In a study on cognitive style, reflectivity-impulsivity in response to task uncertainty was investigaged. At 44 months of age, 23 boys and 25 girls were tested on a matching-figures test. Correlations were made between number of errors, response time, intelligence, and sex. Results indicated that there were significant sex differences in preschool…

Context effects in test taking were explored, paying attention to the psychological processes that occur during test taking, and modeling context effects for each individual at the item block level. A sample of 279 high school students (140 females and 139 males) was chosen to yield adequate power for detecting interactions. Reading test forms…

Although evidence is accumulating that the major reading difficulty dyslexics experience involves decoding and recognizing printed words, it is not clear that all dyslexics read poorly for the same reasons. A study investigated dyslexic children between 7 and 14 years of age to see if their reading errors and patterns of performance would enable…

Spanish students in four inner-city high schools were first tested for conceptual tempo and then given the Test of Oral Proficiency in Spanish (TOPS). It is concluded that speeded and timed tests not only allow impulsive examinees to answer too soon, but often pressure normally reflective examinees to respond impulsively. (EJS)

The associations among cognitive automatization, abstract problem solving, and educational performance were studied using 127 fourth to ninth grade students. A number of measures of fast, automatic, and fluent performance (FAF measures) were used: writing the alphabet; reading from a word list; and mentally performing arithmetic operations. The…

Evaluated effects of time pressure on attributions made and solutions generated in hypothetical social problem situations by aggressive and nonaggressive boys. Found a greater level of arousal in the time pressure condition than the untimed condition across all subjects and greater numbers, more types, and more aggressive solutions. (SD)

Faculty from fifteen colleges developed open-ended questions to assess group competence in four areas of learning associated with general education--communication skill, analytic thinking, synthesizing ability, and social/cultural awareness. A secondary purpose was to determine faculty expectations for learning in the general education component…

The effects of extended time on SAT Reasoning Test™ performance are examined. The study explored the impact of providing standard time, time and a half (1.5 time) with and without specified section breaks, and double time without specified section breaks on the verbal and mathematics sections of the SAT®. Differences among ability, disability, and…