Cognitive abilities as well as math fluency play an important role in mathematical skills. Understanding the relationship between cognitive abilities and mathematical skills is imperative to teaching effective arithmetic skills. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between cognitive ability and math fluency with 38 first and second grade elementary aged children. Results demonstrate that preoperational children lacked the speed of concrete operational children but achieved comparable levels of accuracy when completing arithmetic problems.

The achievement gap in mathematics between African American and Caucasian students has been observed for several decades, though previous research has been unable to fully explain why the gap exists. Using a sample of 56 kindergarten and first grade students, this study examined the role that cognitive developmental level plays in the achievement gap. Results indicated that African American students scored significantly lower than the Caucasian students on a test of mathematical achievement. Furthermore, proportionally more African American students remained in the preoperational stage of development as compared to their same-age Caucasian peers. Finally, after controlling for cognitive developmental level, the achievement gap between the two groups became statistically indistinguishable, suggesting that cognitive developmental level mediates the relationship between ethnicity and mathematic achievement.

Cognition and Adjustment Among Children of Divorce Susan E. Krantz, Jeffrey Clark, Jenifer Prugga, and Mary Usher Overcoming Problems: The Importance of Willpower and Other Contributors John R. Knapp and Stuart A. Karabenick Achieving Generalization with General Versus Specific Self-Instructions: Effects o'n Academically Deficient Children Donna Thackwray, Andrew Meyers, Robert Schleser, and Robert Cohen Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Training on Emotionally Disturbed Children's Academic Performance H. Lee Swanson Television Commercials as a Symbolic Representation of Reward in the Delay of Gratification Paradigm Brenda Dawson, D. Balfour Jeffrey, Polly E. Peterson, John Sommers, and Greg Wilson Therapy Credibility Is Not a Nonspecific Event Wallace Wilkins Semantic and Perceptual Discrepancies in Discordant and Nondiscordant Marriages Ileana Arias and K. Daniel O'Leary Children's Nighttime Fears: Ratings of Content and Coping Behaviors Kevin C. Mooney Predicting Response to Cognitive Therapy of Depression: The Role of Learned Resourcefulness Anne D. Simons, Patrick J. Lustman, Richard D. Wetzel, and George E. Murphy Induced Mood and Causal Attributions: Further Evidence Chris R. Brewin and Julia Harris Cognitive, Emotional, and Physiological Components of Test Anxiety Jerry L. Deffenbacher and Susan L. Hazaleus

Differences in cognitive developmental level and reading achievement of elementary school children in multiage programming and traditional classrooms were explored. There is controversy regarding the benefit of multiage classrooms for learning academic subjects. According to previous research (e.g., CitationAlmy, Chittenden, & Miller, 1967; CitationBrekke, Williams, & Harlow, 1973; CitationCromey, 1999), cognitive developmental level, reading achievement, and classroom type all seem to be related entities. This study assesses the effects of multiage classrooms compared to traditional classrooms on cognitive developmental level and reading ability of kindergartners, first graders, and second graders. The effects of cognitive developmental level on reading ability were also explored. The results support the connections among cognitive developmental level, reading ability, and classroom type.

Older adults in highrise buildings were recruited for memory training using positive (“build your memory power”), neutral (“learn memory skills”), or negative (“avoid memory failures”) content approaches which were: 1) printed on a poster mounted in a prominent place (CSA), 2) presented orally at a building meeting (PC), and, finally, 3) printed on flyers distributed to the residents (DC). There were more volunteers after PC with neutral or positive content, but the CSA respondents were more likely to complete the training. Negative content was most likely to attract persons concerned about age-realted memory decline. The discussion focused on the appropriate recruitment methods for particular intervention programs.

Cognitive therapy is often used in treating attention-deficit-disordered (ADD) children because of its purported ability to address this population's attentional deficits and behavioral difficulties and to create durable therapeutic effects. Nonetheless, research findings on these treatments have been inconsistent. This study sought to explain these inconsistencies by examining the influence of cognitive development on children's ability to benefit from such treatment. The ability to conserve number and substance was shown to influence treatment outcome, as measured by laboratory tasks of cognitive style and impulsivity. No effects were found on standardized academic achievement measures or on behavioral ratings by teachers or parents. Further study of individual development will be important in understanding the outcomes of cognitive therapy.

The present doubleblind study examined the effects of methylphenidate, cognitive therapy, and their combination in attention deficitdisordered (ADD) children. Four treatment groups were compared on measures of attentional deployment and cognitive style, tests of academic achievement, and behavioral rating scales. In contrast to a previous study conducted in this laboratory, children in this study were not receiving medication during posttesting. Results were interpreted to suggest that measurable effects of stimulant medication dissipate rapidly upon discontinuation of pharmacotherapy. The combination of methylphenidate and cognitive therapy was not found to be any more efficacious than either of the treatments studied alone. Discussion suggests that medication status at follow-up is an essential feature of research design.

