Muscle Damaging Exercise Affects Isometric Force Fluctuation as well as Intraindividual Variability of Cognitive Function

Healthy untrained men (N = 11) were asked to perform 10 series of 12 repetitions of knee eccentric extension (EE) at 160° per second. Quadriceps muscle torques evoked by electrical stimulation at 20 Hz (P20) and 100 Hz (P100), maximal voluntary isometric contraction torque (MVC), maximal isokinetic concentric torque (IT) at 30° per second, voluntary activation index (VA), simple reaction time (RTs), complex reaction time (RTc), and torque variability at 30% of MVC were measured before EE, immediately after EE, and 60 min and 24 hr after EE. MVC, IT, P20, P100, and VA decreased significantly after EE and remained depressed 24 hr later. Torque variability increased significantly after EE. Average RTs and RTc did not change after EE, whereas intraindividual variability in RTs and RTc increased significantly after EE.     

The Facts of Observation in Psychoanalysis

The regression of five achievement criteria on the six Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) subtests was determined for a sample of 100 Ss. The MRT was administered at the end of kindergarten, and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test and the arithmetic subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test were administered at the end of first grade. Results indicated that the MRT predicts first grade arithmetic better than it does reading and that Alphabet and Numbers are by far the best predictors among the six subtests of the MRT. A sex difference was present in that girls tended to earn higher scores than boys on the two reading criteria.     

Examining the Effects of Skill Level and Reading Modality on Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reading skill and reading modality (oral versus silent) on reading comprehension. A normative sample of sixth-grade students (N = 74) read texts aloud and silently and then answered questions about what they read. Skill in word reading fluency was assessed by the Test of Word Reading Efficiency, Second Edition (Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 2012), and students were identified as either normal or at-risk readers based on those scores. A 2 (reading skill) X 2 (reading modality) mixed factorial ANOVA was conducted. Results revealed that both normal and at-risk readers demonstrated better comprehension of text read orally as compared to text read silently. The middle school curriculum requires independent silent reading, yet students may enter middle school without the literacy skills they need to be successful. These findings suggest that students transitioning to middle school may benefit from additional pedagogical support in silent reading comprehension.     

Auditory discrimination, intelligence, and reading achievement at grade 1.

To determine the relations of auditory discrimination and intelligence to reading achievement in first grade the California Test of Mental Maturity, the California Achievement Test (reading), and the Buktenica Modification of the Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test were administered to 78 first grade students. Correlations suggested a stronger relation between auditory discrimination and reading than between IQ and reading as measured here; however, range of reading scores were restricted. Results support Wepman's developmental theory. The methodological approach includes simultaneous consideration of effects of auditory discrimination and intelligence.     

A component analysis of attentional problems of educationally handicapped boys

Seventy-three educationally handicapped (EH) and 78 regular class, normally achieving (NA) boys grades 3–8 were tested with a series of measures selected to test three components of attention: coming to attention, decision making, and maintaining attention over time. EH and NA samples were subdivided into three groups by grade level (grades 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8). Based on a teacher-completed behavioral check list, the EH group was further subdivided according to pupils perceived by teachers as hyperactive or nonhyperactive. With the exception of the youngest group, EH and NA samples did not differ from each other on CA, but regular class boys had slightly higher IQs and better reading scores than did their EH peers;EH hyperactives and EH nonhyperactives differed significantly on reading scores, the difference favoring the nonhyperactives. All pupils were individually administered the Children's Embedded Figures Test (CEFT), the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), and the Children's Checking Task (CCT), the last designed specifically to assess ability to maintain attention over time. EH pupils did not function as efficiently or as accurately on the attentional tasks as did their normally achieving age peers. Significant differences between EH and NA samples were found for CEFT and MFFT errors, as well as for CCT errors of omission and commission. Analyses of the EH group according to hyperactive-nonhyperactive status were for the most part nonsignificant. Correlational analyses yieMed low but statistically significant relationships among the attentional measures, but nonsignificant relationships between IQ and the attentional test scores. Findings were consistent with the interpretation that the three hypothesized components of attention are partially independent and thus may have differential influence on pupils' performance in school.This research was supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service Grant No. 1 RO 1 25076-01A1 and Contract No. 5893, between the State Department of Education and the University of California, Los Angeles.     

