A cognitively based theoretical framework for the assessment of domain competence is proposed. The basic thesis is that to be knowledgeable one must know how the important concepts of a domain are interrelated. This thesis implies that any valid assessment of knowledge must capture these structural properties. The implementation of a structural…

The major purposes of this investigation were (1) to contribute to existing research on the preschool child's comprehension of disclaimers in television commercials, (2) to identify specific standard or modified disclaimers that are understood by preschoolers, and (3) to determine logical relationships between study variables. Disclaimers were…

Discussed are findings relevant to the study's first objective, involving the demographic characteristics and motivational patterns contributing to obsolescence. Responses from 65 registered nurses in a midwestern State revealed a lack of continuing education and of intrinsic motivation to remain competent. (Part 2 will identify target populations…

The findings in this study were generally inconsistent and nonsupportive of a relationship between demographic homogeneity and spousal response consensus within or across the two areas of sex knowledge and family planning attitudes. Consideration of the limitations, implications, and future directions of this research are presented. (Author/PC)

A study designed to examine the effect of test frequency on mastery of general-subject area by students in an introductory psychology course showed that both tested groups performed significantly higher than the non-tested comparison group. (Author/KM)

In the 1940s, attitudes were shown to facilitate the learning of agreeable persuasive communications. Post-1960s research, however, has failed to obtain this effect consistently. A study was conducted to investigate the role of technical knowledge in attitudinal learning in the domain of social drinking. Graduate students (N=60) verbally described…

Because there is no cure or vaccine for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), many authorities have recommended education as the primary means for controlling the spread of the disease. However, knowledge about AIDS represents a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for reduction of risky behavior. Although hetereosexual high school and…

In an effort to determine whether very young children really know who their best friends are, 16 preschool children were observed during classroom and playground activities. If a preschooler played with a child at least half the time, that child was considered the preschooler's best friend. Observations and teachers' selections of best friend…

A questionnaire dealing with knowledge about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and how it is communicated, with behavior involving risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and with public policy for dealing with AIDS was completed by 1,259 Canadian adults. Canadians had a generally high level of knowledge about the…

The Human Sexuality for the Mentally Retarded program sought to provide cognitive awareness of human sexuality for mentally retarded trainable residents (5 to 21 years old) as well as inservice staff training regarding attitudes and cognitive awareness changes. Cognitive awareness training focused on body parts, discrimination of the sexes,…

Teacher's knowledge of the relationship of auditory acuity and hearing impairment to reading was evaluated with 60 teachers and specialists (regular classroom primary and upper elementary teachers, reading teachers, teachers of the learning disabled, teachers of the hearing impaired, and speech and language pathologists). Ss were administered a…

Opinion polls in the United States have shown gender differences in attitudes toward military issues, with women reporting less support for aggressive military options than do men. The cross cultural stability of gender differences in attitudes toward military issues was examined using data from 2,145 West Germans who reported opinions about the…

Three studies examined the domain of concepts about dinosaurs in order to assess how the domain might be structured in 4- through 7-year-old children's representations and to explore how the knowledge might be used. Findings indicated that significant differences exist in the way expert and novice children's representations are structured.…

To identify obstacles to involvement of Black, low income, innercity parents in the education of handicapped children 56 parents were interviewed. Transcriptions of the interviews revealed parents' feelings towards needs assessment, service delivery, information, attitudinal, and situational factors. In addition, patterns and recurrent themes in…