A survey indicated that British teachers still use vocabulary learning in second language instruction. These two studies suggested that 11-year-olds are quite capable of using the keyword method, modified for group presentation, to learn English meanings of French words and vice versa, for both immediate and delayed tests. (Author/SJL)

Following a mathematics test, 134 sixth-graders from different social class/national origin groups, were asked to attribute causality for their success or failure. All groups tended to attribute success more to internal than external causes and more to stable than unstable causes. Attributions of failure varied between the groups. (Author/SJL)

The Learning Preference Scale-Students (LPSS) was developed with 1,643 Sydney, Australia, pupils. Internal consistency, test-retest stability, subscale intercorrelations, and factor analysis show that the LPSS has considerable promise as a valid and reliable instrument. Results showed clear and significant sex differences in preferences for grades…

Pittsburgh High School students cooperated with or competed against partners of same or opposite race. As hypothesized, achievement behavior of internally oriented Blacks was more influenced by partner's race and task expectancies than that of Whites. Internal Blacks achieved best when competing against Whites or cooperating with other Blacks.…

The effect of feedback from student ratings was compared with the effect of such feedback supplemented with consultation from a more experienced teacher. The teachers under study were graduate student teaching fellows and professors. Consultation enhanced the feedback's positive effects. Class achievement effects were generally positive.…

Two groups of retarded adults were trained to use a cumulative rehearsal strategy for a serial recall task. Subjects who received instructions emphasizing the intended purpose and potential uses of the trained strategy performed significantly better than subjects invited to participate in "a remembering task." (Author/SJL)

Reports a survey of educational attitudes among teachers and tutors in English colleges of education. Three domains were studied: naturalism-formalism in attitude toward pedagogic role and student-teacher interaction; egalitarianism-conservatism in attitude toward access to educational systems and resources; and liberalism-utilitarianism in…

Transmission-interpretation (T-I) has been conceptualized as an important dimension of teacher verbal behavior. This study measured teacher T-I through a Likert scale completed by students. The T-I scale (a copy is appended) correlated 0.83 with the Student Perception of Teacher Style scale, measuring teacher directiveness. (Author/SJL)

Thirty five-year-olds were given number conservation tasks within their subitising and their counting ranges. For the experimental group, counters were joined by threads. These children's superior performance suggests that, when such one-to-one correspondence is a salient clue, young children can effectively apply the principle of invariance.…

This study examined the effect of provided individuated information on student teachers' stereotypic perceptions of the abilities of Israeli Jewish pupils of different ethnic backgrounds. One group received relevant information, another received irrelevant information, and the third no information. None of the groups based their assessment of…

Reports results of a study that analyzed two samples of essay-type examination answers and their connections with the grades obtained by Finnish high school graduation candidates. A two-way classification scheme is described where both the subject matter base and the type of information processing were taken into account. (nine references) (LRW)

Describes study that examined the effect of mood on college students' grading of 13-to 14-year-old students' essays. Research involving mood and behavior is discussed, the mood inducing films and feelings checklists used in the study are described, and an analysis of the results is presented that does not support a mood effect in essay assessment.…

The proportion of children in a representative sample of 1200 15- to 16- year-olds showing different Piagetian levels of thinking was measured. No increase in the proportion showing formal operational thinking was found beyond the age of 15. Investigated whether boys develop at the same rate as girls. (Editor/RK)