This article studies the effects of complexity and completeness in an introductory psychology textbook on students' understanding of the text materials. It was found that students presented with oversimplified versions made incorrect references. Complex presentation, however, did not adversely affect the students' test responses. (JAZ)

Explores 96 preschool children's utilization of complementary and taxonomic relations under varying task demands. Results indicated that, as task demands increased, (1) complementary intrusions produced systematic error in the taxonomic condition and (2) performance decreased in both conditions. Complementary pairs were maintained at progressively…

This personal reaction to Cummings'"Comparison of Three Algorithms for Analyzing Questionnaire-Type Needs Assessment Data to Establish Need Priorities" specifically questions Cummings' use of the Mean Difference Analysis for comparison with Weighted Needs Index, and his focus on characteristics of the statistic that are of secondary…

The analytical decomposition demonstrates how the effects of item characteristics, test properties, individual examinee responses, and rounding rules combine to produce the item deletion effect on the equating/scaling function and candidate scores. The empirical portion of the report illustrates the effects of item deletion on reported score…

For the purpose of obtaining data to use in test development, multiple matrix sampling plans were compared to examinee sampling plans. Data were simulated for examinees, sampled from a population with a normal distribution of ability, responding to items selected from an item universe. (Author/LMO)

A study involving undergraduate college students enrolled in an introductory psychology course showed that test item arrangement by difficulty or by order of content presentation has no effect on total achievement test score. The data also fail to demonstrate any influence of test item order on student perception of test difficulty. (RM)

Two-hundred-fifty fifth graders participated in this study of the effects of evaluation condition and task difficulty on motivation to return to an initial task. The significant effect for difficulty level resulted from the interaction of difficulty level with evaluation condition. Implications for classroom practice are discussed. (Author/MT)

Interactive effects of item difficulty, test anxiety, and failure feedback are examined in a study using multiple choice verbal aptitude items. Results indicate that ability estimates can be affected by the examinee's improved performance, especially for students given an easy test. (Author/DWH)

Eight special-purpose French-language dictionaries are described, including an illustrated edition, works oriented toward young children and intermediate second-language learners, etymological and grammatical dictionaries, and two literary references. (MSE)

Investigates the performance of 502 children ranging in age from four years to six years, ten months, on two-choice and multiple-choice number comparison tasks, and explores the effects of perceptual manipulations of elements in the multiple-choice tasks. (RH)

The Mantel-Haenszel (MH) differential item functioning (DIF) parameter for uniform DIF is well defined when item responses follow the two-parameter-logistic (2PPL) item response function (IRF), but not when they follow the three-parameter-logistic (3PL) IRF, the model typically used with multiple choice items. This research report presents a…

This article presents an interesting formula which organizes instruction for a course according to the proficiency to be attained at three different levels. (Editor)

Testing the hypothesis that although a complex paragraph takes longer to read than a simple paragraph, there is no difference in the time taken to make the required inference from memory. (MB)

It was hypothesized that individuals who can easily detect differences in the timbre of tone would be more likely to appreciate musical instruments with more complex sound waves, and that the degree of this tendency would be directly proportional to the length of time one has played the instrument. (Authors)