The effects of dynamic assessment procedures on Raven Matrices performance,visual search behavior,test anxiety and test orientation

The effects of dynamic testing procedures on Raven Coloured Matrices performance, visual scanning procedures, test anxiety, and orientation to the test situation were assessed. The subjects were 72 third-grade children. The results supported the hypotheses of the study showing that (1) dynamic assessment procedures involving either verbalization or elaborated feedback lead to higher levels of Raven Matrices performance; that (2) dynamic assessment modifies visual search behaviors; and that (3) dynamic assessment reduces test anxiety and negative orientation to the testing situation. The results are interpreted as offering construct validation to the assessment approaches used.     

聋校低年级学生班级友伴网络建构及其特点研究— 一项两年的追踪研究

本文采用调查法与社会网络分析法对聋校三年级聋生在班级群体中的友伴网络进行2年的追踪研究,以探索友伴网络的建构及其动态发展特征。结果表明：①三年级初期,聋生在友伴网络的个体中心度与个体的外貌、成绩与年龄等个人特征有显著相关;但随年级升高,这种相关性逐渐消失。②聋生友伴网络中存在一个十分稳定的中心小团体,其团体成员在整个网络中处于中心地位。③聋生在班级群体中的互选朋友关系呈现出中等程度的稳定性。     

Modulator effect of socio-emotional variables on training in elaboration strategies in Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE): paraphrase and applications

The purpose of this work is to verify the modulation of motivation, self-concept, and causal attributions in the efficacy of a training program of strategies to elaborate information in the stage of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE). We selected 328 students from CSE, 179 from second grade and 149 from fourth grade, and three measurement moments: pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The results indicate greater use of learning strategies by students with higher intrinsic motivation, in contrast to students with higher extrinsic motivation, who use learning strategies less frequently. With regard to self-concept, the results differ as a function of the course. In second grade, we found modulation of the variable Academic self-concept, whereas in fourth grade, such modulation is produced by General self-concept and Private self-concept. In general, there is a tendency towards more enduring significant improvements in students with medium and high self-concept, especially in their perception of the use of strategies or in complex tasks that involve relating the contents to be learned with experiences from their daily life. However, students with low self-concept significantly improve strategies associated with learning how to perform specific tasks.     

Training Elementary School Students to Manage Conflict

Abstract

The effectiveness of a peer mediation program in a midwestern, suburban school in the United States was examined. Six classes (one combination second/third grade, one third grade, two fourth grades, and two fifth grades) containing 144 students received 9 hr of training in negotiating integrative agreements to their conflicts and mediating their classmates' conflicts. Eighty-three untrained third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders served as a control group. A peer mediation program was implemented. The role of mediator was rotated equally among all class members. A pretest/posttest, experimental/control group design was used. The results indicate that students successfully learned the negotiation and mediation procedures, were able to apply the procedures in actual conflict situations, and maintained this knowledge throughout the academic year.     

Generality of creativity across performance domains

The existence of general creative‐thinking skills was investigated. In the first study, 50 eighth‐grade students wrote poems, stories, mathematical equations, and mathematical word problems, all of which were rated for creativity by experts. When the effects of IQ reading achievement, and math achievement were controlled through multiple regression analyses, creativity scores on the four tasks were not correlated. This suggests that general creative‐thinking skills did not contribute to creative performance in these different tasks. Subjects also responded to a brief verbal fluency test. Scores on this test correlated significantly with story‐writing creativity (r = .34) but not with the other three tasks. Three follow‐up studies were conducted with second‐, fourth‐, and fifth‐grade students, and adults. These studies also produced no significant correlations among creativity ratings of various products.     

The effect of aural feedback in second language vocabulary learning

We examined instructional procedures in the teaching of second language vocabulary, using a paired-associate paradigm. Four presentation methods were investigated, including simultaneous standard, simultaneous reversal, aural feedback, and visual feedback. The study involved 16 grade 7 school children as subjects. Subjects were tested on 28 second language words during the post-test stage. Orthogonal comparisons were carried out for the obtained data. The two feedback conditions proved to be the most beneficial and the more favourable out of these was the aural feedback condition. Also, reversing the two inputs proved to be better than the conventional paired-associate (e.g. presenting the second language word first with the first language word second). Based on the results of this study, it is advocated that the feedback procedures, in particular, be used in second language learning with aural feedback replacing visual feedback.     

A comparative study of general intelligence in Spanish and Moroccan samples

The aim of this study is to fill a gap in intelligence research by presenting data for the average IQ in Morocco and for a comparable sample in Spain. Adult samples were administered the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) (Raven, Court, & Raven, 2001) and scored for the total test and for the three sub-factors of gestalt continuation, verbal-analytical reasoning and visuospatial ability identified by Lynn, Allik, and Irwing (2004). The total test and the three factors have shown satisfactory reliability. Our results for the Moroccan sample show significant relationship between general intelligence factor, gestalt continuation and visuospatial ability with education level and income. Conversely, these variables have been shown to be independent for the Spanish sample. This sample obtained significantly higher scores for the four factors assessed than the Moroccan one. These differences have been found also comparing samples with the same education levels. Finally, the errors percentage for Moroccans has been higher than for Spaniards in all the items, suggesting that the level of difficulty was higher for the Moroccan sample.     

