This paper reports the results of a dual-task experiment which investigates the nature of working memory resources used in sentence comprehension. Participants read sentences of varying syntactic complexity (containing subject-and object-extracted relative clauses) while remembering one or three nouns (similar to or dissimilar from the…

In 1994, R. G. Lord and P. E. Levy proposed a variant of control theory that incorporated human information processing principles. The current article evaluates the empirical evidence for their propositions and updates the theory by considering contemporary research on information processing. Considerable support drawing from diverse literatures…

This paper presents a hierarchical Bayes circumplex model for ordinal ratings data. The circumplex model was proposed to represent the circular ordering of items in psychological testing by imposing inequalities on the correlations of the items. We provide a specification of the circumplex, propose identifying constraints and conjugate priors for…

Based on the Dyches and Prater (2000) guidelines, characterizations and plots in 34 eligible children's books published during 1999-2003 were evaluated; 36 characterizations are discussed in detail in terms of each guideline. Results showed that, compared to a previous study (Dyches, Prater, & Cramer, 2001), characters with developmental…

Individual differences in response to a given treatment have been a longstanding interest in education. While many evaluation studies focus on average treatment effects (i.e., the effects of treatments on the levels of outcomes of interest), this paper additionally considers estimating the effects of treatments on the dispersion in outcomes.…

A method is proposed for optimizing cutting scores for a selection-placement-mastery problem simultaneously. A simultaneous approach has two advantages over separate optimization. First, test scores used in previous decisions can be used as "prior data" in later decisions, increasing the efficiency of the decisions. Then, more realistic…

The author discusses some approaches to assessing the impact of inaccurate information when the planning system involves formulae of the management accounting type or models of the operational research variety. The most appropriate method for quantifying information value in management information systems is through Bayesian analysis and decision…

The purpose of this paper is to link empirical Bayes methods with two specific topics in item response theory--item/subtest regression, and testing the goodness of fit of the Rasch model--under the assumptions of local independence and sufficiency. It is shown that item/subtest regression results in empirical Bayes estimates only if the Rasch…

The purpose of this paper is to simultaneously optimize decision rules for combinations of elementary decisions. As a result of this approach, rules are found that make more efficient use of the data than does optimizing those decisions separately. The framework for the approach is derived from empirical Bayesian theory. To illustrate the…

A general approach is proposed for modeling the structure of a two-way contingency table, and for drawing inferences about the marginal and interaction effects, cell parameters, and conditional probabilities. The prior distribution expresses uncertainty in a simple reduced model, in particular the independence model. The posterior estimates of the…

A decision-theoretic procedure is outlined which provides a framework within which Bayesian statistical methods can be employed with criterion-referenced tests to improve the quality of decision making in objectives based instructional programs. (Author/DEP)

The Computer-Assisted Data Analysis (CADA) Monitor is a set of conversational-language interactive computer programs that permit relatively inexperienced persons to perform relatively complex statistical data analysis. The Monitor leads the user through an analysis on a step-by-step basis providing the necessary direction, information, and…

This study examined the appropriateness of the use of criterion referenced tests as a means of controlling an individual student's advancement to the next level of instruction or retention in the current unit in the PLATO Air Force Base Computer-Based Education project at Chanute. The study was also concerned with program evaluation, which…

This paper describes two procedures for making binary classification decisions using tailored testing: the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) and a Bayesian decision procedure. The first procedure described, the SPRT, was developed by Wald for quality control work. It has not been widely applied for testing applications because the…

The issues of treatment assignment is ordinarily dealt with within the framework of testing aptitude treatment interaction (ATI) hypothesis. ATI research mostly uses linear regression techniques, and an ATI exists when the aptitude treatment (AT) regression lines cross each other within the relevant interval of the aptitude variable. Consistent…