Unlike success in first language acquisition, success in learning a second or foreign language is considerably more variable. Recently, second language acquisition researchers have called for more integrative research on individual difference factors. With this goal in mind, this study followed a larger, quantitative study of the links between…

This article seeks to explore how teachers develop tolerance and respect within an inclusive school in Northern Ireland. Drawing on interviews and observation of 18 teachers, it will be shown that teachers' own personal values and assumptions exert a defining influence on the school ethos. It will be argued that if teachers are not accorded the…

The aim of the present study was to explore the hypothesized relationship between divergent thinking (DT) and two types of evaluation: interpersonal (judgments about others' ideas) and intrapersonal (judgments about one's own ideas). Divergent thinking and evaluation skills were measured by means of a GenEva (Generation and Evaluation) task. There…

Studies on brains of individuals with an exceptional mental capacity are of widespread interest. Here, we analyze the cytoarchitecture of areas 44 and 45 (anatomical correlates of Broca's speech region) of a person with a documented extraordinary competence in language performance (Emil Krebs, E.K.), and compared it with 11 control brains.…

A convenience sample of young adults (ages 18-25) in New York City was recruited to complete anonymous surveys in social venues (either dance clubs or other social settings, such as coffee shops and university "hangouts") regarding their use of "club drugs" (e.g., MDMA/Ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine,…

Hispanics/Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S., and represent a diverse variety of ethnic groups with unique heritages. Yet educational and social research often analyzes this group in aggregate. This research, employing 1980 high school senior longitudinal data from the High School and Beyond project, demonstrates…

Most psychometric tests of spatial ability are paper-and-pencil tasks at the ''figural'' scale of space, in that they involve inspecting, imagining or mentally transforming small shapes or manipulable objects. Environmental spatial tasks, such as wayfinding or learning the layout of a building or city, are carried out in larger spaces that…

Data from 33 separate studies were combined to create an aggregate data set consisting of 16 cognitive variables and 6832 different individuals who ranged between 18 and 95 years of age. Analyses were conducted to determine where in a hierarchical structure of cognitive abilities individual differences associated with age, gender, education, and…

Substitution tests have a long history in psychology because of their simplicity of administration and their sensitivity to individual differences related to complex cognitive performance. Despite their widespread use there is no agreement on what the substitution test measures. The present study approached this question by applying a method of…

How individual differences in cognitive ability influence acquisition and transfer of strategic comparison skills was examined as a function of learning difficulty. Using a cognitive test battery, we classified forty-nine participants into three cognitive ability groups. Participants in each group were trained to compare similar (difficult…

Mass education has the goal of guaranteeing the same education to all in order to moderate differences between individuals and promote a kind of "equality of opportunity." Nonetheless, it seems clear that lower-class youths do not benefit as much from their degree or university experience as do those who come from more privileged…

Theoretically, prospective memory retrieval can be accomplished either by controlled monitoring of the environment for a target event or by a more reflexive process that spontaneously responds to the presence of a target event. These views were evaluated in Experiments 1-4 by examining whether performing a prospective memory task produced costs on…

Sensory or input factors can influence the strength of interference in the classic Stroop color-word task. Specifically, in a single-trial computerized version of the Stroop task, when color-word pairs were incongruent, opponent color pairs (e.g., the word BLUE in yellow) showed reduced Stroop interference compared with nonopponent color pairs…

L. L. Thurstone's (1927) model provides a powerful framework for modeling individual differences in choice behavior. An overview of Thurstonian models for comparative data is provided, including the classical Case V and Case III models as well as more general choice models with unrestricted and factor-analytic covariance structures. A flow chart…

In her recent pamphlet "Special Educational Needs: a new look (2005)," Mary Warnock has called for a radical review of special needs education and a substantial reconsideration of the assumptions upon which the current educational framework is based. The latter, she maintains, is hindered by a contradiction between the intention to treat all…