referential communication and reading performance in learning disabled children over a 3-year period.

Examined the ability of 30 learning disabled (LD) and 30 non-LD (NLD) 6- and 7-yr-olds to understand a sequence of instructions, communicate the steps in a sequence to others, and rephrase their verbal messages across a 3-yr period using a referential communication task. In order to perform the puzzle-box task correctly, Ss had to execute 6 steps in an invariant sequence. After Ss demonstrated a perfect nonverbal enactment of the sequence, they were asked to communicate all information about how to open the box to a puppet. Upon completion, the puppet feigned poor memory and asked the Ss to explain the step-by-step process again. Subsequently, the puppet requested that Ss rephrase their explanation of each step by either a verbal or nonverbal rephrase request. Results reveal that LD children differed from NLD peers consistently on referential communication over the 3-yr period in terms of listener competence and speaker competence. For LD Ss, the ability to produce competent verbal messages was highly related to reading comprehension both concurrently and 3 yrs later. By the 3rd yr, NLD Ss were better able to rephrase information, indicating a growing awareness of the speaker's responsibility in communication. Findings suggest that the communication measures studied play very different roles for LD and NLD Ss with regard to reading achievement. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional psychology's 50-year centennial.

Presents an overview of the 50-yr history of professional psychology. It is argued that professional psychology became preeminent in psychotherapy because it applied its clinical and research skills to that area, while psychiatry fell prey to the expedient and more financially rewarding medication/hospitalization practice. It is suggested that if psychology integrates pharmacology and retains psychotherapy as preeminent, it will become the foremost mental health profession. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of fast-rate, slow-rate, and silent previewing interventions on reading performance

Researchers investigated the effects of three different previewing interventions on the oral reading rates of 12 junior and senior high school students with learning disabilities. Under fast-rate listening previewing (FRLP), students were instructed to follow silently as experimenters read from a text at an average rate that was 77.7% faster than the students' current oral reading rate. During slow-rate listening previewing (SRLP), students followed along as experimenters read at an average rate that was 22.5% faster than the students' reading rate. Students were instructed to read passages silently under silent previewing (SP). Immediately following each previewing intervention, students read the same passage aloud. The number of words read correctly per minute and the number of errors per minute served as dependent variables. The results showed statistically significant decreases in error rates under SRLP and SP. The results also showed that SRLP resulted in statistically significantly fewer errors per minute than FRLP. These results suggest that orally reading while students follow along at a rate much higher than their current reading rates may not be as beneficial as reading aloud at slower rates.     

Curriculum-based measurement in reading: A comparison of similar versus challenging material.

Although research has demonstrated that long-term goals based on the student's instructional match are most sensitive to student gains, there have been few studies investigating whether probe material should be selected from material in which the student is currently instructed or from material in which the student is expected to be instructional after 1 year. The purpose of this study was to determine whether similar material or challenging material would be the most sensitive for progress monitoring of student oral reading fluency. The oral reading fluency of 20 students reading on a 2nd grade level was monitored concurrently with similar and challenging material. The results of this study suggested that the measures were equally sensitive. However, both types of measurement appear to have significant error associated with the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye movement control in reading: A comparison of two types of models.

Two classes of models have been proposed to account for eye movement control during reading. Proponents of the 1st class of model claim that the decision of when to move the eyes (reflected in fixation duration) is primarily influenced by the status of on-line language processing such as lexical access. Supporters of the 2nd class of model, however, maintain that (a) lower level oculomotor factors such as fixation location govern the decision of when to move the eyes and (b) lexical variables exert only a weak influence. In this study, fixation duration on low- and high-frequency target words was examined as a function of fixation location and the number of fixations on a target word. The data are inconsistent with an oculomotor model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in the Schools Training Program at the University of Minnesota.

Describes the 30-yr history of the Psychology in the Schools Training Program at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. It is reported that a stable base of local professional support and national trends in favor of school psychology combined to create a healthy climate for training school psychologists as scientists and practitioners. The model includes assessment, intervention, research and evaluation, and applied experiences. The nature of the curriculum, the roots of current beliefs, and changes in future directions are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using entering reading comprehension performance as a predictor of performance in college classes.

In the reported study, we tested the hypothesis that the comprehension of reading material drawn from a college course could be used to predict learning performance in that course. Students enrolled in an educational psychology course or a business statistics course took at the beginning of the semester comprehension tests that were based on both psychology and statistics texts. The reading comprehension scores were related to examination performance in the courses and to overall college grade point average (GPA). For comparison purposes, Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were related to the same variables. The results revealed that course-relevant reading comprehension performance (i.e., psychology in the psychology course, statistics in the statistics course) was a significant predictor of course performance but not of GPA. The results are discussed in terms of a model of comprehension that contains general and specific factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of the cognitive deficits in reading disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

This study used a nonreferred sample of twins to contrast the performance of individuals with reading disability (RD; n?=?93), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n?=?52), RD and ADHD (n?=?48), and neither RD nor ADHD (n?=?121) on measures of phoneme awareness (PA) and executive functioning (EF). Exploratory factor analysis of the EF measures yielded underlying factors of working memory, inhibition, and set shifting. Results revealed that ADHD was associated with inhibition deficits whereas RD was associated with significant deficits on measures of PA and verbal working memory. The RD?+?ADHD group was most impaired on virtually all measures, providing evidence against the phenocopy hypothesis as an explanation for comorbidity between RD and ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching reading to poor readers in the intermediate grades: A comparison of text difficulty.

The authors compared the influence of text difficulty--reading-level matched or grade-level matched--on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Forty-six 3rd-5th graders, including 25 with disabilities, were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 tutoring approaches or a control condition. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower fluency made stronger gains in text matched to reading level; students with higher fluency profited from both treatments. When the 3 groups were combined, fluency was the strongest contributor to reading comprehension outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting transfer performance: A comparison of competing function learning models.