AN ANALYSIS OF RAVEN MATRIX RESPONSES IN FIFTH GRADECHILDREN. I

V ejleskov , H. An analysis of Raven matrix responses in fifth grade children. I. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1967, 8 , 177–186.—The performances of 628 children in the Standard Progressive Matrices were studied by means of the average score in the five series of the test as well as by the time used for the whole test. The analysis considered differences with regard to sex, age, and socio-economic status. Further, the individual items of the test were analysed with regard to the order of presentation and sex differences of response frequencies. Finally, the nature of the test and the application of a stochastic model are discussed.     

Effects of morphological Family Size for young readers

Dutch children, from the second and fourth grade of primary school, were each given a visual lexical decision test on 210 Dutch monomorphemic words. After removing words not recognized by a majority of the younger group, (lexical) decisions were analysed by mixed‐model regression methods to see whether morphological Family Size influenced decision times over and above several other covariates. The effect of morphological Family Size on decision time was mixed: larger families led to significantly faster decision times for the second graders but not for the fourth graders. Since facilitative effects on decision times had been found for adults, we offer a developmental account to explain the absence of an effect of Family Size on decision times for fourth graders.     

小学数学真实性问题解决的调查研究

在常规课堂上对来自北京市两所小学148位10-12岁的小学生进行真实性问题的测验,研究结果表明:1)被试中对真实数学问题作出真实性解答的人数比例约为四分之一,高于国外同类研究中比例.2)作出常规解答的人数比例约为一半,显著高于作出真实解答的人数比例.3)六年级被试作出真实解答的人数比例普遍高于四年级,但是在某些问题上,六年级被试中作出常规解答的人数比例反而高于四年级.4)被试对不同真实问题的反应存在一定的差异,这可能与真实问题的特点有关.     

The emergence of strategic knowledge activation in categorical clustering during retrieval

Elementary school children's free recall clustering has recently been explained as an automatic by-product of their developing knowledge base. In contrast, it is claimed that as children get older they become aware of the usefulness of category organization as a memory strategy that enables them to strategically activate category knowledge even during retrieval. To test this hypothesis an experimental procedure was developed where Ss first had to learn items in a noncategorical order to the criterion of two perfect serial recall trials. After a 12- to 15-min retention interval Ss unexpectedly received either serial or free recall (or--in Experiment 1--cued recall) instructions. In three experiments with second and fourth graders it was shown that (1) fourth graders' recall exceeded that of second graders only in the free, but not in the serial (or cued), recall condition, (2) higher levels of clustering were observed for fourth graders in the free recall condition, and (3) the grade effect on free recall data was eliminated when the influence of metamemory and categorical clustering statistically was partialled out (Experiments 1 and 3). This pattern of results proved robust against variants in which a metamemory question was asked or omitted prior to recall (Experiment 2) and manipulations in which age differences in categorical knowledge were minimized (Experiment 3). The results were interpreted as demonstrating fourth graders' strategic competence in activating category knowledge during retrieval and second graders' automatic knowledge activation.     

Attentional Processing of Letter Strings by Children

Reading a letter string requires attentional orienting toward the beginning of the string (left-dominant orientation), followed by orienting along the string. These attentional-orienting processes differ according to the lexicality of the letter string: Sequential processes apply when reading nonwords or pseudowords, while words can be processed more globally. The aim of this study was to evaluate the development of these attentional processes involved in reading. We conducted two experiments in 6- (first grade), 7- (second grade), and 9-year-old (fourth grade) children, using a procedure that required the detection of a letter (Experiment 1) or a nonletter (Experiment 2) target in a string of five characters. The target character could occur in the second (left) or fourth (right) position in the string. Results showed an advantage for left nonletter targets as early as age 6 and of left letter targets as early as age 7. In 6-year-olds, only good readers detected a left letter target faster than a right letter target; others detected a right letter target faster. Thus, dominant orienting toward the beginning of the letter string is not fully developed in children before the second year of reading. A possibility is that beginning readers have difficulties inhibiting an attention-orienting bias toward the right visual field in linguistic tasks. The results also showed that the lexicality effect on these attentional processes develops gradually until the fourth year of reading. We believe that the procedure used in this study will be very valuable for evaluating attentional difficulties during reading acquisition.     

Correlations among measures of cognitive ability, creativity, and academic achievement for gifted minority children

This study explored the correlations among nonverbal reasoning ability, creativity, and academic achievement in gifted minority children, 89 girls and 71 boys in Grades 1 through 8 in a program for gifted. A random half of students from all grade levels were tested at the beginning of the year and the remaining half after 7 mo. with Raven Progressive Matrices, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, and the California Achievement Test. Pearson correlations reflected limited relations among these variables except for a significant positive value between creativity and reading achievement. Suggestions for further study and implications for identification procedures and program development were provided.     

