The aim of the present study is to provide further evidence that the errors that arise from improper application of the linear model are not random and not easy to overcome. Using three different types of test, we attempt to show that the errors referred to in the literature as "pseudo-analogous" are the result of an epistemological…

When asked questions, children often avert their gaze. Furthermore, the frequency of such gaze aversion (GA) is related to the difficulty of cognitive processing, suggesting that GA is a good indicator of children's thinking and comprehension. However, little is known about how teachers detect and interpret such gaze signals. In Study 1 teaching…

Using longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, this study explored conditions under which the effects of risk factors for low educational attainment might be moderated. Two different risk factors, hyperactivity and maternal authoritarian parenting attitudes, were studied. The results showed that on the whole these two risk factors…

Disobedient pupils, off-task behaviour, and bullying are common problems in schools in many countries; they interfere with teaching, create an unsafe learning environment, and challenge the staff. Effective programs involving entire schools to prevent and reduce such problems have already been designed and implemented. However, most interventions…

The writing approach framework provides a comprehensive perspective on college-level academic writing based on the relationship of writers' beliefs and strategies to the quality of written outcomes. However, despite increased demands for more and better writing at the graduate level, little is known about graduate-level writing processes or about…

Research in goal theory has often relied on the general linear model, ignoring some central assumptions of the theoretical framework under investigation. The purpose of the two studies reported here was to illustrate how the Rasch model can supplement traditional statistical analyses when evaluating the effects of goal orientations on persistence.…

This study examined the causal and mediating relations between students' learning approaches, self-efficacy beliefs, stages of reflective thinking, and academic performance. Second-year undergraduate students (n = 241; 118 females, 123 males) in the South Pacific were administered the revised version of Biggs' Study Process Questionnaire, the…

The primary aim of this research is to investigate the predictive power of occupational stress for teaching style among university faculty members. A sample of 144 faculty members from a large university in the People's Republic of China rated themselves on three ability scales and responded to the Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory and to four…

The present study investigated the extent to which parents' causal attributions predict the accuracy of, and bias in, their children's self-concept of maths ability. Participants were 207 children and their 182 mothers and 167 fathers, who were assessed during the children's first and second primary school years. The results showed that the more…

Two studies were conducted to determine how gender and age moderate the long-term and post-failure motivational consequences of person versus performance praise. In Study 1, fourth- and fifth-grade students (n = 93) engaged in a puzzle task while receiving either no praise, person praise, product praise, or process praise. Following a subsequent…

This paper explores whether the principles of cognitive load and multimedia theory are mediated by cognitive style, gender, and prior knowledge. Participants were 91 children aged 10-11 years (54 boys, 37 girls), each assigned to one of two presentation modes. In Condition 1 children were presented with diagrams supported by printed textual…

The link between academic performance in secondary education and the subsequent performance of students studying architecture at university level is commonly questioned by educators and admissions tutors. This paper investigates the potential for using measures of cognitive style and spatial ability as predictors of future potential in…

Self-worth protective students characteristically perform poorly when they anticipate that poor performance is likely to reveal low ability, yet perform well in situations that involve little threat to self-worth. The present study sought a further understanding of this variable pattern of achievement, assessing two possibilities: (1) that the…

This study examined the relationships among teachers' perceptions of students' behavioural problems and their own efficacy and psychological symptoms. Findings suggested that teachers were more bothered by externalising (i.e., acting out) than internalising (i.e., withdrawal, depression) behavioural problems in their students, and believed that…

This study investigated the contributions of maternal education and ethnicity to three dimensions of home-based parental involvement in young children's education and development: parental expectations about educational attainment, children's activities at home and outside the home, and family routines. Controlling for family background variables…