Results indicate that students possessing an external locus of control contracted for and ultimately earned lower grades, began working more slowly, reported more state anxiety during oral assessments, and performed more poorly on a written final examination than their more internally oriented peers. (Author)

The effect of three model variables on student performance of syntactic and semantic language behaviors in the absence of direct or vicarious reinforcement was examined. Subjects were sixth-grade students of both sexes attending New Mexico Schools. Half of the subjects and models were Chicanos and half were Anglos. (BJG)

Four experiments evaluate the effectiveness of a two-stage mnemonic procedure, the keyword method, for learning Spanish vocabulary. This method proved highly effective, yielding in one experiment a final test score of 88 percent correct for the keyword group compared to 28 percent for the control group. (Author/RC)

Compares accuracy of comprehension and communication of a set of relational concepts by urban black children, determines effects of age and previous exposure to concepts in this experimental situation on ability to communicate these concepts, and obtains descriptive data on styles and types of speaker instructions and listener questions.…

Proposes to test the hypothesis that despite previous negative findings, readers do alter their reading rate according to their purpose and to establish test conditions under which this competence can be exhibited. (Author/RC)

1,000 words were rated for imagery by adults. 63 first graders and kindergarteners were then taught to read 756 of these words. Results showed that this imagery rating was significantly related to the subjects' ability to read (learn) the words. The word list with imagery ratings is presented. (RC)

Highlighted in this study are the relationships between sex and grade level on academic achievement and employment aspirations. A probabilistic response format was used for the research questionnaire which was completed by students in grade 9 and grade 11, and by college freshmen and college juniors. (BJG)

Children's communication performance improves with age, which could result from increases in children's vocabularies, changes in their strategies of selecting messages from their vocabularies, or both. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate these explanations. Two types of communication tasks were employed. These data suggest younger…

In an experiment designed to explore the interaction of individual differences with question pacing in learning from written materials, 93 subjects were administered aptitude tests representing verbal comprehension and associative memory abilities. Posttest analysis of relevant and incidential retention showed that relevant retention increased…

Mastery criterion manipulation may produce dramatic behavioral effects. Results of a study investigating three undergraduate classes indicate that the 90 percent criterion class was inferior to both the 80 percent and the varied 60-90 percent criterion class on several measures, including degree of accuracy and final grade. (BJG)

Results indicate that for the task of generating counterexamples to invalid syllogisms, a primary source of difficulty is the first step of forming the negation of the conclusion, especially if the conclusion is a "Some are not" statement. When this step is done for the subject, most of the errors disappear. (Author/BJG)