The Effectiveness of DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency for Predicting Reading Comprehension of High- and Low-Income Students

Correlations and sequential analyses between performance on Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills–Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and reading achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test–Tenth Edition (SAT-10) during 2003–2004 were examined for high- and low-income children. Participants were 215 third graders, 112 above and 103 below proficiency benchmarks for DORF. For below benchmark students, DORF scores strongly predicted SAT-10 comprehension. For above benchmark students (a) DORF scores predicted comprehension for high- but not low-income students; (b) statistically significant differences in reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary existed between high- and low-income students; (c) reading vocabulary equally predicted comprehension for students of differing economic backgrounds; and (d) reading fluency did not predict comprehension for low-income students beyond what was accounted for by vocabulary.     

Can intelligence be estimated from drawings of a man?

There has been some disagreement as to whether intelligence can be estimated reliably and validly from the Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Man Test (DAM). In order to assess the DAM, 21 graduate students in psychology administered the Harris DAM and either the WISC or Stanford-Binet (S-B) to 158 “normal” children. Discrepancy scores between the DAM and the S-B or WISC indicated that the DAM IQ tends to be below, at times considerably, IQs obtained from individual scales. Moreover, the DAM seemed to be virtually useless in making discriminations among children of average and superior intelligence. The Harris scoring system was not found to be more discriminating than the original Goodenough, and the results provided little encouragement for the practice of estimating intelligence from a child's DAM.     

Reading,spelling, and vigilance in attention deficit and conduct disorder

A group of 51 male children, average age 9.1 years, presenting at a child psychiatric clinic because of attention and conduct problems were investigated for reading and phonetic spelling ability, vigilance, and intellectual level. Each child was given a DSM- III diagnosis prior to being tested. The Boder Test of Reading and Spelling patterns was used to obtain scores for reading age, number of syllables read correctly in the word list at the child's reading level, and number of phonetically correct syllables spelled in the known and unknown word lists, at and just above the child's reading level. A factor analysis with varimax rotation produced two significant factors, a Reading factor with high loadings for verbal and reading scores, aand a second Vigilance factor. Phonetic spelling ability loaded separately from reading into the Vigilance factor. The Vigilance factor was significantly related to the diagnosis of moderate and severe attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH). The correlation of short- term working memory with vigilance in moderate to severe ADDH children is discussed.Fundling assistance was provided by the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry.     

The Determiners of Energy Expenditure in String-Pulling by the Rat

A follow-up was made of 18 male dyslexic children (RDs) and a group of matched controls (Cs), who had all been judged free from emotional and school adjustment problems two years earlier, (a) to see if RDs' reading deficit had been overcome, (b) to measure “emotional overlay,” and (c) to find predictors of success in learning to read. Results showed that at the time of the follow-up (a) none of the RDs had overcome his reading disability despite remediational efforts; (b) RDs had significantly lower achievement levels and significantly more adjustment problems than Cs; (c) low scores for WISC Full Scale IQ, Vocabulary subtest, and Coding subtest were associated with large reading deficits two years later; and (d) high WISC Arithmetic and Coding subtest scores were associated with large gains in reading skill. Physiological measures did not predict size of deficit or gain in reading skill over time.     

Content validity of the wrat and grade level achievement of primary grade students

The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) arithmetic and reading performance of randomly selected primary grade children in a suburban school district was compared to grade placement in reading and math, and text placement in reading. WRAT scores overestimated actual achievement in all grades tested. Because of differences in curriculum, the WRAT may not adequately identify significant underachievement in suspected learning-disabled students at kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.     

Multivariate base rates for the assessment of executive functioning among children and adolescents

This study provides observed base rates of low executive functioning test scores among healthy children and adolescents, stratifies those base rates by narrow intellectual functioning and age groupings, and provides normative classification ranges to aid the interpretation of performances on the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) in clinical practice and research. Participants included 875 children and adolescents between 8 and 19 years old from the D-KEFS normative sample (48% male; 52% female). Among these participants, 838 had complete data and were included in the current study. The racial/ethnic composition of the sample was: White (73.7%), African American (12.4%), Hispanic (11.1%), and other racial/ethnic backgrounds (2.7%). The Overall Test Battery Mean (OTBM) and the prevalence of low scores at various clinical cut-offs were calculated for the 13 primary scores from the D-KEFS Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency Test, and Color-Word Interference Test. The OTBM and base rates were also calculated separately for those scores reflecting executive functioning (n = 7) and processing speed (n = 6). Healthy children and adolescents commonly obtained low scores on the D-KEFS tests considered here. Younger age, lower estimated full-scale intelligence quotient, and more test scores interpreted were associated with a greater frequency of low scores. Clinicians and researchers are encouraged to consider these multivariate base rates when assessing and attempting to identify executive functioning impairment among children and adolescents with the D-KEFS.     

