Armstrong and Vogel (2009) proposed that the differences between self-efficacy and interests are a matter of measurement artifact rather than substance. In tests of this hypothesis, they conceived of self-efficacy and interest as observed indicators of larger RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) types…

This article is an attempt to critique some of the limitations of dominant school reform discourses in education, drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, Michael Apple, Maxine Greene, and Dennis Carlson, in addition to writers in the emerging field of what might be called "eco-progressivism." The intersections between ecology and education can…

Analyzes the procedure for playing "Life Game" in three major phases: (1) information processing analysis, (2) path analysis, and (3) hierarchical analysis. (Author/JEG)

Hierarchial causal models are described as pictorial representations of multiple regression equations. These models are particularly helpful for three reasons: (1) the formulation of problems in a path analytic framework forces a degree of explicitness that is often not present in research reports that rely solely on regression; (2) they provide a…

Responds to Krull's conclusions (1994) that higher educational attainment is indirectly related to sexual promiscuity through more liberal attitudes toward premarital sex. Criticizes Krull's omission of certain variables, recoding of variables, and assumption of a one-way causal relationship between sexual attitudes and behaviors. Reanalysis with…

Defines structural equation modeling (SEM) and points out its relation to other more familiar data-analytic techniques, as well as some of the potentials and pitfalls of SEM in the analysis of developmental data. Discussion focuses on causal modeling, path diagrams, ordinary least-squares regression analysis, and powerful methods for model…

Harry Stack Sullivan maintained that competition between friends in early adolescence would generally destroy their friendship. Working with early adolescent samples in Canada, Costa Rica, and Cuba, we found that hypercompetitiveness--a form of competition involving the need to prove one?s own superiority--was linked with conflict between friends,…

An author of a paper (EC 602 060) that presents two causal models of learning disabilities comments on his interest in the research, how the research design developed, limitations of the research, and the need for replication with other disability groups. (JDD)

Two causal models are presented to describe influences on the performance of students with learning disabilities. The first model associates reading and math with three domains: neuropsychological, linguistic, and social-behavioral. The second model involved relationships among selected individual variables and suggests that learning disability is…

Discusses a model that suggests that popularity and friendship are linked to different forms of adjustment and emotional well-being and emphasizes that friendship is an important mediator between popularity and loneliness. Results of a study that involved 169 early adolescents in fifth and sixth grades supported the model. (BB)

Presented is an approach to causal models in which some or all variables are discretely measured, showing that path analytic methods permit quantification of causal relationships among variables with the same flexibility and power of interpretation as is feasible in models including only continuous variables. Examples are provided. (Author/IS)

The author addresses and critiques the recent controversy between Bandura (1983) and Phillips and Orton (1983) over Bandura's recent article on modes of causation in social learning. The proper role of formal models in the analysis of social dynamics is also discussed. (Author/EGS)

Responds to Staddon's critique of the author's earlier article and addresses issues raised by Staddon's (1984) alternative models of causality. The author argues that it is not the formalizability of causal processes that is the issue but whether cognitive determinants of behavior are reducible to past stimulus inputs in causal structures.…

The first section of this paper reviews research in which student achievement was not included as a correlate of principal attributes, or principal attributes were not included as correlates of student achievement. The second section focuses on the study of the linkage between the school principal and overall student achievement. (BW)

Stage-state analysis of the life course is presented as useful in identifying types of life courses and their relative frequency, in estimating the likelihood of moving from a given state through a sequence of future states, and in analyzing routes and processes connecting initial states with potential outcomes. (Author/DB)