The present study was designed to investigate whether a specific subgroup of learning-disabled children (attention-deficit-disordered, ADD) differed from their normal counterparts on Piagetian tasks of conservation. The subjects were 34 third-and fourth-grade children. Seventeen children had been diagnosed as ADD; the remaining half were designated as normal. The two groups were equivalent in chronological age, mental age, and intelligence. The results indicated significant differences between the two groups on tasks tapping conservation of substance and number. These results may support the theory of a lag in the development of conservation in children with specific learning disabilities (ADD). Implications of the present research for therapeutic and remedial programs that serve ADD children are also discussed.

Teacher-referred academically deficient children were randomly assigned to a general self-instruction training group, a specific self-instruction training group, or a didactic training group. Subjects in each group were trained on addition problems. Maintenance and generalization were measured by performance on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT), an academic skill rating scale (ASRS), and a mathematics skill test. Children in the specific self-instruction training group improved significantly relative to other training groups on the PIAT math subtest, but not on measures of generalization. Children in the general self-instruction training group significantly improved their performance relative to children in other groups on the PIAT spelling and general information subtests. The results were discussed in terms of efficacy of general self-instruction training procedures for achieving generalization of problem-solving skills.

In an examination of the factors involved in the generalization of self-instruction training, 48 preoperational and concrete operational first- and second-grade children received either self-instruction training or no training on the Matching Familiar Figures Test. In subsequent training using a perceptual perspective-taking task, half of the children in the self-instruction group received training in the specific adaptation of the previously learned strategy, the remainder received training in the general adaptation of the strategy. All groups were posttested on these two tasks and a generalization task (Tower of Hanoi). Preoperational and concrete operational children in both adaptation groups improved significantly at posttest on both training tasks. On the generalization task, only concrete operational children in the specific adaptation group showed significant improvement. These findings support the view that the format of instructions interacts with the child's cognitive capacities. The need is emphasized for a more individualized intervention context which considers the developmental status of child.

This study was part of a continuing effort to develop a community-based approach to health care. Student volunteers in seventh- and ninth-grade health classes were trained to take blood pressure measurements and then conduct door-to-door screening for hypertension. One group of student volunteers within each grade level screened households surrounding the school they attended (low-convenience condition), while another group of volunteers screened households adjacent to their own homes (high-convenience condition). The results from these screening methods were compared with the results obtained from a central-site neighborhood screening center. Chisquare tests on the proportion of households screened indicated that the high convenience door-to-door screening method was significantly more effective than either the low-convenience door-to-door method or the central-site screening method. The latter two methods were not statistically different from each other. Both seventh and ninth graders screened significantly more households in the high-convenience condition than in the low-convenience condition. Ninth graders were superior to seventh graders in the high-convenience, but not in the low-convenience, condition.

To investigate the relationship between memory performance, self-assessment of memory, and affective status, 67 elderly females were administered a self-assessment memory questionnaire and multiple measures of affect and laboratory memory tet performance. Canonical correlations indicated that the memory performance scores were not related to the affective measures nor to the scales of self-assessed memory ability. Affective status and self-assessment of memory skill were related, suggesting that investigations of memory performance which rely on self-assessment should also measure affective status.

This study compared four strategies designed to encourage hypertensive individuals to seek treatment. Following a missed health center appointment, 148 individuals were identified as either borderline or clinical hyptertensive. Each individual was assigned to one of four prompting conditions: telephone call, home visit, postcard, or a rotating condition involving all three methods. Subjects were contacted a maximum of three times or until they complied with the health center appointment. For both borderline and clinical hypertensive individuals, the rotating condition was most effective, yielding compliance rates of 75% and 88% respectively. For all message modes, the second contact was the most effective contact. Home visits were the most expensive method per compliant subject, followed in order by the postcard, rotating, and telephone strategies. The rotating condition yielded impressive compliance rates at a relatively low cost per compliant subject.

Cognitive style differences between more and less successful but still highly skilled athletes have been identified. This study examined the cognitive strategy use of novice runners, and investigated the effects of training to adopt either associative or dissociative cognitive strategies on the performance of new runners. Students in fitness classes were randomly assigned to an Associative group, a Dissociative group or a Relaxation Control group. Before, during, and after five weeks of strategy training subjects competed in a one and one-half mile run. Analyses revealed that all runners used increasingly more associative cognitive strategies over the training period. However, those runners who employed relatively more dissociative cognitive strategies demonstrated a greater reduction in running time over trials relative to students who reported using more associative strategies. The interaction between cognitive strategy use and physical skills was discussed.

Impulsivity is among the chief causes for children's referral to mental health services. Although the training effects using cognitive-behavioral interventions have been encouraging, a failure of classroom generalization following treatment is often reported. The focus of this paper is on factors affecting generalization. Traditional cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of impulsivity and an alternate clinical-developmental perspective are presented. A series of studies which support the clinical-developmental perspective and demonstrate the need to consider the nature and role of the impulsive child as participant in impulsivity treatment programs is reviewed. Finally, assessment and future research issues are discussed.