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Biomedical subjects

T E Scruggs

Publications and source records attributed to T E Scruggs.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Teaching abstract vocabulary with the keyword method: effects on recall and comprehension.

Twenty-five adolescents with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to either a keyword mnemonic condition or an experimenter-directed rehearsal condition and were individually taught 16 difficult vocabulary words, including 8 concrete and 8 abstract words. After an instructional period, students were given a test of literal recall as well as a comprehension test of their ability to apply newly acquired vocabulary words in a different context. Results indicated that mnemonically trained students outperformed control students on both abstract and concrete words, and on recall tests as well as on comprehension tests. Implications for vocabulary instruction as well as theories of learning disabilities are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Can learning disabled students effectively use separate answer sheets?

101 regular class and learning disabled students were administered three subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills for which all correct answers had been identified in the students' test booklet. Analysis of the completed separate answer sheets indicated that learning disabled students answered fewer total items than their nondisabled peers but did not differ with respect to percent of items answered correctly. In addition, nonsignificant differences were found for number of answer spaces filled in outside the line. Implications for further research and training are given.

Achievement↗
PubMed1985

Attitudes of behaviorally disordered students toward tests.

In two studies, attitudes reported toward testing by behaviorally disordered students and their regular classroom counterparts were compared. In Study 1, 12 behaviorally disordered and 25 average fifth and sixth graders were given a survey regarding their attitude toward tests and the test-taking experience. Students classified behaviorally disordered reported less positive attitudes toward tests than their more average peers; these attitude differences were more pronounced on items which reflected subjective attitudes toward the test-taking situation and aspirations about performance and less pronounced on evaluation of the value of tests. In Study 2, which employed a sample of 25 behaviorally disordered and 25 regular classroom students matched on age and sex and used a longer attitude measure, differences were not found. Taken together, these studies suggest that attitudes toward tests are inconsistent in the two populations and that some behaviorally disordered students may not differ so much in this regard as supposed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1985

Improving the test-taking skills of learning-disabled students.

16 learning-disabled second- and third-grade students were matched on previous years' achievement scores and grade and assigned at random to experimental and control conditions. Students in the experimental condition were given 8 20-min. sessions of training in test-taking skills particular to the Stanford Achievement Test. Analysis of test scores indicated trained students scored significantly higher on one subtest of a shortened version of the test than students who had not been trained.

Achievement↗
PubMed1985

Attitudes of behaviorally disordered students toward tests: a replication.

48 behaviorally disordered and 48 more average students were administered a test attitude survey immediately after district-wide standardized achievement testing. Results were consistent with previous research which suggested behaviorally disordered students may report poorer attitudes than their more typical peers.

Achievement↗
PubMed1985

Vocabulary acquisition by mentally retarded students under direct and mnemonic instruction.

Twenty EMR junior-high-school students learned the definitions of unfamiliar English vocabulary words under either direct instruction or mnemonic instruction in a crossover design. When in the mnemonic-instruction condition, students remembered 50% more vocabulary definitions than when they were in the direct-instruction condition. Only three of the 20 students failed to exhibit superior performance when in the mnemonic instruction condition. Supplementary analysis of the response data revealed distinctly different error patterns in the two instructional conditions. In particular, far more intralist intrusions were associated with direct instruction. Implications of these results were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Classroom applications of mnemonic instruction: acquisition, maintenance, and generalization.

This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of classroom mnemonic instruction of science content, for 19 students with mild disabilities. Students were given either mnemonic instruction or more traditional instruction in a within-subjects design, in which treatment order was counterbalanced across classrooms, for each of two weekly units in life science. Following a third week of mnemonic instruction, students were taught to generate and draw their own mnemonic pictures. Results suggested that mnemonic instruction resulted in substantial increases in initial content acquisition, and substantially higher delayed-recall scores, over more traditional instructional procedures. Further, it was found that trained students were able to successfully generate and apply their own mnemonic strategies to novel content. Students overwhelmingly preferred mnemonic instruction over traditional instructional methods.

Adolescent↗