Nursing students (n=47), entry-level nurses (n=48), and expert nurses (n=54) viewed and analyzed simulated nursing incidents. Findings determined that critical thinking and decision making increased with the level of clinical expertise. Grade point average was also correlated with critical thinking and decision making. (Contains 22 references.)…

Investigates the standard rounding rule for multiplication and division including its derivation from a basic assumption. Uses Monte-Carlo simulations to show that this rule predicts the minimum number of significant digits needed to preserve precision only 46.4% of the time and leads to a loss in precision 53.5% of time. Suggests an alternative…

Describes a simulation card game involved with the dumping of hazardous wastes that was designed to explore the trade-off between industrial competition and social concern. Steps of play are described for the game, which is called GARBAGE, and debriefing techniques are suggested, including an affective phase and a cognitive phase. (LRW)

The construction of visual and manipulative aids, clear resin blocks with root-canal-like spaces, for simulation of root canals is explained. Time, materials, and techniques are discussed. The method allows for comparison of canals, creation of any configuration of canals, and easy presentation during instruction. (MSE)

The SeLective Attention Model (SLAM) performs visual selective attention tasks and demonstrates that object selection and attribute selection are both necessary and sufficient for visual selection. The SLAM is described, particularly with regard to its ability to represent an individual subject performing filtering tasks. (TJH)

A Monte Carlo simulation study compared the power and Type I errors of the Wilks lambda statistic and the statistic of M. L. Puri and P. K. Sen (1971) on transformed data in a one-way multivariate analysis of variance. Preferred test procedures, based on robustness and power, are discussed. (SLD)

Describes two exercises in which undergraduates from abnormal psychology courses act as role-play clients for graduate counselor-trainees. Finds that the exercises seem to be educationally beneficial and may also help decrease undergraduates' negative stereotyping of persons with psychological problems. (KO)

A method for multidimensional scaling that is highly resistant to the effects of outliers is described. Some Monte Carlo simulations illustrate the efficacy of the procedure, which performs well with or without outliers. (SLD)

Describes the use of cases in technical writing and ancient exercises of impersonation and "suasoria." Discusses similarities between the two, and argues that the historical tradition both validates and broadens the uses of this modern methodology. (RS)

An instructional activity designed to clarify pharmacological concepts related to drug use is described. The focus of the activity is a simulation, with student actors, of the effect of drugs and alcohol on the nervous system. (IAH)

Describes the use of a spreadsheet in running a hands-on prey/predator simulation that enables students to see the effect of selection pressure on one allele in a gene pool. Discusses setting up and running the simulation, class discussion issues, exploring assumptions, and extensions. (JRH)

The accuracy of four empirical techniques to estimate shrinkage in multiple regression was studied through Monte Carlo simulation. None of the techniques provided unbiased estimates of the population squared multiple correlation coefficient, but the normalized jackknife and bootstrap techniques demonstrated marginally acceptable performance with…

Public high school students with deafness vividly learned about the realities of discrimination when they were informed of "new rules for deaf students," which required that they wear "deaf badges" in school, follow a strict dress code, and so on. After the "new rules" hoax was revealed, students' feelings and reactions to the situation were…

A Monte Carlo study considers the use of meta analysis with the Solomon four-group design. Experiment-wise Type I error properties and the relative power properties of Stouffer's Z in the Solomon four-group design are explored. Obstacles to conducting meta analysis in the Solomon design are discussed. (SLD)

The Shortlist model is presented, which incorporates the desirable properties of earlier models of back-propagation networks with recurrent connections that successfully model many aspects of human spoken word recognition. The new model is entirely bottom-up and can readily perform simulations with vocabularies of tens of thousands of words. (DR)