Introduces the three subsequent articles from this special section, which extend the discussion of future prospects for progress in the reporting and interpreting of effect sizes by researchers. The authors of these pieces represent diverse views. (SLD)

Provides a rationale for using verbal protocols in discourse processing. Argues that readers construct a text representation and then use it to "tell a story" about their understanding--this story reveals important information about the processes involved in text comprehension as well as about constructing a message to be understood in a…

Discusses a game and related activities to help students develop observation and inference skills. (MKR)

This article addresses issues in model building and statistical inference in the context of student modeling. The use of probability-based reasoning to explicate hypothesized and empirical relationships and to structure inference in the context of proportional reasoning tasks is discussed. Ideas are illustrated with an example concerning…

Compares two approaches for improving instructional text with a sample of eighth grade students (N=64). The first approach emphasized the reduction of the reader's comprehension; the other was oriented toward triggering causal inferences in the reader. Only the second procedure produced benefits on inferential learning, though both procedures had…

Tested the hypothesis that in predicting future behavior of an actor, older children rely on trait inferences, whereas younger children rely on global, evaluative inferences. Found that 9- and 10-year-olds' behavioral predictions were mediated solely by trait ratings, whereas 5- and 6-year-olds' predictions were mediated by evaluative ratings. The…

Two experiments examined preschoolers' performance on test relying on the uniqueness principle for using evidence from a miscount in inferring a counterfactual cardinal number, with subtests probing associated number-skills. All the 5-year-olds and half the preschoolers passed the test. Results suggest that a crucial preschool step is to start…

Examined the use of metaphors in lectures at a British university, and overseas students' interpretations of them. Found that metaphors were very prevalent and overseas students' interpretations differed significantly from lecturers'. The students often misunderstood the main points of the lecture and misinterpreted the lecturer's stance toward…

Vocabulary development and the role it plays in reading skills acquisition have received much less attention than decoding and comprehension strategies. There is a close relationship between vocabulary and comprehension; hence, individuals with poor vocabulary have difficulty understanding written text. Further, students with poor vocabulary…

The choice of constraints used to identify a simple factor model can affect the shape of the likelihood. Specifically, under some nonzero constraints, standard errors may be inestimable even at the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE). For a broader class of nonzero constraints, symmetric normal approximations to the modal region may not be…

Background: When developing a domain-specific academic self-concept, students are not restricted to social comparisons; they may also make temporal or dimensional comparisons. Aims: The main purpose of this study was to examine whether these different types of comparison trigger paradoxical effects of praise and criticism in the sense described by…

Four experiments examined children's ability to reason about the causal significance of the order in which 2 events occurred (the pressing of buttons on a mechanically operated box). In Study 1, 4-year-olds were unable to make the relevant inferences, whereas 5-year-olds were successful on one version of the task. In Study 2, 3-year-olds were…

The authors examined the impact of elaborative interrogation on knowledge construction during expository text reading, specifically, the interactions among elaborative interrogation, knowledge, and interest. Three measures of learning were taken: recall, inference, and coherence. Elaborative interrogation affected all aspects of learning measured,…

Two studies investigated the ability to use contextual information in stories to infer the meanings of novel vocabulary by 9-10-year-olds with good and poor reading comprehension. Across studies, children with poor reading comprehension were impaired when the processing demands of the task were greatest. In Study 2, working memory capacity was…

In this paper, we explore Peirce's work for insights into a theory of learning and cognition for education. Our focus for this exploration is Peirce's paper The "Fixation of Belief" (FOB), originally published in 1877 in "Popular Science Monthly". We begin by examining Peirce's assertion that the study of logic is essential for understanding…