In 3 experiments, a total of 48 native English speaking and 55 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) college students chose alternatives to replace missing logical connectors in expository passages. Differences in meaning and use of the four connector types and implications for improving ESL programing are discussed. (SLD)

Findings from 4 experiments with a total of 218 college students, in which the retention interval for second-language vocabulary words was treated as a between-subjects factor, indicate that long-term forgetting is greater for learners instructed to use the keyword mnemonic than for learners engaged in rote rehearsal. (SLD)

Effects of mothers' need for approval on children's expectancies for success and persistence during failure were studied for 90 fifth graders attempting to solve 4 puzzles, 3 of which were unsolvable. Parental and situational variables affect children's achievement cognitions and behavior. Implications for parental socialization of achievement are…

The association of typical intellectual engagement with various abilities, and the association of such engagements with broader personality domain and available performance measures were studied with 138 undergraduate students (61 males and 77 females). Results demonstrate that individuals differ in typical intellectual engagement and that those…

Effects of total extracurricular activity participation (TEAP) during the last 2 years of high school were examined using data for 4,000 students from the High School and Beyond Survey. Results support a commitment-to-school hypothesis in which identification with school and school values is enhanced by TEAP. (SLD)

The usefulness of global items in predicting weighted-composite evaluations of teaching was evaluated with a sample of 17,183 classes from 105 institutions. Results suggest that, because global items account for a substantial amount of variance, a short evaluation form could capture much of the information needed for summative evaluation. (SLD)

Eight articles are presented, which examine the following issues defining current research in education of the gifted: (1) identification of separate areas of giftedness; (2) stability and predictability of precocity; (3) fulfillment of potential; (4) socioemotional adjustment of gifted individuals; and (5) sex differences in giftedness. (SLD)

Relationships among low-level reading skills, sentence verification, and error detection were studied using 91 fourth graders. Error detection was best predicted by subjects' tendency to generate inferences while reading. Literal text comprehension depended on low-level reading; strategic reading competence reflected a tendency to go beyond…

Predictions from the internal/external frame of reference model of H. W. Marsh (1986) and gender differences in the structure of academic self-concept were examined through path analyses of data from 231 Norwegian sixth graders (117 males and 114 females). Implications for the study of academic self-concept are discussed. (SLD)

This special section on cognition and mathematics contains an introduction and 13 articles on advances in the psychology of mathematics learning. The articles focus on how students learn to solve mathematics problems, including arithmetic computation problems, arithmetic word problems, and computer programing problems. (SLD)

A social-context longitudinal model of the early schooling process was tested using three first-grade outcomes for 1,470 Black and 69 Hispanic children (1,359 remained in the school system at the end of grade 1). Many variables influence the early schooling process, including cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry. (SLD)

The independent and interactive effects of scripted cooperation and knowledge maps (KMs) on the processing of technical materials was examined using 104 undergraduates. During acquisition, KMs had positive effects on recall of main and intermediate ideas, but the expected positive integration of KMs and scripted cooperation was not found. (SLD)

Two experiments assessed the effects of activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion. College students (n=39) and Dutch secondary school students (n=88) were asked to elaborate on possible explanations of a natural phenomenon. Data suggested that such activation of prior knowledge can be a successful instructional strategy. (SLD)

This study tested the hypothesis that effortful interaction with a computer tool that provides reading-related guided interaction on a meta-cognitive level results in the internalization of the guidance and later improved reading comprehension. Results with 25 seventh graders in Tel Aviv using a specially designed tool--the Reading…

Goal-related detection and processing of text were studied as functions of individual differences in reading ability for 43 fourth-grade students. The awareness that relevant information was present greatly improved the performance of more able readers; poor readers gained no advantage from a similar difference in awareness. (SLD)