Presents the design of a long-term project aimed at facilitating communication among social scientists in different countries by the production of a new kind of encyclopedia, called the INTERCOCTA Encyclopedia. The project does not attempt to standardize or legislate terminology. (JDH)

This paper reports on 30 years of data collected concerning the level of knowledge about Africa University of Minnesota junior- and senior-level students had. The data show the dominance of the Middle East in Western media and the level of confusion and lack of knowledge shown by most students. Concludes with recommendations concerning geography…

Written pre- and posttests were used to assess the smoking-related knowledge of 1,068 seventh graders in three comparable communities. Students in two communities participated in interventions designed to enhance knowledge acquisition, social activism, and non-use of tobacco. The interventions influenced respondents' health concerns, but not…

When two-, three-, four-, and five-year-olds were tested for knowledge of sex role stereotypes and preferences for sex-typed activities, boys' stereotype acquisition lagged behind preference development. Girls' data were ambiguous. Boys displayed equally strong tendencies to endorse same-sex activities; girls displayed a stronger tendency to…

Genital herpes virus infection can cause both psychological and medical consequences. A study surveyed knowledge and attitudes of college students to assess degree of familiarity with this disease. Findings suggest misconceptions that could be dealt with in health education programs. (Author/DF)

Investigated the efficacy of a test of vocational knowledge to assist in decision-making and career-planning for deaf and hard of hearing adults. Results indicated that the type of school attended by the client influenced vocational knowledge scores more than any other factor considered. (Author/ABB)

Compares typicality effects in recall between good and poor junior high readers to determine the influence of knowledge base upon memory. Results suggest that poor readers have a different knowledge base for familiar categories than good readers and that cognitive differences between them are related to differences in their semantic memories.…

Decries college students' apparent ignorance of their own culture and civilization. Presents results of a test of 256 college students to assess their ability to recognize and/or identify 132 names, dates, people, and titles whose recognition implies awareness of an informational cluster. Finds 22 the average number correct. (AYC)

Findings suggest that knowledge of public policy (on water resources, for example) reflects personal motivation, with people differing in knowledgeability from one policy area to the other; and that lower socioeconomic status people can narrow the knowledge gap if they can be convinced of their individual stake in particular issues. (PD)

Reports on a study in which college students wrote compositions that elicited their technical knowledge of three topics, then completed a questionnaire that assessed which of four information sources had contributed to their knowledge of the topics--formal education, mass media, social interaction, and direct experience. (FL)

Some studies of science education indicate that many students are alienated from the subjects by their presentation, both verbal and textual. While some have stressed the need to build on students' existing knowledge, it may also be that much scientific presentation is unnecessarily abstruse and even misrepresentative of scientific practice. (MSE)

Examines reasons for sex-related differences among adults on horizontality and verticality concepts. Studies the effects on task performance of inadequate knowlege of relevant physical phenomena and pictorial examples. (Author/AS)

Reports on a survey of knowledge of and attitudes toward nuclear weapons. Respondents (N=938) were students and adults aged 15 to 89 who completed a 51-item questionnaire. Also reports on an experiment in which college students (N=166) were given the survey under one of four different conditions. (JN)

Documents large differences in the reading of function and content words and how these differences change with development. (FL)

Using an attudinal scale which assessed three dimensions thought to underlie attitudes toward mainstreaming, teachers, nurses, and other noneducators were scored before and following a course on exceptional children. Pre- and posttest scores demonstrated significant shifts to a more positive orientation, suggesting that information can form a…