It is reported that research on the socioeconomic achievement process has begun to generate anomalous findings, many of which involve occupational status as conventionally measured. The author proposes a theory of vertical occupational differentiation based on the role activities of occupational incumbents. (Author/RLV)

Undergraduate judges were assigned to groups that differed in information-processing loads. Correct observations decreased and reports of illusory correlation increased as the information-processing load increased. (Author)

Predictions of divergent effects of individual task and subunit workflow technologies on staff characteristics and subunit structures were tested. (Author/IRT)

Two studies used sentence-picture matching tests of sentence comprehension in 69 adults with aphasia. Clustering analysis yielded groups of patients whose performance steadily deteriorated and was affected by sentence types that were harder for the overall group. Results provide data relevant to the determinants of the complexity of a sentence in…

This study investigated whether syntactic complexity exerts an influence on the frequency of stuttering in the speech of seven adolescents who stuttered and seven who were normally fluent. Although normal disfluencies and errors in repetition accuracy increased as syntactic complexity increased, stuttering frequency did not appear to be affected…

A simple approximation to the conditional distribution of goodness-of-fit statistics for the Rasch model is presented that is used when item difficulties are known. The approximation, which is easily programmed, gives relatively accurate assessments of conditional p-values for tests of 10 or more items. (Author/SLD)

In the approach to latent trait models for pure speed tests presented in this article, the subject parameters are treated as random variables with a common gamma distribution, and marginal maximum likelihood estimators are derived for the test difficulties and the parameters of the latent subject distribution. An application of this model to…

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)