Educational theories must be put to the test in a holistic manner that allows researchers to make decisions about recalcitrant research findings, whether revising the theory, amending initial conditions, rejecting observational evidence, or correcting the logic of the theory-observation-deduction. Pragmatic judgments are more important than…

Describes some student explorations of angle rotations and of reasonable and unreasonable conjectures using the Geometer's Sketchpad. (MKR)

The analysis or modeling of Piagetian and psychometric measures of mental ability is discussed. An application of structural modeling procedures allowing the testing of hypotheses in this domain is presented. Such a model is illustrated through a study of numerical functional relations tasks with 77 elementary school students. (SLD)

The minimalist hypothesis of inference processing is proposed. According to this hypothesis, the only inferences coded automatically during reading are those based on easily available information and those required to make statements in a text locally coherent. Five experiments with 249 college students support the hypothesis. (SLD)

The alternative proposed by Wilcox (1989) to the James second-order statistic for comparing population means when variances are heterogeneous can sometimes be invalid. The degree to which the procedure is invalid depends on differences in sample size, the expected values of the observations, and population variances. (SLD)

Discusses a lesson designed to demonstrate hypothesis testing to introductory college psychology students. Explains that a psychology instructor demonstrated apparent psychic abilities to students. Reports that students attempted to explain the instructor's demonstrations through hypothesis testing and revision. Provides instructions on performing…

Examined Bowlby's proposition that early experiences and the adaptations to which they give rise influence later development, even beyond the influence of current circumstances or very recent adaptation. Groups whose adaptation were similar during preschool years but consistently different earlier were defined and compared. Results supported…

A Bayesian solution is suggested to the problem of jointly estimating "k is greater than 1" binomial parameters in conjunction with the problem of testing, in a Bayesian sense, the hypothesis "H" of parametric homogeneity. Applications of the estimates are illustrated with several types of data, including ophthalmological…

Describes and compares the results from two surveys of academic librarians in the State University of New York (SUNY) system that were conducted to determine librarians' satisfaction with faculty status. Evidence suggests that satisfaction correlates with institutional compliance with ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) standards.…

The statistical analysis of processing tree models is advanced by showing how the parameters of estimation and hypothesis testing, based on the likelihood functions, can be accomplished by adapting the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. The adaptation makes it easy to program a personal computer to accomplish the stages of statistical…

Tested the Aspect Hypothesis using second-language Japanese data. Two experiments are described. Results of the studies extend the applicability of the Aspect Hypothesis to a non Indo-European language. (Author/JL)

Considers reviews of L. Daniels's article on editorial policy regarding statistical significance testing and concludes that the controversy is not over, although the gradual movement toward requiring additional information in the reporting of statistical results is viewed as a positive trend. (SLD)

Describes a study of undergraduates that investigated the ability of readers of computer-mediated communication (CMC) such as electronic mail to identify the gender of the author when messages were selected for language characteristics identified in previous studies as being associated with both group development and gender. (Author/LRW)

Statistical significance reporting and use in educational and psychological research is reviewed. An assessment of the use of statistical significance in articles published in MECD from 1990-1996 is presented. The elements of statistical significance (including sample size, effect size, and power), interpretation of results, common erroneous…

Describes a residential training course sponsored by the NASA Classroom of the Future to help teachers learn to use computer-based educational tools and explore constructivist instructional approaches. Hypothesized that creating a living-and-learning environment for the training would foster rapid changes in teachers' epistemological beliefs.…