Thirty-six children from grades K, three, and six rated their preferences of nine figures of speech after being administered standardized IQ and creativity tests. Children's appreciation of figurative language starts at a nonverbal creativity level but turns to operational reasoning and changes in cognitive development. (CE)

The peer review process used to select manuscripts for publication in academic journals is important to the individual researcher and the scientific community, but it has been the topic of little research. This article analyzes the reviewers overall recommendation, ratings on specific subscales, and written critiques. Reviewer reliability is…

This study was an exploratory investigation into the attitudes held by school personnel regarding maternal employment. Tentative explanations for the findings are offered. (Author/GK)

This investigation focused on factors related to students' decisions to withdraw from college courses. An open-ended survey was used to construct questionnaires for assessing student, instructor, course, and situational variables. Implications for advisors and instructors, relationship of withdrawal to course selection, and suggestions for…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how individuals use information about a target student's past academic performance to evaluate that performance and to predict future performance. The importance of observers' reactions to nonlinear and linear performance patterns is discussed. (Author/GK)

College students learning they had done well or poorly on an examination were asked to evaluate the cause of the outcome, describe affective reactions, and estimate expectations about future test performances. Results support the contention that academic failure needn't lead to losses in achievement motivation, depression, or frustration.…

This study examines the accuracy of kindergarten through third-grade children's perceptions of their own relative ability. Also tested is the hypothesis that children's ratings of classmates' ability are based on actual performance at an earlier age than are ratings of their own ability. (Author/GK)

The purpose of this study was to examine children's cognitive-attributional and affective response patterns within competitive and individualistic goal structures. Findings showed that effort attributions covaried with outcome in the individualistic structure, whereas luck and outcome covaried in the competitive structure. (Author/GK)

This research is designed to explore the manner in which people read and use procedural information presented in text and illustrations. Recent theories are considered for their implications in this issue. (Author/GK)

An attempt is made to manipulate depth of processing by inserting in text verbatim, paraphrase, or inference questions after every paragraph of the passage. Findings are discussed in terms of a "levels of processing" analysis. (Author/GK)

Children at three age levels (four-, six-, and eight-year-olds) were asked a series of class inclusion questions presented verbally, visually, and kinesthetically. Analysis of correctness of reasons showed main effects of age and of condition. (Author/GK)

The effects of cooperative versus individualistic learning experience were compared on interethnic interaction among fourth-grade students. Results indicated that cooperative learning experiences promote more cross-ethnic interaction in both instructional and free-time activities. (Author/GK)

This study concerns the role of structural properties of scientific prose: description of relations and explanation of mechanisms. The latter is isolated as a characteristics related to creative problem solving. (Author/GK)

A three-stage testing program was used to assess the validity of arguments concerning the relationship emanating from teacher attitudes/achievement leading to pupil attitudes/achievement. Findings indicated that high achievement/attitudes in teachers were related to high pupil achievement but less favorable. (Author/GK)

A research synthesis of the influence of peer groups on elementary and high school students' achievement and educational/occupational aspirations is presented. Strength of the peer influence-outcome relationship was higher in urban settings and when peer influence was determined by individuals reporting achievement levels of their best friends.…