Mark Trueman

A Comparison Between the Time-Management Skills and Academic Performance of Mature and Traditional-Entry University Students.

Time-management skills are acknowledged to be important but there has been little actual research on this topic with students. In this study we examined the scores obtained from 293 first-year students of psychology on a British version of an American time-management scale. The students were divided into three age groups: traditional-entry students - aged less than 21 years (N = 172); borderline mature students - aged 21–25 years (N = 50) and older mature students - aged more than 25 years (N = 71). Our analyses indicated (i) that women students in general reported significantly greater time-management skills than did men students, and (ii) that our older mature students reported significantly better time-management skills than did the other two groups. Academic performance, however, was only modestly predicted by age and scores on one component of the time-management scale.

A research strategy for text desigbers: The role of headings

This article describes some of the issues confronting research workers who want to carry out research on the effects of “access structures” — devices which enable people to gain access to a text (such as summaries, headings, and numbering systems). Although this paper focusses specifically on the role of headings, two general points can be made: (1) the literature on any access structure is diffuse and inconclusive and (2) some order may be gained from the chaos by carrying out a series of systematic studies which replicate and build upon themselves. A third, more contentious, point is that we need descriptive and a-theoretical studies first in order to clear the ground for later theoretical work.This article presents the results from seventeen experiments on headings which illustrate these points. The first nine experiments centre on three main variables, (1) the position of headings (marginal or embedded); (2) the form of headings (statements or questions); and (3) the nature of the task (free recall, searching unfamiliar text, and retrieval from familiar text). The results showed that the position of the headings (marginal or embedded) had no effect, but that headings in either form aided the recall, search and retrieval of information from the text used in these experiments with 14–15 year old participants.These experiments were then replicated using a different text in a further four experiments with 11–12 year old participants. These experiments showed that headings aided 11–12 year olds search and retrieval but not their recall from this second text. However, an additional study with 14–15 year olds and the second text showed that headings again aided recall with this group-suggesting a developmental trend in childrens capacity to use headings as recall devices. Finally, another three experiments tested whether headings in the form of questions helped lower-ability readers more than headings in the form of statements (a hypothesis which had emerged from both the preceding and other earlier studies conducted by the authors). In these three studies, however, no significant differences were found to result from the different forms of heading.

The Relation Between Trust Beliefs and Loneliness During Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, and Adulthood

Four studies examined the relation between trust and loneliness. Studies 1, 2, and 3 showed that trust beliefs negatively predicted changes in loneliness during early childhood (5—7 years), middle childhood (9—11 years), and young adulthood (18—21 years). Structural equation modeling yielded support for the hypothesis that the relation between trust beliefs and loneliness was mediated, in part, by social disengagement, which varied by age and gender. Study 4 showed that when young adults were primed for distrust rather than for trust cognitions, they showed greater withdrawal (loneliness) affect, lower willingness to disclose, and less perceived success in achieving rapport. The findings yielded support for the hypotheses that (a) low trust beliefs promote loneliness from childhood to adulthood and (b) social disengagement and cognitive schema mechanisms account for the relation.

Does correction for guessing reduce students’ performance on multiple‐choice examinations? Yes? No? Sometimes?

Multiple‐choice (MC) examinations are becoming increasingly popular in higher education because they can be used effectively to assess breadth of knowledge in large cohorts of students. This present research investigated psychology students’ performance on, and experiences of, MC examinations with and without correction for guessing. In Study 1, data were collected from two cohorts of students across three psychology MC examinations. The results revealed that students scored higher, and left fewer questions unanswered, when there was no correction for guessing. Furthermore, when the correction for guessing was removed from the theory MC examination, students who were told there was no correction for guessing did better than those told there was a correction. In addition, there was limited evidence of gender differences, with female students performing significantly better on one MC examination than males. In Study 2, a further set of first‐year psychology students reported their experiences of correction for guessing on open‐book and closed‐book MC examinations. Students reported feeling less anxious and more confident on the open‐book MC examination. The findings of both of these studies have implications for instructors deciding whether or not correction for guessing is appropriate, and for the advice to be given to students preparing for MC examinations.

