This study compared the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) and traditional instructional approaches in developing high-school students' macroeconomics knowledge and examined whether PBL was differentially effective with students demonstrating different levels of four aptitudes: verbal ability, interest in economics, preference for group…

Background: Cognitive and family factors are implicated in the origins of behavioural problems, but little is known about their independence or interplay. Methods: We present data from 127 two-year-olds from predominantly disadvantaged families who completed tests of "theory of mind" (ToM), executive function (EF) and verbal ability. Researchers'…

We examined individual differences in developmental trajectories of emotion situation knowledge (ESK), at three time points throughout elementary school in a sample of children from economically disadvantaged families. Results showed that ESK and the subscales of joy, fear, anger, shame and interest exhibited positive growth from the first to the…

The present study investigated the relation between executive functioning and symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children aged 4-6. A population-based sample (n = 201) was used and laboratory measures of inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency and teacher ratings of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the interrelationship of social and adaptive skills in adults with bipolar disorder and severe or profound intellectual disability. A bipolar group (N=14), a severe psychopathology group without bipolar disorder (N=14), and a control group with no DSM-IV Axis I diagnosis (N=14) were compared on the…

This research investigated the frequency discrimination performance of a 6-year-old boy (MH) with language and attentional difficulties. MH had been reported to have literacy problems not paralleling an advanced verbal ability, and he showed difficulties in discriminating non-verbal tones of different frequencies in comparison with children of his…

It has been reasonably well established that test takers can sometimes answer correctly some reading comprehension passages without reading the passages on which the questions are based. This issue was studied with the new Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in a study designed to determine the strategies by which examinees are able to achieve…

This paper presents an information processing model of test anxiety in an attempt to explain the mechanism of test anxiety's effect on working memory within the framework of the American College Testing Program Assessment (ACT). The model suggests that the construct of test anxiety, both worry and emotionality, is represented in the declarative…

Marked Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) verbal-performance discrepancy commonly leads to the assumption that such children have brain pathology or cognitive disorders. Children without brain dysfunction may also exhibit wide discrepancy, but a discrepancy score of 30 is now assumed to occur in only 2% of the population.…

As increasingly younger children exhibit spiraling social behavior problems, researchers are focusing on the role of family dynamics in these problems. For this study, investigators explored the relationship between problem-solving skills and verbal comprehension in children from distressed families. Twenty-nine children, ages 4 to 8, completed…

Two studies examined the relationship between word knowledge and reading comprehension. Subjects were college undergraduates with high and low verbal abilities as indicated by a standardized verbal aptitude test. The first study involved a multiple choice vocabulary test from which words that both groups defined correctly were selected. The…

Disadvantaged students should be encouraged to explore and use the language resources of their own folk cultures. (JH)

Analyzed and compared to other disability groups were patterns of intellectual functioning in 120 institutionalized boys 10- to 15-years-old. (CL)