Examines how paraphrasing, formulating questions, comparing and contrasting, and completing matching exercises on worksheets affect recall of information. Concludes that the quality of inferences differed according to the writing task, with question writing and compare-contrast tasks generating more new information, while question writing results…

The computer has its own "niches" in language learning in which it functions well in helping students learn a foreign language. Such niches are discussed in the context of developing individualized courseware for developing skill in reading with explanations, speed reading and spelling, and inferencing. (Author/LB)

Educational assessment concerns inference about student knowledge, skills, and accomplishments. Test theory has evolved in part to address questions of weight, coverage, and import of data. Resulting concepts and techniques can be viewed as applications of more general principles for inference in the presence of uncertainty. (SLD)

In 2 experiments, 261 middle school students processed an analogy and responded to factual and inferential target-domain questions in a study of variables that contribute to the formation of analogical misconceptions. Results of both experiments support a six-variable model of analogical misconception formation. (SLD)

Describes the of attribute sampling to estimate characteristics of library collections and operations. The nature of statistical sampling and making a statistical inference are covered, and examples from library situations are given. Tables of determination of sample size and evaluation of results are included. (Contains six references.) (EAM)

Presents classroom activities using banknotes to teach history and social studies. Suggests that students' interest in money can be utilized to teach about geography, national heroes, symbolism, and the image a nation wishes to present to its citizens and the rest of the world. Lists sources for obtaining banknotes and directories to help identify…

Presents several electricity activities for developing student's science process skills of observation and inference. (PR)

Data from 4 experiments in which 136 college students read a situation description and took the perspective of an uninformed addressee to determine whether a speaker was sarcastic suggest that readers use perspective-irrelevant information. The finding poses a problem for theories of language that assume the use of only relevant information. (SLD)

This study tested the hypothesis that children as young as two years use what adults tell them about meaning relations when making inferences about new words. Subjects (n=18) learned two new terms, with instructions to treat one term as superordinate to the other or replace one with the other, and with no instructions. Children used both kinds of…

Examines unknown word inference strategies in Japanese high school students' English-as-a-Foreign-Language reading.(Author/VWL)

Focuses on traditional oath forms--those reflecting the value system of African traditional society in general and Rundi-Rwanda society in particular. The empirical research reported is based on approximately 20 hours of taped conversation among speakers of Kirundi-Kinyarwanda living in Burundi. Oath forms in Kirundi-Kinyarwanda provide…

Argues that there are many problems attendant to the testing of second language inferencing. Two reading tests, one culturally familiar and the other culturally unfamiliar were administered to secondary school students who are not native speakers of English. Four categories of inferences were tested in four different situations. Results showed…

Data analysis problems, particularly involving the likelihood of obtaining visually ambiguous graphs, pose a barrier to efforts to promote increased use of single-case evaluation by practitioners. Uses findings from an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral intervention with adolescent sex offenders to illustrate data analysis problems. (JPS)

A study of graduate students examined how learners process videotaped materials on familiar and unfamiliar topics. Analysis of interviews suggested that all participants interpreted the content of the videotape relative to topics with which they were familiar. In their responses, those familiar with topics offered more inferences, while those…

Investigated whether 7- to 9-year-olds use gender category to resolve uncertainty when evaluating behavior. Subjects were shown pictures of unfamiliar children and were told that each had performed a behavior open to multiple interpretations. When the unfamiliar peers were male, both male and female subjects were more likely to remember behaviors…