The relationship between the encoder and the decoder in the communication of nonverbal behavior provides the basis for the two studies described in this report. The first study investigated the ability of parents to decode the nonverbal behavior of their own and other children. Parents were asked to identify children's mode of encoding (natural or…

Thirteen doctoral dissertations and five masters theses are summarized in this report of research on the disadvantaged child. Contained in each individual summary are the detailed descriptions of the experimental task, the results obtained and the analysis of these results. The eighteen individual theses are concerned with topics such as:…

Research supported in part by General Research Support Award No. FR-05406 from the United States Public Health Service.

The cognitive styles, aptitudes, and abilities of 50 right-handed subjects were measured through a battery of paper-and-pencil tests to determine the feasibility of using event related brain potentials (ERPs) in the development of adaptive training techniques keyed to the information processing styles of individual students. Visual, auditory, and…

This paper explores the influence of field independent-dependent cognitive style on second language test performance, especially as it relates to performance on the integrative type of measure known as the cloze test. Approximately 250 college students enrolled in a first semester Spanish course formed the sample group for this correlational…

Research directed toward examining clinical depression among college students requires valid criterion measures for identifying depressed individuals. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the most widely-used self-report screening instrument for identifying depressed college students, has been criticized for its heavy emphasis on cognitive items…

Although a number of studies have related personality traits to overall college achievement, little has been done to analyze academic achievement in terms of its cognitive level components and relate these components to personality variables and academic success. Personality characteristics, cognitive levels of functioning and grade point average…

This annotated bibliography focuses on the fields of cognitive anthropology and sociolinguistics. Topics covered include: (1) classroom ethnographies; (2) conversational and discourse analysis; (3) ecological and sociological approaches to the study of education and schooling; (4) ethnomethodology; (5) communication and speech act theory; (6)…

Failure to establish a strong relationship between attitudes and buying behavior may indicate that the personality-consumer behavior link is mediated by some social mechanism, such as differential propensities toward advice-seeking. Undergraduates (N=75) completed two measures of attitudes, a questionnaire consisting of 10 consumer decisions and…

A study investigated the process of information extraction in reading in order to determine whether language constraints in texts reduced the amount of visual detail noticed by the reader during the reading of specific words. A detailed examination was made of 20 college students' eye movement patterns as they read a group of selected passages.…

Many linguists have maintained that the pronouns "he,""his," and "him" and the noun "man," when used in the generic sense, legitimately refer to both males and females and effectively cue readers to think of both. Others have argued, however, that the generic terms cause readers to "filter out" or…

Biometric communication research is defined as research dealing with the information impact of a film or television show, photographic picture, painting, exhibition, display, or any literary or functional texts or verbal stimuli on human beings, both as individuals and in groups (mass audiences). Biometric communication research consists of a…

Behavioral measurement using untrained organizational members as raters is highly dependent on heuristic or automatic processes. Such processes direct attention, simplify encoding and storage, and guide recall of behavioral information by using pre-existing schema to simplify processing; however, such processing results in systematic rather than…

The language development of one child was examined from birth to three years of age in order to map the similarities and differences in the acquisition of oral language, reading, and writing skills. The study also sought to provide insight into why learning to read and write are not as naturally easy as learning to talk. Data were collected by…

The T.V. Taxonomy of Questions was developed for use by teachers who wish to stimulate their students' critical thinking skills, but who find the terminology of existing skill taxonomies both confusing and elusive. This taxonomy consists of six levels of questions. Each level is given the name of a television program reflecting how the student…