Dynamic Testing in Selection for an Educational Programme: Assessing South African Performance on the Raven Progressive Matrices

This article describes the research results of an investigation into the use of dynamic testing for the selection of candidates for an educational programme. The selection of students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds for mathematics‐, science‐, and technology‐based programmes is a problem for which most South African higher education institutions still have to find adequate solutions. Dynamic testing procedures are often seen as more fair to use for selection than single‐session tests in situations of unequal educational opportunity. The possibility that a selection instrument using a dynamic testing process could add significantly to the selection effectiveness already achieved in a South African mathematics and science foundation year using single‐session tests was investigated. The performance of a group of educationally disadvantaged black South African students on the Raven Progressive Matrices is compared to that of other groups reported in research literature. Considering the disadvantaged nature of the South African group, the group performed well on the Raven test when compared with data from other countries.     

Effects of Fourth and Second Graders’ Cross-Age Tutoring on Students’ Spelling

A quasi-experimental study examined some effects of cross-age tutoring on fourth grade tutors' and second grade tutees' ability to spell accurately and correct errors on their own rough drafts. Half of the participating tutors were trained in tutoring skills; half were not. All participants were given pre- and post-assessments. On dictated writing assessments, second graders improved significantly, although fourth graders did not. On a free writing assessment, both second and fourth graders had significant gain scores. Observations during tutoring sessions showed benefits for both tutors and tutees.     

Training effects on Raven's progressive matrices in young, middle-aged, and elderly adults

Previous training studies of fluid intellectual abilities have involved training on either figural relations or induction tasks. In the present study, young, middle-aged, and elderly adults were given training on another measure of fluid ability--Raven's Progressive Matrices. The training involved a strategy-modeling technique that lasted no more than a few minutes. The results indicated that (a) performance on the Raven decreased with increasing age, (b) training significantly improved performance, and (c) the effect of training did not differ as a function of the age or sex of the subjects. Thus, the results indicate that performance on the Raven can be significantly improved in a single, brief training session.     

Developmental dissociation in the neural responses to simple multiplication and subtraction problems

Mastering single‐digit arithmetic during school years is commonly thought to depend upon an increasing reliance on verbally memorized facts. An alternative model, however, posits that fluency in single‐digit arithmetic might also be achieved via the increasing use of efficient calculation procedures. To test between these hypotheses, we used a cross‐sectional design to measure the neural activity associated with single‐digit subtraction and multiplication in 34 children from 2nd to 7th grade. The neural correlates of language and numerical processing were also identified in each child via localizer scans. Although multiplication and subtraction were undistinguishable in terms of behavior, we found a striking developmental dissociation in their neural correlates. First, we observed grade‐related increases of activity for multiplication, but not for subtraction, in a language‐related region of the left temporal cortex. Second, we found grade‐related increases of activity for subtraction, but not for multiplication, in a region of the right parietal cortex involved in the procedural manipulation of numerical quantities. The present results suggest that fluency in simple arithmetic in children may be achieved by both increasing reliance on verbal retrieval and by greater use of efficient quantity‐based procedures, depending on the operation.     

Social Power Bases: A Meta-Anaiytic Examination of Interrelationships and Outcomes1

French and Raven (1959) inferred how the existence of social power bases influences a subordinate's perception and a leader's use of other powers. Based on their propositions, we tested a model using meta-analytic correlations as input to structural equations analysis. We also used recent literature to test a revised model, which fit the data better. Additionally, the meta-analytic effects of the social bases of power on satisfaction with supervision, job satisfaction, and performance were examined.     

The role of teacher behavior in children's relational aggression development: A five-wave longitudinal study

The present article examined the development of relational aggression in middle childhood and the effects of observed teacher behavior on this development. Relying on social learning theory, we expected that teacher praise would slow down the increase of relational aggression, whereas teacher reprimands would promote the increase of relational aggression. A sample of 570 children (49% boys, M_age = 7 years and 5 months, > 95% Belgian) was followed from second to fourth grade. Teacher praise and reprimands were observed at the beginning of second grade. Child relational aggression was assessed using teacher and peer reports, collected at five points in time: at the beginning and end of the second grade, at the beginning and end of the third grade, and at the end of the fourth grade. Multilevel modeling showed that relational aggression generally increased from second to fourth grade. Moreover, when teachers displayed more praise, students' relational aggression increased at a slower rate; when teachers displayed more reprimands, students' relational aggression increased at a faster rate. Overall, the results stress the importance of supporting teachers to reduce reprimands and increase praise when interacting with children.     

An Evaluation of Sex Hormone Replacement in Aged Women

Six same-different matching tests, both verbal and nonverbal, in three modalities, along with a set of reading tests, were administered to 120 Israeli children in second, third, and fourth grade. The main effects of all S variables, except sex (grade, socioeconomic level, and ability) were significant, as were the test factors of modality (visual, auditory, cross-modal) and form (verbal-nonverbal), but interactions between S and test factors were small. Multiple regression analysis revealed that overall matching test scores accounted for 35% of the variance in reading scores, although the additional contribution of specific subtests was negligible. Performance on the visual-visual tests was virtually perfect. Auditory-auditory matches were more difficult than auditory-visual matches with nonverbal stimuli, while the reverse was true with verbal stimuli.