The role of working memory in the development of emotion comprehension

This study investigated the relationship between emotion comprehension, grammar comprehension, and working memory capacity in children between 5 and 11 years (n= 130), testing the hypothesis that working memory has a role in the development of emotion comprehension. We replicated the correlation between emotion comprehension and grammar comprehension, and found that working memory capacity correlates with both of these variables (also with age statistically controlled). The significant effect of age on emotion comprehension was eliminated when working memory capacity was co‐varied. In a regression analysis of emotion comprehension scores, when working memory capacity was entered as a predictor, no additional variance was significantly accounted for by grammar comprehension, gender, or age. A structural relations model, in which the paths from working memory capacity to emotion comprehension and from working memory capacity to grammar comprehension account fully for the correlation between grammar and emotion comprehension, fit the data well. However, working memory capacity was not equally related to all components of the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) ( Pons & Harris, 2000 ), the relationship being significant only for some of them. In particular, working memory capacity has a decisive role in the transition from understanding external to mental aspects of emotions. It is concluded that the development of working memory has a considerable impact on the development of emotion comprehension.     

The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) as a measure of academic achievement and general intelligence

The degree to which practical, creative, and analytical abilities, measured by the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) (Sternberg, 1993), significantly contribute to the prediction of academic achievement, independent of general intelligence, was investigated. Although Sternberg et al. (2000) claim that the STAT is not related to, nor a measure of, general intelligence, data obtained by Sternberg, Ferrari, Clinkenbeard, and Grigorenko (1996), found that STAT scores were significantly correlated with measures of general intelligence. In the present study, introductory psychology midterm examination grades, STAT scores, and Wonderlic Personnel Test scores (as a measure of general intelligence), were obtained from undergraduate students at the University of Western Ontario (N=150). Total STAT scores and each of the STAT subsection scores were significantly related to Wonderlic test scores, P<0.01, and the STAT subsections were significantly related to each other, P<0.01. The partial correlations between midterm grades and creative, practical, analytical, and total STAT scores, with the variance due to the Wonderlic test removed, were also found to be significant for practical and for total STAT scores, P<0.05, but nonsignificant for creative and analytical STAT scores. A factor analysis including midterm examination grades, the Wonderlic test, and each of the STAT subsections revealed a single general factor. Thus, some results supported Sternberg but others were contrary to his claims.     

Provitamin A Selection by Vitamin A Depleted Rats

G. T. scores on the Army General Classification Test (AGCT) as indicants of intelligence were correlated with scores on the Creative Imagination Test (CIT) for two groups of men differing on intelligence. Results supported the prediction of closer correspondence of intelligence and creativity scores in a low intelligence range (r = .437, p < .01) than in a high intelligence range. Intelligence was unrelated statistically to creativity (r = .10) when only the high intelligence range above 111 was considered. Guilford's triagular scatterplot conceptualization of intelligence-creativity relationship seemed most congruent with the present and earlier data. Intelligence was described as allowing the development of creativity, but not insuring such development. Personality and environmental factors may be important in creativity expression especially at upper intelligence ranges.     

Differences of Mean Scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) for Classical Christian Schools Compared to Non-Classical Christian Schools

Abstract

This causal-comparative quantitative study compares mean scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) between Classical Christian schools and non-Classical Christian schools using data randomly selected from survey responses. The sample consisted of 4,486 mean scores from the 2003–2004 school year through 2012–2013. Welch’s t-tests for unequal variances was used with an alpha set at 0.05 and 0.017 for Bonferroni correction and returned statistically significant results for all three academic areas: reading, math, and writing. Effect size measured by Cohen’s d and eta squared indicated Classical Christian methodology should have a large, positive effect on PSAT scores. Demographic and between school comparison limitations noted. Future research and associated correlational studies are recommended.     

