Showing papers in "Journal of Educational Psychology in 1992"

Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation.

Abstract: This article examines the classroom learning environment in relation to achievement goal theory of motivation. Classroom structures are described in terms of how they make different types of achievement goals salient and as a consequence elicit qualitatively different patterns of motivation. Task, evaluation and recognition, and authority dimensions of classrooms are presented as examples of structures that can influence children's orientation toward different achievement goals. Central to the thesis of this article is a perspective that argues for an identification of classroom structures that can contribute to a mastery orientation, a systematic analysis of these structures, and a determination of how these structures relate to each other

Training strategies for attaining transfer of problem-solving skill in statistics: A cognitive-load approach.

Abstract: Studied the differential effect on training performance, transfer performance, and cognitive load for 3 computer-based training strategies. The conventional, worked, and completion conditions emphasized, respectively, the solving of conventional problems, the study of worked-out problems, and the completion of partly worked-out problems. The relation between practice-problem type and transfer was expected to be mediated by cognitive load. It was hypothesized that practice with conventional problems would require more time and more effort during training and result in lower and more effort-demanding transfer performance than practice with worked-out or partly worked-out problems. With the exception of time and effort during training, the results supported the hypothesis. The completion strategy and, in particular, the worked strategy proved to be superior to the conventional strategy for attaining transfer.

Dimensions of achievement motivation in schoolwork and sport.

Abstract: Both sport and academic work play large roles in school life, yet there is little comparativeevidence on the nature or generality of achievement motivation across these domains. In thisstudy, beliefs about the causes of success in school and sport of 207 high school students werefound to be related in a logical fashion to their personal goals. The ego-involved goal of superioritywas associated with the belief that success requires high ability, whereas task orientation (the goalof gaining knowledge) was associated with beliefs that success requires interest, effort, andcollaboration with peers. These goal-belief dimensions, or theories about success, cut across sportand schoolwork. However, little cross-domain generality was found for perceptions of ability andintrinsic satisfaction. Intrinsic satisfaction in sport primarily related to perceived ability in thatsetting. Task orientation, not perceived ability, was the major predictor of satisfaction inschoolwork.

The instructive animation: helping students build connections between words and pictures in multimedia learning

Abstract: In 2 experiments, students studied an animation depicting the operation of a bicycle tire pump or an automobile braking system, along with concurrent oral narration of the steps in the process (concurrent group), successive presentation of animation and narration (by 4 different methods), animation alone, narration alone, or no instruction (control group). On retention tests, the control group performed more poorly than each of the other groups, which did not differ from one another. On problem-solving tests, the concurrent group performed better than each of the other groups, which did not differ from one another. These results are consistent with a dual-coding model in which retention requires the construction of representational and referential connections

Epistemological beliefs and mathematical text comprehension: believing it is simple does not make it so

Abstract: This study examines epistemological belief assessment and the relationship between belief in simple knowledge and mathematical text comprehension. In Experiment 1, an epistemological questionnaire developed earlier (Schommer, 1990) was administered and factor analyzed. The factor structure was replicated, measuring beliefs in externally controlled learning, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge. In Experiment 2, students were instructed to read either to determine the comprehensibility of passage information or to teach passage information. Then students read a statistical passage, assessed their understanding, and completed a mastery test and study strategy inventory

Classroom Learning and Motivation: Clarifying and Expanding Goal Theory

Abstract: This article suggests directions for future research on goal theory. It points out areas in which attention to definition of constructs and to problems in classroom implementation would strengthen the field. In addition, suggestions for use of different sampling techniques and designs and introducti

Extracurricular activities: Beneficial extension of the traditional curriculum or subversion of academic goals?

Abstract: Effects of total extracurricular activity participation (TEAP) during the last 2 years of high school were examined using the large, nationally representative High School and Beyond data. After controlling background variables and sophomore outcomes, TEAP had small but statistically significant and positive relations with 17 of 22 senior and postsecondary outcomes (e.g., social and academic self-concept, educational aspirations, coursework selection, homework, absenteeism, academic achievement, and subsequent college attendance). Whereas there were small nonlinear components, increases in TEAP across almost the whole range of TEAP scores were associated with increases in benefits for most of the outcomes

Personality-intelligence relations: Assessment of typical intellectual engagement.

