Michael A R Townsend
Biographic Data
| ID | 5706323 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael A R Townsend |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael A R |
| FAMILY NAME | Townsend |
| SIGNATURE | TOWNSEND M A R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Auckland |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Client Outcomes from Rural Substance Abuse Treatment
Several national evaluations have been conducted since the late 1960s that have assessed the effectiveness of publicly-funded substance abuse treatment in the United States. These studies, however, have focused principally on urban-based treatment programs, and it is unclear whether findings from urban programs can be replicated in outcome studies of programs in rural areas. The current study, therefore, examined the treatment outcomes of clients…
Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the 'then-now' procedure in a cooperative learning programme
Background: Tertiary students' attitudes to mathematics are frequently negative and resistant to change, reflecting low self-efficacy. Some educators believe that greater use should be made of small group, collaborative teaching. However, the results of such interventions should be subject to assessments of bias caused by a shift in the frame of reference used by students in reporting their attitudes.Aims: This study was designed to assess whethe…
Classroom goal structures, social satisfaction and the perceived value of academic tasks
Background . Perceptions of academic task value are affected by positive factors such as the intrinsic value of the task, and negative factors such as the loss of opportunities to engage in other desired activities. Previous research has shown that students' pursuit of social activities may be a negative factor that reduces the task value given to mathematics and language activities. However, the desire to meet social goals may be influenced by t…
Personal computers and process writing
This study was concerned with the effectiveness of word processing as a written language intervention for primary‐age deaf children. Subjects were 14 children in two primary school deaf‐unit classes matched in terms of age, gender, and degree of hearing loss. A quasi‐experimental design incorporating multiple‐group baselines with pre‐ and post‐tests enabled all subjects to receive the intervention while maintaining experimental control. Samples o…
Effects of accuracy and plausibility in predicting results of research findings on teaching
The status of research in education and in the social sciences generally suffers in comparison with the natural or physical sciences. One reason for this is that social science research findings are often regarded as obvious, and hence trivial. In this study, 220 students of educational psychology, including a sample of student‐teachers and experienced teachers, judged the predictability of 16 research findings concerning teaching in classrooms. …
Headings Within Multiple‐choice Tests as Facilitators of Test Performance
S ummary . Undergraduate students (N = 287) taking a multiple‐choice test were either provided with headings during the test or completed the test without headings. Students were also tested for field‐independence and later completed a questionnaire concerning their beliefs about the effects of headings in tests. Headings did not facilitate test performance, nor was there any association with field‐independence. However, the majority of students …
The Effect of Mood on the Reliability of Essay Assessment
S ummary . One potential source of bias that has not been examined in relation to the grading of essays is that of the mood of the marker. Several lines of research in social psychology can be generalised to predict different assessment outcomes as a function of mood. This study examined the effect of mood on student grading of children's essays. Markers first watched a film designed to induce either a positive or a negative mood state. They then…
Popularity and Intimacy as Determinants of Psychological Well-Being in Adolescent Friendships
A great deal of research has shown that children's friendship is linked with mental health. Much of this research has placed a heavy reliance on determining popularity by a sociometric technique in which children nominate their friends, but this procedure fails to identify the intimacy component of friendship known to be important in adolescent relationships. The current study combined measures of popularity and intimacy in an orthogonal, factori…
Stability of Ratings of the Structural Importance of Text Idea Units in Folk Stories
44 adult readers rated units of text information using four levels of importance to the story theme. Ratings were stable across independent groups of readers and across two rating sessions. Also, ratings were unaffected by the order in which the ratings were made. The results suggest adult readers' ratings are reliable for developmental comparisons
Cognitive Style of Law Students
Differences in psychological differentiation have been established both between and within professions (2). Occupations involving analytic and impersonal tasks tend to attract people whose cognitive style is more field-independent, while occupations requiring a more personal approach to people tend to attract those who are relatively more field-dependent. The former group are defined in terms of their capacity to isolate discrete elements within …
Measurement of Level I and Level II Mental Abilities as a Function of Test and Socioeconomic Status
In Jensen's dual process hypothesis of mental abilities Digit-Span and Progressive Matrices are seen as relatively pure measures of Level I and Level II, respectively, while paired-associate learning is seen as a less pure measure of Level I since it can vary with respect to loading on Level II ability. A sample of 227 10- to 11-yr.-old New Zealand children from varying socioeconomic groups completed Raven's Progressive Matrices, a digit-span tes…
Intrusions of Prior Knowledge in Prose Recall as a Function of Age and Exhortations to Remember
18 children from each of Grades 3, 4, 6 and 11 listened to two passages about familiar activities. Three successive prompts exhorted the children to recall as much as possible. The proportion of intrusions to recall of text was greatest for the youngest children. The results suggest that exhortations to remember do not greatly increase recall for most children and may give a distorted picture of performance from memory
Popularity and Intimacy as Determinants of Psychological Well-Being in Adolescent Friendships
A great deal of research has shown that children's friendship is linked with mental health. Much of this research has placed a heavy reliance on determining popularity by a sociometric technique in which children nominate their friends, but this procedure fails to identify the intimacy component of friendship known to be important in adolescent relationships. The current study combined measures of popularity and intimacy in an orthogonal, factori…
Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the 'then-now' procedure in a cooperative learning programme
