Reports family background continues to be closely related to educational attainment. Suggests that because there is a strong negative relation between the number of siblings and scores on tests measuring verbal ability, recent reductions in sibling number would be expected to contribute to enhanced verbal ability and increasing years of schooling.…

This study of 26 children (ages 8-12) with hearing impairment found that the degree of hearing loss and spoken language competence independently affected the ability to understand the information presented on commercial and educational television programs. Language skills were a stronger predictor of comprehension than the degree of hearing loss.…

This study followed 96 gifted students from kindergarten through high school and found that students who qualified for the gifted program on the basis of verbal or quantitative reasoning abilities performed better in academic subjects than did students who qualified only on the basis of nonverbal abilities. (Author/JDD)

The constancy of intelligence quotients (IQs) of 161 gifted Israeli children, obtained initially in grades K-4 and retested 1-4 years later, was examined. Results indicated that 86% still qualified as gifted on the retest, with mean differences of five to eight IQ points. Performance scores tended to remain constant, whereas verbal scores tended…

The Cognitive Levels Test, for use with ages 5-21, is designed as a quick cognitive assessment instrument with 4 subdomains: verbal reasoning, abstract reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and memory. This paper describes the test's administration, summation of data, standardization, reliability, and validity. (JDD)

The Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale measures four areas of cognitive abilities (verbal reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and short-term memory), providing a continuous scale for appraising cognitive development from age two to adult. This paper describes the test's administration, standardization, reliability, and…

The study evaluated prediction of language quality using 3 approaches (neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and combination) with 37 developmentally delayed children (ages 5-9). Results indicated that these children had language and speech delays that showed substantial relationships to their verbal cognitive abilities and fine motor skills, in addition…

Examined patterns of intellectual differences among children (n=300) of different ethnic groups on Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Results indicated that when overall intelligence quotient was held constant, Black children performed better on verbal tasks, Hispanic children performed better on visual-spatial tasks, and White…

A study of 55 Chinese-American students (ages 7 to 13) with limited English proficiency who were classified as having learning disabilities found that the students fell behind academically and that their pattern of performance was similar to that of English-speaking peers with learning disabilities. Discrepancies between verbal IQ and performance…

Verbal-retelling abilities for social-studies lectures were examined in 20 adolescent boys with language-learning disabilities and 29 with normal language abilities. Lectures had either a comparison expository discourse structure or a causation discourse structure. Results indicated that the comparison discourse structure facilitated more…

Describes a study of college students that examined the instructional effect of visual and verbal metaphors in facilitating student achievement of different educational objectives. The effect of students' verbal ability and the amount of time they spent interacting with their respective instructional modules were also measured. (Author/LRW)

Highlights how single mothers and single fathers differ in ways that often predate their family structure, but suggests that there is little evidence that offspring are better off or develop particular characteristics in one household versus the other. Suggests that theorists have overemphasized the role of parents' sex in youths' development.…

A study compared two groups of gifted adolescents, highly (n=74) and moderately (N=163) gifted, on self-concept, emotional autonomy, and anxiety. Results indicated no significant differences on self-concept and adjustment. Age correlated with emotional stability and parent relationships. Girls outscored boys on measures of honesty and…

Twenty pediatric users of cochlear implants were administered three tests of speech intelligibility. Correlational analyses showed significant correlations among overall scores for contrast perception intelligibility, contrast production intelligibility, and production sentence intelligibility, however, relationships were more tenuous at finer…

Vocabulary fixed-item (FIT), computerized-adaptive (CAT), and self-adapted (SAT) tests were compared with 121 college students. CAT was more precise and efficient than SAT, which was more precise and efficient than FIT. SAT also yielded higher ability estimates for individuals with lower verbal self-concepts. (SLD)