阅读范文对小学生作文成绩的影响

为考察阅读范文是否能够提高三年级小学生记叙文写作的成绩,在建立低年级小学生记叙文写作评价指标的基础上,选择1篇完整范文并设计8篇不同类型的不完整范文,选取300名三年级小学生为被试进行了实验研究。实验结果表明:(1)阅读完整范文和联结内容式、补充中间式、补充开头式、补充结尾式等不完整范文能够明显提高小学生记叙文写作结构分项的成绩,阅读其他4种类型的不完整范文作用不明显。(2)阅读完整的和8种不完整范文均能明显提高小学生在记叙文写作内容分项的成绩。(3)除了补充开头式、补充中间和结尾式两种不完整范文之外,阅读其他7种范文均能明显提高作文词句分项的成绩。(4)阅读范文对避免写作中出现错别字、错用标点符号和病句无显著作用。     

New and updated tests of print exposure and reading abilities in college students

The relationship between print exposure and measures of reading skill was examined in college students (N = 99, 58 female; mean age = 20.3 years). Print exposure was measured with several new self-reports of reading and writing habits, as well as updated versions of the Author Recognition Test and the Magazine Recognition Test (Stanovich & West, 1989). Participants completed a sentence comprehension task with syntactically complex sentences, and reading times and comprehension accuracy were measured. An additional measure of reading skill was provided by participants' scores on the verbal portions of the ACT, a standardized achievement test. Higher levels of print exposure were associated with higher sentence processing abilities and superior verbal ACT performance. The relative merits of different print exposure assessments are discussed.     

Reading Comprehension: Effects of Individualized,Integrated Language Arts as a Reading Approach with Struggling Readers

This study examined the effects of individualized, integrated language arts as a reading approach on struggling readers' comprehension scores obtained from oral narrative, silent narrative, and silent expository passages at three levels: below-grade, on-grade, and above-grade levels. Students (N = 93) in grades four through eight, who were reading below grade level, participated in the study. Treatment group students (n = 51) received individualized, integrated language arts as a reading approach once a week in place of basal reading instruction. Comparison group students (n = 42) received basal reading instruction for the duration of the study. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze posttest Analytical Reading Inventory (ARI) comprehension scores. Several statistically significant (p < .001) differences in comprehension performance were found for on-grade-level scores and for above-grade-level scores, but few differences were found between treatment and comparison groups on below-grade-level scores. All statistically significant differences favored students in the treatment group. The findings of the study strongly suggest that the use of individualized, integrated language arts as a method for teaching reading is an effective approach for improving the reading comprehension performance of struggling readers.     

Effects of verbal working memory and cumulative linguistic knowledge on reading comprehension1

Abstract: In the present study, the effects of verbal working memory (VWM) and cumulative linguistic knowledge (CLK) on reading comprehension were investigated using an individual difference approach. We examined whether VWM and CLK are distinct verbal factors and whether each has independent influences on reading comprehension. VWM was tested using the Japanese Reading Span Test (RST). CLK was assessed using information, vocabulary, and similarity subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Revised (WAIS‐R), as well as with the Hyakurakan kanji reading test. The differences between VWM and CLK were examined using correlation analyses between reading comprehension scores, and digit forward and backward span scores. The results showed that VWM and CLK were independent of each other, and that VWM and CLK independently contributed to reading comprehension. The obtained correlations also showed that CLK was independent of any type of short‐term memory, and that the VWM measured using the RST had little correlation with digit span.     

Reliability and Validity of a Paper-and-Pencil Test Measuring Hemisphere Preference

The present studies examined the reliability and validity of the Preference Test (PT), a widely used self-report index of preferred hemisphere thinking styles. The PT consists of items that intend to tap left-hemisphere and right-hemisphere cognitions. In the first study (N=47), PT scores were found to have reasonable test–retest stability. In the second study (N=334), a factor analysis of PT scores showed that the PT has a two-factor solution that can best be interpreted in terms of putative left- and right-hemisphere items. In the third study (N=29), background EEG activity (F3, F4, P3 and P4) of subjects was recorded. PT scores were found to be related to EEG asymmetry patterns for frontal, but not for parietal, recording sites. More specifically, subjects with a left-hemisphere preference displayed relatively stronger left frontal activity than subjects with a right-hemisphere preference. By and large, the present findings provide strong support for the reliability and some suggestive evidence for the validity of the PT.