Abstract: Relations between personality and intelligence were investigated in the context or the distinction between intelligence as typical engagement and intelligence as maximal engagement The traditional approach to investigating the association between intelligence as maximal performance and personality was reviewed, and suggestions were made, including the suggestion that intelligence as typical engagement results in clearer understanding or personality-intelligence relations Thirteen personality/interest constructs hypothesized to surround a core construct or typical intellectual engagement and related to typical intellectual performance were operationalized

Effects of two types of phonological awareness training on word learning in kindergarten children.

Abstract: The effects of two types of oral-language training programs on development of phonological awareness skills and word learning ability was examined. One of the training programs provided explicit instruction on both analytic (segmenting) and synthetic (blending) phonological tasks; the other program trained synthetic skills only. Effects of these programs were contrasted with a language-experience control group that received no phonologically oriented training. Forty-eight kindergarten children participated in small-group training sessions 3 times per week for 7-8 weeks

Content Specificity of Relations Between Academic Achievement and Academic Self-Concept

Abstract: In extension of research on the Marsh/Shavelson model of self-concept, a set of 14 academic self-concept scales was related to school performances in 8 school subjects for a sample of 507 high school boys. Correlations between matching areas of self-concept and achievement (.45 to .70; mean r=.57) were much larger than those typically found in previous research. Path models and multitrait-multimethod analyses demonstrated that self-concept/academic achievement relations were very specific to particular shcool subjects. The findings indicate that components of academic self-concepts are more differential-less correlated-than are achievement scores and that relations between academic self-concepts and academic achievements are more content specific than has been previously assumed

Direct teaching, strategy instruction, and strategy instruction with explicit self-regulation: Effects on the composition skills and self-efficacy of students with learning disabilities.

Abstract: This study extends previous research on components of effective strategy instruction operationalized in an approach referred to as self-regulated strategy development (SRSD). Comparisons were made among learning-disabled students in 4 conditions (SRSD, SRSD without goal setting and self-monitoring, direct teaching, and practice control) at posttest, generalization, and 2 maintenance probes. Normally achieving (NA) peers constituted a social validation condition. Full SRSD resulted in significantly greater schematic structure scores at generalization as compared with the other instructional conditions

Cognition and Instruction: Their Historic Meeting within Educational Psychology.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the emergence of cognitive approaches to instruction, with hope that an understanding of the origins of this field will yield perspective on where it is going. First, an historical analysis of the relation between psychology and education, especially cognitive psychology and instruction, is undertaken. Then, an historical overview is provided of the progression of 3 views of learning and instruction: learning as response acquisition, learning as knowledge acquisition, and learning as knowledge construction. Next, cognitive theory is examined in more detail, with a particular focus on cognitive processes involved in learning

Effects of reciprocal peer tutoring on mathematics and school adjustment: A component analysis.

Abstract: This study examined the relative impact of structured peer tutoring and group reward components of the reciprocal peer-tutoring intervention on the mathematics performance of elementary school students at high risk for academic failure. Sixty-four students were selected randomly from a pool of 80 4th- and 5th-grade students. Students were assigned randomly to four conditions: structure plus reward; reward only; structure only; and no structure, no reward. Findings indicated that students who received both components showed the highest levels of accurate mathematics computations

Generality and modifiability of working memory among skilled and less skilled readers

Abstract: This study investigates whether individual differences in working memory are related to a general system and whether the predictability of working memory to academic achievement is enhanced under dynamic testing conditions. Experiment 1 correlated 11 working memory tasks with shortterm memory and achievement measures. Convergent and discriminant validity for the working memory measures was established. Although a confirmatory factor analysis supported the notion that the working memory tasks reflect 2 operations, these operations produced similar correlational patterns to achievement. Experiment 2 supported a 2-factor model under dynamic testing procedures, and those procedures contribute significant variance to reading performance

Multiple indicators of children's reading habits and attitudes: Construct validity and cognitive correlates.

