According to the Componential Model of Reading (CMR; Aaron, Joshi, Gooden, & Bentum, 2008), reading comprehension can be explained by 3 domains--cognitive, psychological, and ecological domains. We examined the direct and indirect contributions of these 3 domains to reading comprehension in bilingual learners. Participants included 124…

The current study investigated how perceived popularity and collaboration quality were associated with knowledge gain of adolescents during a collaborative learning task. Participants included 264 children ages 10-12 years (52.3% boys), who collaborated 3 times in same-sex dyads on a computer assignment. Results indicated that the knowledge of the…

Complex problem solving (CPS) as a cross-curricular competence has recently attracted more attention in educational psychology as indicated by its implementation in international educational large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. However, research on the development of CPS is scarce, and the few…

This study addressed predictors of the development of word problem solving (WPS) across the intermediate grades. At beginning of 3rd grade, 4 cohorts of students (N = 261) were measured on computation, language, nonverbal reasoning skills, and attentive behavior and were assessed 4 times from beginning of 3rd through end of 5th grade on 2 measures…

The possibility that expectations about classroom tasks that teachers communicate to students in the process of presenting those tasks might affect student engagement in the tasks was investigated by correlating the presence/absence of various teacher task-presentation statements with measures of subsequent student task engagement. (Author)

Examines the relationship between paradigmatic and syntagmatic word knowledge. Familiar concrete nouns were administered in Spanish and English to bilingual students. Students were tested on the ability to provide superordinates, adequate definitions, and object descriptions. Producing superordinates in Spanish was a reliable predictor of the same…

Sixth graders and undergraduates were tested in two experiments to investigate the salience imbalance hypothesis, one aspect of the similarity theory of metaphorical processing data indicate that salience imbalance generally enhances metaphorical interpretation but is not a necessity. (Author/BS)

Fourth-grade children were taught 104 words over a five-month period. Following instruction, these subjects performed tasks designed to require semantic processes ranging from single-word semantic decisions to simple sentence verification. Instructed subjects performed at a higher level than control subjects matched on preinstruction vocabulary…

Examines peer affiliations of aggressive children in a sample of 948 students from 4th through 6th grades. The deviant peer group hypothesis was partially supported. Two thirds of aggressive boys and one half of aggressive girls were most likely to be members of nonaggressive groups, whereas popular aggressive boys were most likely to be in…

The combined use of rational sets of concept instances and of a concept definition is validated as a powerful controllable variable in instructional material that is designed to facilitate concept attainment. (Author)

Age differences in memory performance have been ascribed to corresponding differences in the effectiveness of mental memorization procedures. A comparative assessment of opportunity and capability hypotheses is evaluated with reference to results of previous studies of procedural maintenance and transfer following instruction, using a sample of…

Two studies investigated (1) the ability of learning disabled children to perform tasks that specifically demand the recognition and production of main-idea statements, and (2) their ability to detect an inappropriate sentence in a paragraph. (PN)

In two experiments, fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders and an adult set chose titles and wrote summary sentences for expository paragraphs. All groups were better at detecting sentences that conformed neither to the paragraphs general nor specific topic than sentences conforming only to the general. (CE)

Sixty sixth graders were assessed for their level of moral development and rated by their teachers on classroom conduct. Children who employed lower stages of moral reasoning displayed more conduct problems and displayed more variability in their conduct ratings. (Author/BW)

Students' self-reports of involvement in mathematics were related to instructional strategies observed in their upper-elementary classrooms. Results imply that involvement can be socially constructed through whole-class instruction and that researchers should give more attention to measuring and understanding situated motivation. (Author/GCP)