Unreliability of Marking: further evidence and a possible explanation

ABSTRACT Marking of essays and examination papers is known to be unreliable in several ways. Some further evidence of this lack of agreement by markers is presented from an investigation of naturally occurring student ‘malpractices’. In a search for explanation of the causes for marker unreliability, a second study investigated the effects of examiner personality. It was found that the marks given to an essay were unrelated to E, N or P scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire but were positively correlated with L scores. This finding raises interesting hypotheses about the effect of staff‐student interactions on biases in marking. In particular ‘social desirability’ seems to be a variable worth further investigation.

The effects of verbal and numerical quantifiers on questionnaire responses.

Three experiments are described which assess the effects of responding to different sets of verbal quantifiers (e g, always, often, sometimes). In Experiment 1, participants were asked to give percentage equivalents to three sets of supposedly equivalent quantifiers. The responses differed significantly. In Experiment 2, participants completed different versions of a questionnaire in order to see if the three sets of quantifiers produced equivalent responses in a more concrete situation. The results again showed that the three sets were not equivalent. In Experiment 3, participants completed one version of the questionnaire with a set of verbal quantifiers and two versions of the questionnaire with numerical quantifiers (e g, I do this about 75% of the time). The verbal quantifiers produced virtually the same results as before: the numerical quantifiers produced different but quite consistent results. It is concluded that numerical quantifiers are probably more useful than verbal ones, and should be used if possible.

Examining the components of children's peer liking as antecedents of school adjustment

Childrens social interactions with their peers influence their psychosocial adjustment; consequently, the relationship between class-wide peer liking, same-gender peer liking, and school adjustment was explored in two age groups. Peer liking was analysed using the social relations model (SRM). In Study 1, 205 children (103 female and 102 male, M(age) = 7.15, SD= 7 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment, and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). In Study 2, 197 children (98 female and 90 male, M(age) = 9.87, SD= 5.9 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment. Both studies yielded evidence of reciprocal liking and individual differences in the ratings of liking awarded to, and elicited from, both peer groups. Multigroup path analysis, with groups created according to gender, revealed that elements of liking predicted different aspects of school adjustment with some variation according to age and gender. Together, these findings suggest that the SRM can be used to examine peer liking and underscore the importance of childrens peers for school adjustment.

An investigation of the impact of young children's self-knowledge of trustworthiness on school adjustment : A test of the realistic self-knowledge and positive illusion models

The study aimed to examine the relationship between self-knowledge of trustworthiness and young childrens school adjustment. One hundred and seventy-three (84 male and 89 female) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom (mean age 6 years 2 months) were tested twice over 1-year. Childrens trustworthiness was assessed using: (a) self-report at Time 1 and Time 2; (b) peers reports at Time 1 and Time 2; and (c) teacher-reports at Time 2. School adjustment was assessed by child-rated school-liking and the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). Longitudinal quadratic relationships were found between school adjustment and childrens self-knowledge, using peer-reported trustworthiness as a reference: more accurate self-knowledge of trustworthiness predicted increases in school adjustment. Comparable concurrent quadratic relationships were found between teacher-rated school adjustment and childrens self-knowledge, using teacher-reported trustworthiness as a reference, at Time 2. The findings support the conclusion that young childrens psychosocial adjustment is best accounted for by the realistic self-knowledge model (Colvin & Block, 1994).

What price presentation? The effects of typographic variables on essay grades

The marks awarded to 130 second‐year undergraduate word‐processed essays were assessed in relation to their use of different typographic features. By and large most of these features had little effect on the essay grades. However, essays printed in 12‐point type gained significantly higher marks (mean = 56.8) than essays printed in 10‐point type (mean = 52.7), and essays using a combination of popular features (Times Roman, 12‐point, double‐spaced unjustified text, and a line‐space to denote new paragraphs) gained significantly higher marks (mean = 59.6) than those using other combinations (mean = 55.8).

The role of spatial and typographic cues in the layout of journal references.

Abstract Fifteen American and 15 British readers used the method of paired comparisons to assess 12 different ways of presenting reference lists in social science journals. The results indicated — despite British preferences for British styles — that the spatial arrangements of elements in the list was the major determinant of preference, and that the presence of a typographic cue only enhanced a preference for a particular layout.