Posted by admin on Sep 10, 2011 in Educational Psychology | 354 comments

Does growth rate in oral reading fluency matter in predicting reading comprehension achievement?

In this study, we examined the relationship of growth trajectories of oral reading fluency, vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter-naming fluency, and nonsense word reading fluency from 1st grade to 3rd grade with reading comprehension in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Data from 12,536 children who were followed from kindergarten to 3rd grade longitudinally were used. These children were administered Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills subtests, Peabody Picture Vocabulary TestâThird...

Posted by admin on Sep 9, 2011 in Educational Psychology | 376 comments

Listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, and written expression: Related yet unique language systems in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Age-normed tests of listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, and written expression were administered in Grades 1 (n = 128), 3, and 5, or 3 (n = 113), 5, and 7. Confirmatory factor analyses compared 1- and 4-factor models at each grade level and supported a 4-factor model of language by ear, mouth, eye, and hand. Multiple regressions identified which of the 3 other language skills explained unique variance in each of the 4 language skill outcomes and provided additional evidence...

Posted by admin on Sep 9, 2011 in Educational Psychology | 2,198 comments

A is for apple: Mnemonic symbols hinder the interpretation of algebraic expressions.

This study examined how literal symbols affect students’ understanding of algebraic expressions. Middle school students (N = 322) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions in which they were asked to interpret an expression (e.g., 4c + 3b) in a story problem. Each literal symbol represented the price of an item. In the c-and-b condition, the symbols used were the 1st letters of the items (e.g., price of a cake in dollars = c; price of a brownie in dollars = b). In the other 2 conditions, c and b...

Posted by admin on Sep 8, 2011 in Educational Psychology | 177 comments

Does language matter in multimedia learning? Personalization principle revisited.

This study examines one of the design principles of multimedia learning in a context dissimilar to the one in which it was originally tested. Personalization principle states that the amount of learning increases when the style of language is informal and conversational. In an attempt to uncover the relationship between learning and language styles with varying degrees of personalization and formality, 89 college students were tested with computerized instructional content composed in 1 of the 3 styles:...

Posted by admin on May 23, 2013 | 0 comments

Building a ‘better’ ...

As early as the 1950s, psychologist David Krech foresaw the power and the peril of cognitive enhancement — prescient concerns that live on today. Monitor on Psychology

Posted by admin on May 23, 2013 | 1 comment

Media Advisory: Experts Av...

American Psychological Association Recent Press Releases

Posted by admin on May 23, 2013 | 0 comments

Making mentally ill defend...

May 19, 2013 KERRVILLE, Texas – The judge ascended the bench. He looked down at cafeteria-style tables marked “Prosecuting Attorney” and “Defense Attorney.” To his left, two men sat in a box marked “Jury.” The witness stand was marked “Witness.” PsycPORT: Psychology...

Posted by admin on May 22, 2013 | 3 comments