Abstract: Sixty-three 5th-grade children completed daily-activity diaries indicating how they spent their nonschool time for 15 days. From these diaries, estimates of the minutes per day that were spent in various activities were derived. The estimate of book-wading time from the activity diary correlated with new measures of individual differences in exposure to print that use a checklist-with-foils logic and that have very brief administration times. Both diary-estimated and checklist-estimated book reading predicted a variety of verbal outcome measures, but estimates of television watching did not

Comprehension of arithmetic word problems: Evidence from students' eye fixations.

Abstract: Students have difficulty solving arithmetic word problems containing a relational term that is inconsistent with the required arithmetic operation (e.g., containing the term less, yet requiring addition) rather than consistent. To investigate this consistency effect, students' eye fixations were recorded as they read arithmetic word problems on a computer monitor and stated a solution plan for each problem. As predicted, low-accuracy students made more reversal errors on inconsistent than consistent problems, students took more time for inconsistent than consistent problems, this additional time was localized in the integration/planning stages of problem solving rather than in the initial reading of the problem, these response-time patterns were obtained for high-accuracy but not for low-accuracy students, and high-accuracy students required more rereadings of previously fixated words for inconsistent than for consistent problems

Using global student rating items for summative evaluation.

Abstract: Research has established the multidimensional nature of student ratings of teaching, but debate continues concerning the use of multiple- versus single-item ratings for summative evaluation. In this study the usefulness of global items in predicting weighted-composite evaluations of teaching was evaluated with a sample of 17,183 classes from 105 institutions. In separate regression analyses containing 2 global items―one concerning the instructor, the other concerning the course―each global item accounted for more than 50% of the variance in the weightedcomposite criterion measure. Student, class, and method items generally added much less variance

Academic achievement in mathematics and science of students between ages 13 and 23: Are there differences among students in the top one percent of mathematical ability?

Abstract: The predictive validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test-Mathematics subtest (SAT-M) was investigated for 1,996 mathematically gifted (top 1%) 7th and 8th graders. Various academic achievement criteria were assessed over a 10-year span. Individual differences in SAT-M scores obtained in junior high school predicted accomplishments in high school and college. Among students in the top 1% of ability, those with SAT-M scores in the top quarter, in comparison with those in the bottom quarter, achieved at much higher levels through high school, college, and graduate school. Of the 37 variables studied, 34 showed significant differences favoring the high SAT-M group, which were substantial

A structural model of science achievement and attitude : an extension to high school

Abstract: A previous structural model of Walberg's theory of educational productivity (Reynolds & Walberg, 1991) was tested with a national probability sample of 2,535 10th graders for science achievement and attitude. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, a 3-wave design incorporated information from students, teachers, and parents. Results indicated that a revised mediated-effects model fit the data best and accounted for substantial variance in Grade 11 science achievement (56%) and attitude (44%)

Effect of grade retention on self-system processes, school engagement, and academic performance

Abstract: Third- through 6th-grade retained students (n = 74) were compared with random (n = 60) and matched-ability (n = 69) samples of nonretained students from their present classrooms and students from earlier classrooms who were socially promoted (n = 35) when the retained students were held back. Retained students did not differ significantly from the comparison groups in perceptions of self-worth or peer relatedness but had significantly lower perceptions of cognitive competence than the random sample. Retained students did not perform as well academically as the random sample but performed just as well as the matched ability sample and better than the socially promoted sample

Solving compare problems: An eye movement test of Lewis and Mayer's consistency hypothesis.