Background: Tertiary students' attitudes to mathematics are frequently negative and resistant to change, reflecting low self-efficacy. Some educators believe that greater use should be made of small group, collaborative teaching. However, the results of such interventions should be subject to assessments of bias caused by a shift in the frame of reference used by students in reporting their attitudes.Aims: This study was designed to assess whethe…
The Effect of Mood on the Reliability of Essay Assessment
S ummary . One potential source of bias that has not been examined in relation to the grading of essays is that of the mood of the marker. Several lines of research in social psychology can be generalised to predict different assessment outcomes as a function of mood. This study examined the effect of mood on student grading of children's essays. Markers first watched a film designed to induce either a positive or a negative mood state. They then…
Measurement of Level I and Level II Mental Abilities as a Function of Test and Socioeconomic Status
In Jensen's dual process hypothesis of mental abilities Digit-Span and Progressive Matrices are seen as relatively pure measures of Level I and Level II, respectively, while paired-associate learning is seen as a less pure measure of Level I since it can vary with respect to loading on Level II ability. A sample of 227 10- to 11-yr.-old New Zealand children from varying socioeconomic groups completed Raven's Progressive Matrices, a digit-span tes…
Intrusions of Prior Knowledge in Prose Recall as a Function of Age and Exhortations to Remember
18 children from each of Grades 3, 4, 6 and 11 listened to two passages about familiar activities. Three successive prompts exhorted the children to recall as much as possible. The proportion of intrusions to recall of text was greatest for the youngest children. The results suggest that exhortations to remember do not greatly increase recall for most children and may give a distorted picture of performance from memory
Stability of Ratings of the Structural Importance of Text Idea Units in Folk Stories
44 adult readers rated units of text information using four levels of importance to the story theme. Ratings were stable across independent groups of readers and across two rating sessions. Also, ratings were unaffected by the order in which the ratings were made. The results suggest adult readers' ratings are reliable for developmental comparisons
Cognitive Style of Law Students
Differences in psychological differentiation have been established both between and within professions (2). Occupations involving analytic and impersonal tasks tend to attract people whose cognitive style is more field-independent, while occupations requiring a more personal approach to people tend to attract those who are relatively more field-dependent. The former group are defined in terms of their capacity to isolate discrete elements within …
Popularity and Intimacy as Determinants of Psychological Well-Being in Adolescent Friendships
A great deal of research has shown that children's friendship is linked with mental health. Much of this research has placed a heavy reliance on determining popularity by a sociometric technique in which children nominate their friends, but this procedure fails to identify the intimacy component of friendship known to be important in adolescent relationships. The current study combined measures of popularity and intimacy in an orthogonal, factori…
The Effect of Mood on the Reliability of Essay Assessment
S ummary . One potential source of bias that has not been examined in relation to the grading of essays is that of the mood of the marker. Several lines of research in social psychology can be generalised to predict different assessment outcomes as a function of mood. This study examined the effect of mood on student grading of children's essays. Markers first watched a film designed to induce either a positive or a negative mood state. They then…
Headings Within Multiple‐choice Tests as Facilitators of Test Performance
S ummary . Undergraduate students (N = 287) taking a multiple‐choice test were either provided with headings during the test or completed the test without headings. Students were also tested for field‐independence and later completed a questionnaire concerning their beliefs about the effects of headings in tests. Headings did not facilitate test performance, nor was there any association with field‐independence. However, the majority of students …
Personal computers and process writing
This study was concerned with the effectiveness of word processing as a written language intervention for primary‐age deaf children. Subjects were 14 children in two primary school deaf‐unit classes matched in terms of age, gender, and degree of hearing loss. A quasi‐experimental design incorporating multiple‐group baselines with pre‐ and post‐tests enabled all subjects to receive the intervention while maintaining experimental control. Samples o…
Effects of accuracy and plausibility in predicting results of research findings on teaching
The status of research in education and in the social sciences generally suffers in comparison with the natural or physical sciences. One reason for this is that social science research findings are often regarded as obvious, and hence trivial. In this study, 220 students of educational psychology, including a sample of student‐teachers and experienced teachers, judged the predictability of 16 research findings concerning teaching in classrooms. …
Classroom goal structures, social satisfaction and the perceived value of academic tasks
Background . Perceptions of academic task value are affected by positive factors such as the intrinsic value of the task, and negative factors such as the loss of opportunities to engage in other desired activities. Previous research has shown that students' pursuit of social activities may be a negative factor that reduces the task value given to mathematics and language activities. However, the desire to meet social goals may be influenced by t…
Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the 'then-now' procedure in a cooperative learning programme
Background: Tertiary students' attitudes to mathematics are frequently negative and resistant to change, reflecting low self-efficacy. Some educators believe that greater use should be made of small group, collaborative teaching. However, the results of such interventions should be subject to assessments of bias caused by a shift in the frame of reference used by students in reporting their attitudes.Aims: This study was designed to assess whethe…
Client Outcomes from Rural Substance Abuse Treatment
Several national evaluations have been conducted since the late 1960s that have assessed the effectiveness of publicly-funded substance abuse treatment in the United States. These studies, however, have focused principally on urban-based treatment programs, and it is unclear whether findings from urban programs can be replicated in outcome studies of programs in rural areas. The current study, therefore, examined the treatment outcomes of clients…
Psychology (12 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies (4 works) · Mathematics education (4 works) · Cognitive psychology (3 works) · Psychiatry (3 works) · Social Psychology (3 works) · Cognition (2 works) · Education and Critical Thinking Development (2 works)