The distinctiveness of the subscale structure of an attitude instrument, the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA), was examined. Factor analysis of the item correlation matrix obtained from student responses suggested that the seven subscales of the test were not distinct. (Author/GK)

A total population study of 4,797 six-year-old children attending the public preschools in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden was conducted in order to investigate the problematic area of perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in preschool children. A questionnaire with 34 questions about minimal brain dysfunction-related problems was distributed…

The Adjective Rating Scale (ARS) was administered to female students in a public health nursing course, as a measure of pre- and post-course attitude change. Factor analyses of these results indicated fewer factors were revealed than are normally reported for the ARS. (MH)

Problems in grading and evaluating English compositions are discussed. Factors include methods of marking, reliability, prediction, characteristics of markers, and handwriting. The effect of time passage on evaluation criteria was determined by comparing essays written in 1922 with new ones written on the same topic (f=fiche number). (MH)

Army alpha longitudinal data on the same 96 males tested in 1919, 1950, and 1960 were analyzed in addition to data on 123 undergraduates tested in 1972-4. Young adults in 1919 and 1970 were similar. Results suggest that traditional factor analysis taxonomies for young adults misrepresent elderly persons. (Author/CP)

The construct of general intelligence is discussed in the context of factor models, differential validity of tests, Piagetian tasks, heritability, social class, and race. The general factor is an abstraction resulting from genes, environmental pressures, and neural structures involved in cognitive or intellectual human behavior. (Author/RD)

Factor analytic studies suggest that there are six replicable second order cognitive factors. These six factors lend themselves to being interpreted as aspects of Royce's three ways of knowing: conceptual, perceptual, or symbolical. This view provides a unified explanation of the second and third order factors. (Author/CTM)

L. Mann, H. Mitsui, G. Beswick, and R. Harmoni (1994) studied perceptions of interpersonal rules by Japanese and Australian children. This reanalysis of their data uses principal components analysis to show common and culture-specific patterns of interpersonal rules. Social status and social distance were major dimensions of a large cultural…

Explored motivation and learning preferences of 336 high school students in Morocco regarding learning English as a foreign language. Students had well-defined and coherent learning preferences, with a five-factor model of motivation that were not completely in agreement with their teachers' preferences. Implications for learner-centered…

Focuses on 36 items in the ACT College Outcomes Survey to identify areas of personal and social gain where students perceived colleges to have the greatest impact. Results indicate that, for average impact, colleges exerted only a moderate influence. Students perceived the greatest effects of college to be on cognitive and intellectual growth.…

Two teacher efficacy subscales developed by S. Gibson and M. Dembo (1984) translated into Hebrew and administered to Israeli teachers retained their factor structures and adequate reliability. A subscale developed for the study to measure teacher efficacy in enhancing student social relations specifically also had adequate reliability. (SLD)

An instrument to measure employee job satisfaction in Greece was developed and tested with 212 and 516 employees. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a six-factor solution with high internal consistency. Structural equation modeling showed a fairly good fit to the model, with need for slight improvement. (SLD)

Examined the influence of parental and school factors on the science attitudes of 1,923 eighth graders from Cyprus using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Results suggest that the strongest direct influence on attitudes toward science is teaching, but exogenous factors (educational background of the family,…

Examination of the construct validity of Guglielmino's Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale points toward dislike of learning as the cause of low scores. High scores seem to result from positive attitudes toward learning in general and not specifically self-directed learning. Further studies are needed to distinguish between readiness for…

The Computer Anxiety Scale was tested for invariance over the grouping conditions of males/females and graduate/undergraduate status. Subjects included 187 undergraduates and 188 graduates; analyses were conducted on 136 males and 236 females. Results indicate that the construct of computer anxiety appears to be multidimensional with highly…