Abstract: According to Lewis and Mayer's (1987) simulation model for understanding compare problems, students make more comprehension errors when the order of the terms in the relational statement is not consistent with the preferred order. Three eye movement experiments, designed to test a number of hypotheses directly derived from this mode, are discussed. The Ist experiment with university students solving 1-step compare problems revealed no evidence in favor of the model; the data of the 2nd experiment with 3rd graders, on the other hand, provided good support. To explain the results of the 1st experiment, a 3rd experiment was carried out in which university students were given a set of 2-step compare problems

Predicting Progress in Beginning Reading: Dynamic Assessment of Phonemic Awareness

Abstract: This study investigates the ability of a dynamic measure of phonemic awareness to predict progress in beginning reading. Thirty-eight kindergarteners who were nonreaders were assessed in the fall on receptive vocabulary, letter and word recognition, invented spelling, phoneme segmentation, phoneme deletion, and dynamic phoneme segmentation. They were retested near the end of the school year on reading, spelling, and phonemic awareness. The results of the multiple-regression analyses supported the hypothesis that dynamic assessment enhances the predictive utility of a phonemic awareness measure. Performance on dynamic phoneme segmentation was the best predictor of end-of-year reading scores and of growth in phonemic awareness. The study demonstrates the applicability of principles of dynamic assessment to the measurement of phonemic awareness and provides further evidence regarding the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading acquisition. This study investigates the ability of a dynamic measure of phonemic awareness to predict progress in beginning reading. The dynamic approach was compared with a more conventional static approach to assessing phonemic awareness. I hypothesized that the dynamic measure would more accurately predict progress in beginning reading than would a static measure. The study was influenced by theory and research on two questions: (a) the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading acquisition and (b) the effectiveness of dynamic versus static assessment.

Elaborative-interrogation and prior-knowledge effects on learning of facts

Abstract: Canadian and West German adults were presented facts about Canadian provinces and West German states (at the time of the study, West Germany was a separate nation of what is now the Federal Republic of Germany). Participants in the elaborative-interrogation condition rationalized why each fact was sensible. Reading-to-understand participants read the facts with the goal of comprehending each one. After presentation of all facts, subjects were asked to match provinces and states to facts associated with them. These performances were compared with matching in a no-exposure-control condition. Prior knowledge had a striking effect on learning in both the elaborative-interrogationand reading-to-understand conditions

Keyword mnemonic and retention of second-language vocabulary words.

Abstract: Use of the keyword mnemonic has been shown to substantially increase learning speed and immediate recall of 2nd-language vocabulary words in comparison with other learning strategies. Although the majority of researchers examining long-term retention of material acquired through the keyword method have concluded that these gains are maintained over time, most have relied on experimental designs based on within-subject comparisons. However, within-subject comparisons of retention over time are confounded by both rates of initial acquisition and level of immediate recall

Educational Psychology's First Century

Abstract: Educational psychology mediates between the disciplines of psychology and education Scholars have seldom agreed on a single definition of the field but have incorporated knowledge from several areas The discipline of educational psychology was fostered primarily in the United States by such eminent psychologists as William James, Edward L Thorndike, and James McKeen Cattell Over the past century, several philosophical and scientific movements influenced the field, the most recent example being cognitive theory In 1990, the first extensive citation analysis was conducted, illustrating the field's increasing maturity and diversity Educational psychologists have many opportunities to shape policy during the current period of national educational reform

Knowledge of connectors as cohesion devices in text: a comparative study of native-english and english-as-a-second-language speakers

Abstract: : Knowledge of connectors as linguistic devices for establishing intersentential coherence was examined in three experiments Native English and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) speakers completed a rational close task in which they chose among instances of four types of connectors: additives, causal, adversative, and sequential responses Verbal explanations of the correct responses indicated that both native English and ESL students were aware of prescriptive usage rules and the differences in function and meaning among the four types of connectors Analyses of the incorrect responses indicated a general tendency to overuse causal, and to a lesser extent, additive connectors Verbal response justifications for incorrect answers indicated that the majority of errors were due either to inaccurate processing of the test or to an inability to choose the connector that fit an inappropriately inferred relation The results are discussed in terms of the processing demands of the various types of connectors and the influence of everyday usage of casual and additive connectors on how individuals use and understand such terms Implications for improving the design of content domain texts are provided and instructional strategies for use with ESL students are suggested

Effects of linguistic structure on children's ability to isolate initial consonants.

