Covariance structure modelling is applied to the problem of estimating reliability and measurement error in survey data. To provide a basis for grouping certain question or variable types (data from questions), a simple typology based on the formal characteristics of the questions is outlined. From this classification, models for the different…

Literature and research studies concerning self-fulfilling prophecy effects are reviewed in this document. Works concerning the Pygmalion Controversy, the existence of self-fulfilling prophecy effects of teacher expectations, and the strength and reality of these effects are cited. The document's sections discuss the effects of teacher…

The influence of students' behavioral definitions on subsequent teacher behaviors was investigated with a simulation which allowed teachers using a microcomputer and video display terminal to verbally interact with four simulated students programmed to vary on knowledge and initiative. These "students," in turn, responded to teacher…

This study investigated the implementation of a 7th grade biology curriculum ("Animal and its Environment") in Israel. The curriculum has seven parts, each one with a dictated sequence including well-defined objectives, suitable activities, and assigned materials, with little degree of freedom for the teacher. A primary concern for the…

Procedures devised for computing factor matching statistics in questionnaire construction are described. In a study of the impact of vocational education on social, affective and nontechnical development of students, an attitude questionnaire to measure outcomes was developed. Each item in the final section had a six-point Likert type response…

A fundamental problem in social cognition and person perception is the issue of consistency in impressions. Some conditions encourage people to stereotype others while other conditions encourage people to abandon their stereotypes. A study was conducted to identify the different kinds of eliciting conditions for piecemeal vs. stereotype processing…

This paper reviews significant literature on teachers' beliefs, offers support for the contention that current research is moving in a more utilitarian direction than in the past, and argues that continuing research into teachers' beliefs could be useful in improving teaching practice. The review focuses on five areas: (1) the different ways that…

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the extent to which the race of homicide suspects and victims influenced newspaper coverage of the crime and prosecution. Based on reader response, it was hypothesized that homicides involving members of minority groups would receive less newspaper coverage than those involving Whites. Coverage for…

To put the interdisciplinary Turko-Danish Fairytale Project, which is concerned with the dynamics of reader response to literature, into a theoretical framework, this paper first describes how modern aesthetics take an interdisciplinary approach and investigate--by cross cultural approaches and in human behavior terms--the phenomenon of art and…

A detailed plan for stages one and two of the interdisciplinary Turko-Danish Fairytale Project is presented in this paper and factors considered in the project's research design are discussed in depth. The first section describes the working hypotheses of the project--that there are primordial patterns in the response to literature that are common…

Prepared as part of the interdisciplinary Turko-Danish Fairytale Project, this paper contains descriptions of the core group of readers (600 18-year-old students) and the special groups of readers (each composed of approximately 50 subjects) who participated in the investigation of the collective versus the individual nature of the reader response…

As part of the interdisciplinary Turko-Danish Fairytale Project, both an introspection and an essay study were conducted with Turkish university prep-school students and junior college students to determine their responses to three fairytales: "The Snake, the Fox, and the Man,""The Gold Apple," and "Per Smed's Whip."…

Presuming that rhetorical discourse comes into existence as a response to a situation in the same sense that an answer comes into existence in response to a question, or a solution in response to a problem, then Mexico is fertile ground for rhetoric and the study of rhetoric. Mexico is a country under fire. Economic and political problems threaten…

Designed to be used as a self-study guide or as a tool in courses and workshops, this manual includes study questions for foster parents to use in working out their role with the biological parents of the children in their care. The first section describes the prime reason for involvement with the biological parent: to enable the child to love…

Focusing on the impact on the instructor of the experience of preparing and using guided design modules, this conference paper highlights some of the positive outcomes of this instructional approach; the presentation of an educational psychology course module via an Apple IIe microcomputer is used as an illustration of the process. It is argued…