The population of linear experts (POLE) model suggests that function learning and transfer are mediated by activation of a set of prestored linear functions that together approximate the given function (Kalish, Lewandowsky, & Kruschke, 2004). In the extrapolation-association (EXAM) model, an exemplar-based architecture associates trained input values with their paired output values. Transfer incorporates a linear rule-based response mechanism (McDaniel & Busemeyer, 2005). Learners were trained on a functional relationship defined by 2 linear-function segments with mirror slopes. In Experiment 1, 1 segment was densely trained and 1 was sparsely trained; in Experiment 2, both segments were trained equally, but the 2 segments were widely separated. Transfer to new input values was tested. For each model, training performance for each individual participant was fit, and transfer predictions were generated. POLE generally better fit the training data than did EXAM, but EXAM was more accurate at predicting (and fitting) transfer behaviors. It was especially telling that in Experiment 2 the transfer pattern was more consistent with EXAM's but not POLE's predictions, even though the presentation of salient linear segments during training dovetailed with POLE's approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modification of the Minnesota Clerical Test to predict performance on video display terminals.

Because of the increased use of video display terminals (VDTs) by clerical workers, the Minnesota Clerical Test (MCT) might need to be modified if it is to predict accurately the performance of clerical workers who use word processors, and new norms might be required for a VDT version of the test. The MCT was administered to 34 subjects in three different forms: paper, VDT, and paper and VDT combined. No alternate forms of the MCT correlated significantly higher than the standard paper and pencil MCT with an interactive word processor task. Also, scores on the MCT administered on a VDT or on a paper and VDT combination failed to explain significantly more variance in performance on the interactive task than did the standard paper MCT alone when these scores were used as predictors in a regression equation. Results suggest that the standard MCT does not require revision; however, the difference in mean performance among the three media suggest that new norms would need to be developed if the MCT were to be administered in whole or in part on a VDT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 5-year study of change in the relationship between well-being and job performance.

Recent research, primarily cross sectional in nature, has established a link between psychological well-being and job performance ratings. Such findings suggest that organizations can improve their overall effectiveness by increasing worker well-being, but they provide little guidance as how these increases can be achieved. One means would be to select only those individuals with high well-being scores. However in addition to various ethical concerns, this approach could also be limited if the association between these two variables deteriorates as the time between the measurement increases. This possibility was examined in a 5-year longitudinal study. Consistent with the expectation of diminishing association, it was found that the well-being–performance relationship is influenced by the interval between assessment of well-being and assessment of performance. When well-being was measured at the same time as performance, or as long as a year before, the two were associated. When well-being was assessed 4.5 or 5 years before job performance, the relationship was no longer significant. Practical implications of these findings for both the individual and the organization are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations of television viewing and reading: Findings from a 4-year longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study explored the long-term effects of television viewing on the development of children's reading competencies. Among 2 cohorts of German children (N? = 165, N? = 167), measures of television viewing were collected over 4 years, and tests of reading speed and reading comprehension were administered annually. As a main result, TV genre (educational vs. entertainment programs) produced different effects. Whereas educational program viewing was positively correlated with reading achievement, relations between entertainment program viewing and reading performance were generally negative. Children who were classified as heavy viewers (average viewing time per day = 117 min) showed lower progress in reading over time as compared to medium and light viewers (average viewing times per day 69 and 35 min, respectively). Partial support was found only for 1 of the 3 tested causal mechanisms, namely television-induced reduction in leisure-time book reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Osteomyelitis of the jaws: a 50-year perspective

The incidence of osteomyelitis of the jaws has decreased dramatically, except for a few subsets of individuals. This has been due, in no small part, to the availability of bacteriocidal antimicrobial therapy. The pathogenesis of osteomyelitis of the jaws is predominately due to odontogenic microorganisms rather than the classic skin contaminant, Staphylococcus. This causative relationship relegates the classification of osteomyelitis of the bimaxillary skeleton to predominately that of contiguous foci. These may be regionally progressive, secondary to microvascular compromise brought about by inherent flaws in regional anatomic calcified tissue vascular perfusion as well as by inflammatory metaplastic processes. Diagnosis is based on the presence of painful sequestra and suppurative areas of tooth-bearing jaw bone unresponsive to debridement and conservative therapy. This is usually accompanied by regional or systemic compromise of the immune response, microvascular decompensation, or both. Treatment of both acute and chronic forms of the disease, as outlined in Table 5, is successful if surgically supported. Sustained bacteriocidal antibiotic therapy is pertinent, especially in the face of potentially refractory virulent microorganisms and compromised regional vascular penetrance. The use of adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy also may be included in the more refractory forms of osteomyelitis of the jaws to enhance the local and regional immune response of the jaws as well as to produce microvascular neoangiogenesis for reperfusion support. With resolution of infection, hard and soft tissue reconstruction may be necessary to augment the reparative process.     

Minnesota Child Development Inventory: A normative study.

Presents new norms for the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) based on data derived from 1–4 yr olds. The final sample (N?=?1,322) was 3 times larger than the original MCDI sample for the same ages, and represented a broader range of demographics. No relationship was found between medical history and SES, and MCDI scores. As an alternative to the percentage cutoff method of determining developmental status, the larger sample allowed the calculation of means of and standard deviations (SDs) for each age. T-scores may be derived from this information, which may facilitate more accurate developmental screening and validity research. The new normative sample was found to fit the theoretical normal curve well. Illustrative case profiles consistently demonstrated that the use of the SD vs percentage cutoff method yielded different developmental profiles. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)