There is consensus in the statistical literature that severe departures from its assumptions invalidate the use of regression modeling for purposes of inference. The assumptions of regression modeling are usually evaluated subjectively through visual, graphic displays in a residual analysis but such an approach, taken alone, may be insufficient…

This article discusses the significance of inferencing in reading comprehension and addresses theoretical and practical issues related to teaching inferencing in English classrooms. The author explains the nature of inferencing in reading and, drawing on previous research findings and his own reflections on teaching reading to English as a second…

Three field studies tested the hypothesis that anticipating a graded test as opposed to a pass-fail test enhances metacognitive monitoring. Participants were teacher candidates who completed a mid-term and a final test in psychology courses. Each participant chose whether the result of the final test should be evaluated with one of five grades or…

This study investigated the factors that influence family members' decisions to seek placement for relatives with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) into state-supported living centers in Texas. The sample included 51 family caregivers between the ages of 26 and 95. Using descriptive statistics, correlation, and inferential…

Many studies suggest that preschoolers rely on individuals' histories of generating accurate lexical information when learning novel lexical information from them. The present study examined whether children used a speaker's accuracy about one kind of linguistic knowledge to make inferences about another kind of linguistic knowledge, focusing…

Many theories of human cognition postulate that people are equipped with a repertoire of strategies to solve the tasks they face. This theoretical framework of a cognitive toolbox provides a plausible account of intra- and interindividual differences in human behavior. Unfortunately, it is often unclear how to rigorously test the toolbox…

Discrepancies (i.e., a subjective sense of falling short of one's own standards) are a key part of the perfectionism construct. Theory suggests discrepancies confer vulnerability to depressive symptoms. Since most research in this area is cross-sectional, longitudinal research is needed to disentangle directionality of relationships and to permit…

An important target of education policy is to improve overall teacher effectiveness using evidence-based policies. Randomized control trials (RCTs), which randomly assign study participants or groups of participants to treatment and control conditions, are not always practical or possible and observational studies using rigorous quasi-experimental…

The internet is the largest communications network in the world. It has become the virtual backbone of all communication. Therefore, it seems natural to leverage it as a major tool in any education involving communication skills, especially language skills. This chapter outlines a practitioner's experience on how this can be done in a foreign…

People can establish whether a sentence is hypothetically true even if what it describes can never be literally true given the laws of the natural world. Two event-related potential (ERP) experiments examined electrophysiological responses to sentences about unrealistic counterfactual worlds that require people to construct novel conceptual…

When identification of causal effects relies on untestable assumptions regarding nonidentified parameters, sensitivity of causal effect estimates is often questioned. For proper interpretation of causal effect estimates in this situation, deriving bounds on causal parameters or exploring the sensitivity of estimates to scientifically plausible…

These studies investigated two hundred and forty-four 24- and 30-month-olds' sensitivity to generic versus nongeneric language when acquiring knowledge about novel kinds. Toddlers were administered an inductive inference task, during which they heard a generic noun phrase (e.g., "Blicks drink milk") or a nongeneric noun phrase (e.g., "This blick…

The goal of this research was to investigate the extent to which young children use the past reliability of another person's statements to make inferences about the accuracy of that person's claims about a hidden toy. When children interacted with a previously reliable speaker, both 30- and 36-month-olds searched in the new location of the toy, in…

Extracurricular activities (ECA) are part of students' everyday life; they play important roles in students' lives. Few studies have addressed the question of how student engagements to ECA affect student's grade point average (GPA). This research was conducted to know whether the students' grade point average in King Abdulaziz University,…

The goal of the current study is to explore the influence of knowledge on socioeconomic discrepancies in word learning and comprehension. After establishing socioeconomic differences in background knowledge (Study 1), the authors presented children with a storybook that incorporates this knowledge (Study 2). Results indicated that middle-income…