Outlines a set of terms which can be used (in sequencing writing assignments from simple to complex) to make distinctions between kinds of sequences and notions of complexity. Shows how these terms allow teachers to understand the logic of various sequences, compare and contrast related sequences, and evaluate the concept of assignment sequence.…

Mental effort expended during the creation of sentence elaborations by fifth graders performing two simultaneous tasks was greater for inaccessible than accessible pairs. The difference was not observed when subjects were provided with pair members in sentences. (RH)

An iterative procedure designed to minimize item bias affecting metrics in item response theory (IRT) was examined in a Monte Carlo investigation using the two-parameter IRT model. Two methods for transforming parameter estimates to a common metric were incorporated into the procedure. Results indicate that the procedure is effective. (TJH)

Investigated effects of age, task difficulty, and parent presence on private speech in 72 children of 2-5 years. The proportion of speech coded as private increased with age. Private speech was positively related to task performance. (RJC)

The Rasch Poisson Counts Model, a unidimensional latent trait model for tests that postulates that intensity parameters are products of test difficulty and subject ability parameters, is expanded into the Dirichlet-Gamma-Poisson model that takes into account variation between subjects and interaction between subjects and tests. (SLD)

This article presents a nontechnical explanation of Rasch model logit estimates of pediatric functional ability, an illustration of two alternative transformations of logit estimates of functional ability, and a pragmatic solution to the problem of obtaining a functional ability estimate for a zero or perfect performance score. (Author)

Compares compliance rates to two sets of commands derived from research in child noncompliance: easy motor commands and difficult motor commands. Results show a clear difference in the natural rates of compliance to different types of one-step commands, suggesting that even subtle differences in commands affect response rates. (LKS)

Describes research that empirically tested the effects of presentation format, time, pressure, and task complexity on decision performance. The objective was to determine the most effective presentation format (i.e., graphics or tables) for the performance of tasks of varying capabilities by decision makers under time pressure. (Author/LRW)

Building on previous research, this study examines the elements of the cloze context that affect performance by determining the extent to which item characteristics correlate with item difficulty. (47 references) (LB)

Results of four studies confirmed the hypothesis that three year olds would have less difficulty inferring that another person holds an odd belief about a matter of taste or value than they have in inferring that another person holds a false belief about a matter of verifiable fact. (RH)

The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt addresses concerns related to constructivism and instructional design that were raised in an earlier issue. Relationship of ecological psychology and constructivist theory is described, constraints on constructed knowledge are discussed, and the complexity of the Jasper series of math problems that…

Examined 4-year olds' strategy development using a new kind of "same-different" judgment task that minimized memory demands. Found that children's spontaneous behavior was highly strategic, and over trials it developed differently for "same" and "different" trials. Most children who did not spontaneously use the most…

This study examined possible influences of utterance length and complexity on speech motor performance with eight 5-year-old children and eight young adults using the spatiotemporal index (STI), a measure of stability of lip movement over phrase repetitions. The STI was significantly higher in the complex sentence condition and for the younger…

Whether forward and backward serial recall performance reflects different codes, or different levels of processing complexity, was studied with 122 undergraduates. Results suggest that a phonological code was used for both forward and backward recall, and that a similar level of processing complexity was required for both. (SLD)

This study, involving 424 deaf secondary and postsecondary students, evaluated the interaction between vocabulary knowledge and syntax competence, finding a significantly greater correlation for students in the highest quartile of syntactic competence. It concludes that, unless deaf readers have achieved a reasonable level of syntactic competence,…