Explores those characteristics of telephone counselor communication most likely to be associated with positive caller outcomes when the caller's problem involved both practical and emotional concerns. Results show that the more helpful counselors were more verbally active, took the initiative to structure the interview, and explored all aspects of…

This assessment of the reliability and validity of skills analysis programs within curriculum-based measurement (CBM), with various groups of handicapped and nonhandicapped youngsters, indicated that the skills analysis programs in spelling and math provided consistent information that related well to the primary graphed CBM scores. (Author/JDD)

Discussion of instructional systems development (ISD) focuses on recent developments in cognitive task analysis and describes the Integrated Task Analysis Model, a framework for integrating cognitive and behavioral task analysis methods within the ISD model. Three components of expertise are analyzed: skills, knowledge, and mental models. (96…

Considers how human performance technologists (HPTs) can move toward the hard science, or management, arena of an organization. Topics include measuring meaningful outcomes to quantify performance improvements; measurable criteria for workers; essential skills for HPTs; dropping ineffective programs; and defining interventions. (LRW)

Investigates perception by manipulating the requirement to discriminate between kinesthetic stimuli and the translation process by manipulating stimulus-response compatibility. Results indicated that the kinesthetic reaction time of clumsy children was found to be longer than that of controls. Claims that the findings may indicate that clumsiness…

Qualitative and quantitative measures were utilized to explore the abilities of 11 young children nominated by their parents as gifted. Characteristics nominated by parents as indicators of their child's giftedness were consistent with indicators in the research literature and were generally supported by norm-referenced test results and teacher…

Discusses how to be a change agent in business information services. Considers the necessity for innovation; personal characteristics needed to cope with and initiate change; understanding the structure of the organization; support needed to succeed; and necessary skills, including communication. (LRW)

This study was conducted to reveal how students at university level justify their solutions to tasks with various degrees of difficulty. The study is part of a larger study of students' concept formation of limits. The mathematical area is limits of functions. The study was carried out at a Swedish university at the first level of mathematics. The…

Script analysis as a test of executive functions is presumed sensitive to cognitive changes seen with increasing age. Two studies evaluated if gender differences exist in performance on scripts for familiar and unfamiliar tasks in groups of cognitively intact older adults. In Study 1, 26 older adults completed male and female stereotypical…

The conceptualization and measurement of key job characteristics has not changed greatly for most social scientists since the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and Quality of Employment surveys were created, despite their recognized limitations. However, debates over the roles of job skill requirements, technology, and new management practices in…

In this paper, the author looks at whether teachers give better subjective assessments to students of their own race and/or gender, conditionally on test scores. Subjective assessments are pervasive in schools; most teachers fill school records that include comments on the child's ability or behavior. And important decisions such as tracking,…

While the promotion of literacy is a fundamental mission for all librarians, over the past decades the definition has expanded and, paradoxically, fragmented into various multiliteracies, such as computer literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, and so forth. From these, a broader concept of student competencies, one that includes both…

A cognitively based theoretical framework for the assessment of domain competence is proposed. The basic thesis is that to be knowledgeable one must know how the important concepts of a domain are interrelated. This thesis implies that any valid assessment of knowledge must capture these structural properties. The implementation of a structural…

Subjects classified according to degree of hand preference were tested with both hands on two tasks of controlled movement. (Editor)

This review was intended to identify generic skills in interpersonal relations and to examine the implications of research for attempts to assess these skills. Using a developmental framework, three areas of research were reviewed: the social development of children and adolescents, clinical studies of interpersonal competence, and studies of…