Learning from lectures: The effect of varying the detail in lecture handouts on note-taking and recall

Previous research on the effect of lecture handouts on student learning indicates that students who are given skeletal handouts usually perform better in course examinations than students who take all their own notes. The present study investigates whether the amount of detail in the handout is a critical factor in this. A randomized groups experiment was conducted in the context of a course on dental surgery. Four lecture handout conditions (headings and full text; headings and key points; headings only; no supplementary materials) were compared on tests 2 days and 2 weeks after the lecture. The significant differences between conditions were: ‘headings only’ better than ‘headings and key points’ on the first test; ‘headings only’ better than ‘no supplementary materials’ on the second test; and ‘headings and full text’ better than ‘no supplementary materials’ on the second test. These results indicate that the amount of detail is a critical factor in handout effectiveness.     

Computerized Career Information and Guidance Systems: Caveat Emptor

Computerized career information and guidance systems, although now commonplace, have received little psychometric scrutiny. The authors argue for examining these systems in the same way in which paper and pencil instruments are assessed. Consideration is also given to issues related to programming, technical-service problems, and staffing.     

Coping with the exposure to torture

This paper describes approaches taken at the International Rehabilitation and Research Centre in Copenhagen to helping torture victims and their families cope with the exposure to and aftermath of torture.     

Recent developments in non-traditional employment testing: An introduction

The purpose of this special issue of theJournal of Business and Psychology is to provide a review and update of several key types of non-traditional employment tests. Non-traditional employment tests can be divided into two categories. One category consists ofbiological/physiological tests. The second category consists ofnarrow-based personality tests. A framework for thinking about non-traditional employment tests is provided.     

Applying cognitive theory to the testing and teaching of intelligence

This article describes how cognitive theory can be applied to the testing and teaching of intelligence. The article is divided into three main parts. The first part describes how the study of intelligence, traditionally an area that has been viewed as under the purview of differential psychology, has come squarely into the purview of cognitive psychology. The second part describes how the testing and teaching of intelligence, which in the past have been largely atheoretical, have been transformed into theoretically based enterprises guided by the theories of cognitive psychology. The last part describes a particular theory of intelligence, the triarchic theory, and how it has been applied to the problems of testing and teaching intelligence. It is concluded that cognitive psychology has given the study of intelligence a ‘new lease on life’, and that the testing and teaching of intelligence can and should be viewed as a primary focus of application for the principles of cognitive psychology.