Jerry S. Carlson

The effects of study abroad during college on attitudes toward other cultures

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to assess changes in attitudes and perceptions toward international understanding by university students who had spent a year of study abroad at a European university. Using a quasi-experimental design, a questionnaire was sent to 450 students who spent their junior year abroad and 800 students who remained on their home campus during their junior year. The response rates were 67% and 65% respectively. The questionnaire asked for retrospective views before the junior year as well as for views presently held. In addition, subjects were queried concerning shifts in attitudes during the junior year. Factor analytic and analysis of variance procedures were used to analyze the data. Consistent with the main hypotheses guiding the study, the results indicated increased levels of international political concern, crosscultural interest, and cultural cosmopolitanism for the study abroad group. This group also reported more positive, yet also more critical views of the United States than did the comparison group. The results were discussed in terms of the general goals of international educational exchange programs.

Study Abroad: The Experience of American Undergraduates.

Preface Introduction Research Questions and Methodology How Do Students Who Study Abroad Differ from Those Who Remain on Their Home Campus? Experiences Related to the Sojourn of Study Abroad Students and Changes in Their Language Proficiency Impacts of the Study Abroad Experience Analyses of Personal and Sojourn Variables Related to Impacts of Study Abroad Long-Term Effects: A Follow-up of Study Abroad Alumni/ae The Significance of the Studys Findings: Policy and Research Implications Appendixes Index

Reaction Time, Movement Time, and Intelligence: A Replication and Extension.

Abstract The purpose of the investigation was to replicate and extend a study by Jensen and Munro which found reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) parameters to correlate negatively and moderately with Raven matrices performance. A sample of 20 ninth-grade girls was used. Relationships between RT and MT and Raven scores were found to be negative and moderate to high, thus replicating the Jensen and Munro study. In addition, moderate to strong negative correlations were found between RT and MT parameters and reading comprehension and performance on the California Test of Basic Skills. Weaker relationships were found for mathematics and English grades although the direction was consistently negative.

Toward a Differential Testing Approach: Testing-the-Limits Employing the Raven Matrices.

Abstract Various testing-the-limits procedures were employed in administering the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test to 203 second grade and 230 fourth grade children. Tests of impulsivity, neuroticism, extroversion, intelligence and school achievement were also given. The main results showed that testing-the-limits procedures which involved verbalization and feedback were efficacious in maximizing performance on the Raven. The puzzle form of the test generally led to higher scores than the picture version for the second but not fourth graders. Differential analyses were carried out to establish how construct, concurrent and predictive validity of the Raven were affected by the salient testing-the-limits procedures involved. Analysis was also done with the personality variables and revealed how their effect interacted with various test administration procedures. The results were discussed in theoretical and practical terms.

Reaction time, intelligence, and attention

Abstract The roles of attention in reaction time and in the relationships among reaction time, intelligence, and achievement were analyzed. The subjects were 105 seventh-grade children. The results were generally consistent with most studies involving the Hick paradigm: both mean reaction time and the standard deviation of reaction time correlated with the intelligence and achievement measures used. Reaction time measures were correlated with attention and perceptual speed as well as with general intelligence, or g. Implications of these results for current theories linking reaction time and intelligence are discussed.

The Effects of Dynamic Assessment Procedures on Raven Matrices Performance, Visual Search Behavior, Test Anxiety and Test Orientation.

Abstract The effects of dynamic testing procedures on Raven Coloured Matrices performance, visual scanning procedures, test anxiety, and orientation to the test situation were assessed. The subjects were 72 third-grade children. The results supported the hypotheses of the study showing that (1) dynamic assessment procedures involving either verbalization or elaborated feedback lead to higher levels of Raven Matrices performance; that (2) dynamic assessment modifies visual search behaviors; and that (3) dynamic assessment reduces test anxiety and negative orientation to the testing situation. The results are interpreted as offering construct validation to the assessment approaches used.

Speed of information processing in academically gifted youths

Abstract A group of bright-average 7th grade junior-high-school students was contrasted with a group of manifestly academically gifted students of comparable age who were taking college-level courses in mathematics and science. The groups differed significantly and markedly (showing an overall mean difference of 1.34 SD) on every one of the nine different reaction-time (RT) tasks measuring the speed with which persons perform various elementary cognitive processes. The results indicate that: (1) various RT measurements discriminate about as much between intellectually average and superior groups as past studies have found RT measurements to discriminate between average and subnormal groups: and (2) the academically gifted differ from their nongifted age-peers in more than just scholastic knowledge and advanced problem-solving skills—they differ fundamentally in speed of information processing on extremely simple cognitive tasks with average response latencies of between 0.3 and 1.5 sec.

Principles of dynamic assessment: The application of a specific model.

Abstract In this article theories of change and cognitive modifiability are contrasted with “static” models. The former provide the conceptual and empirical bases for dynamic or testing-the-limits approaches. Differentiating between person variables and assessment variables, we examine how and to what extent individual and group differences in mental functioning are affected by these two classes of variables. To do this, we describe our theoretical model and some of the empirical data that bear on the issues raised. Contrasting to the common test-train-retest paradigm general adhered to, our methods involve modifications of testing procedure within the testing situation. The methods found to be most effective involve elaborated feedback and overt, concurrent verbalization.

Considerations Relating to the Study of Group Differences in Intelligence.

There are signs that the debate over racial and gender differences in intelligence is about to begin again. In this article we will be concerned primarily with racial differences but will make remarks about gender differences where applicable. Previously there have been bitter arguments over whether or not races exist, over whether it is either important or proper to study racial and gender differences in intelligence, and over the conclusions that have been drawn about environmental and genetic causes as determinants of these differences. We argue that races do, indeed, exist and that studying differences in cognitive competence between groups is a reasonable thing to do. We also point out that past research on both racial and gender differences in intelligence has been marked by methodological errors and overgeneralizations by researchers on all sides of the issue. We propose ten principles of design, analysis, and reporting that ought to be considered carefully when doing or evaluating research in this area.

Testing for Competence in Three Ethnic Groups

Piaget Matrices and Order of Appearance tasks were administered to 189 children, 5-10 years of age. The children represented three ethnic groups: Anglo, Black, and Mexican-American. Three conditions of testing were employed. Differences between conditions were detected for all age groups with performance in elaborated conditions exceeding performance under standard procedures. An interaction was identified for age × condition for both tasks. A tendency toward an interaction was identified for condition X ethnic group, with performance for Black and Mexican-American children tending to be below that of Anglos in the standard, but not in the fully elaborated condition. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of a differential testing approach to increase the validity of assessment of cognitive capabilities by reducing Type II error.