We begin by distinguishing computationalism from a number of other theses that are sometimes conflated with it. We also distinguish between several important kinds of computation: computation in a generic sense, digital computation, and analog computation. Then, we defend a weak version of computationalism--neural processes are computations in the…

Trading cards for various sports and a range of other subjects such as architecture, animals, hobbies, and war have been in existence since the late nineteenth century and still enjoy great popularity. Two of the most prominent examples are baseball cards in the U.S. and football cards in Europe. Three strategies for collecting European football…

Despite their importance in public discourse, numbers in the range of 1 million to 1 trillion are notoriously difficult to understand. We examine magnitude estimation by adult Americans when placing large numbers on a number line and when qualitatively evaluating descriptions of imaginary geopolitical scenarios. Prior theoretical conceptions…

This article considers potential problems that can arise in estimating a unidimensional item response theory (IRT) model when some test items are multidimensional (i.e., show a complex factorial structure). More specifically, this study examines (1) the consequences of model misfit on IRT item parameter estimates due to unintended minor item-level…

Rubin and Thayer ("Psychometrika," 47:69-76, 1982) proposed the EM algorithm for exploratory and confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis. In this paper, we prove the following fact: the EM algorithm always gives a proper solution with positive unique variances and factor correlations with absolute values that do not exceed one,…

We extend a unified and easy-to-use approach to measurement error and missing data. In our companion article, Blackwell, Honaker, and King give an intuitive overview of the new technique, along with practical suggestions and empirical applications. Here, we offer more precise technical details, more sophisticated measurement error model…

For the past decade, the accountability model associated with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emphasized proficiency on end of year tests; with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) the emphasis on proficiency within statewide testing programs, though now integrated with other measures of student learning, nevertheless remains a primary metric for…

The Mathematics Fluency and Calculation Tests (MFaCTs) are a series of measures designed to assess for arithmetic calculation skills and calculation fluency in children ages 6 through 18. There are five main purposes of the MFaCTs: (1) identifying students who are behind in basic math fact automaticity; (2) evaluating possible delays in arithmetic…

This article reports a study of educators differentiating aspects of mathematical knowledge for teaching in preschool as part of a further-education programme. Eight Swedish preschool educators participated in focus group discussions about documentations from their own practice during a school year, to enhance their awareness of their mathematics…

This Tax Policy Study on Taxation and Skills examines how tax policy can encourage skills development in OECD countries. This study also assesses the returns to tertiary and adult education and examines how these returns are shared between governments and students. The study builds indicators that examine incentives for individuals and governments…

Preventing humans from committing errors is a crucial aspect of man-machine interaction and systems of computer assistance. It is a basic implication that those systems need to recognise errors before they occur. This paper reports an exploratory study that utilises eye-tracking technology and automated face recognition in order to analyse test…

Financial literacy, or understanding how money is made, spent, and saved in order to make informed decisions, is particularly important during the transition to and through college. Students who have a deeper understanding of finances and how they work are better positioned to make decisions regarding the college or university they attend, what to…

This paper reports on results of a targeted and extended (two school terms) program for building Grade 3 and Grade 4 students' facility with number facts and application for mental computation. As part of a larger project, this paper reports results from two schools. Results indicated strong gains in number fact recall and mental computation for…

Meta-analyses often include studies that report multiple effect sizes based on a common pool of subjects or that report effect sizes from several samples that were treated with very similar research protocols. The inclusion of such studies introduces dependence among the effect size estimates. When the number of studies is large, robust variance…

This task asks readers to figure out why when you stir a cup of hot liquid and tap on the side of the cup with a spoon, the pitch of sound starts low and ends up high. The solution to last month's tasks relating to the circumference of the Earth and how many stars are in the (visible) sky is also presented.