Abstract: In 4 experiments, preschoolers and kindergarteners were asked to pronounce the initial consonants of spoken words. Children performed better on short words, such as bay, than on long words, such as bonus. Words with initial consonant clusters, such as brow, were more difficult for the children than words without initial consonant clusters, such as bar. A consonant cluster at the end of the word did not harm performance. Children did relatively well on words like suppose, for which the word's first syllable, /»/, constitutes a correct answer on the initial consonant isolation task. Children did more poorly on words like satin, for which this was not the case. Thus, the linguistic structure of a word affects children's ability to isolate the initial consonant. Implications for the design of phonemic awareness instruction are discussed. Children's ability to analyze spoken words into phonemes has received a good deal of attention from researchers and educators in recent years (see Adams, 1990; Brady & Shankweiler, 1991; Goswami & Bryant, 1990; Gough, Ehri, & Treiman, 1992; Rieben & Perfetti, 1991; Sawyer & Fox, 1991). The research reviewed in these volumes shows that phonemic awareness plays an important role in learning to read and write an alphabetic system. The research further shows that children who lack phonemic awareness skills are at risk for developing reading problems. On a more positive note, phonemic awareness can be taught. Such teaching improves children's reading and spelling performance. To design effective phonemic awareness instruction, detailed information about specific phonemic awareness tasks is needed. How do children perform these tasks? Do they do better with some kinds of words than others? Answers to these questions can help in the design of phonemic awareness instruction. For example, if some types of words are easier to analyze than others, the easy words can be taught first. Harder words can be introduced only after children have mastered the easier ones. The long-term goal of the research reported in this article is to improve phonemic awareness instruction, and ultimately reading, through the study of linguistic factors that affect children's performance in phonemic awareness tasks. Researchers and teachers have used a variety of phonemic awareness tasks. These include counting phonemes ("How many sounds do you hear in fishT), deleting phonemes ("Say fry without the/"), comparing phonemes ("Does dog end with

Self-Concept and Peer Acceptance in Students with Learning Disabilities: A Four- to Five-Year Prospective Study.

Abstract: This 4- to 5-year prospective study examined the peer relations and self-concepts of students prior to and following their identification by the school district as learning disabled (LD). Self-concept ratings (kindergarten through 4th grade) and peer acceptance ratings (kindergarten through 3rd grade), as well as academic achievement scores, were comapred across 3 groups : LD students who were placed in resource special education programs during 2nd grade, low-achieving (LA) students, and average-achieving/high-achieving (AA/HA) students. For peer acceptance, AA/HA students' scores were higher than LA students' scores only. No between-groups differences were obtained during any school year on the self-concept measure

Effects of accelerated reading rate on memory for text

Abstract: Based on the finding that increasing stimulus presentation rate can increase short-term memory (STM) span, reading rate was accelerated in a series of experiments that demonstrated substantial gains in reading accuracy and comprehension. The present investigation tested the hypothesis that comprehension gains in fast-paced reading are attributable primarily to changes in STM functioning. A series of standard STM-sensitive tasks were administered in both self-paced and fast-paced reading conditions. The magnitude and relative specificity of effects evident in fastpaced reading confirmed the hypothesis. Several alternative hypotheses were rejected

Social Adjustment of Children with and without Learning Disabilities in Integrated Classrooms.

Abstract: The social adjustment of 46 children with learning disabilities (LD) and 199 children without LD who were integrated full-time in 3rd-grade classrooms was examined. No differences were found in the proportions of children with LD and children without LD across accepted and unpopular sociometric groups. Two thirds of children with LD had at least 1 reciprocal friend, and more than half had a friendship with a classmate without LD. Girls with LD received the highest number of negative nominations and were the least preferred