This study examines differences between Australian and Japanese secondary school students' conceptions of learning and their use of self-regulated learning strategies. Australian students have a narrow, school-based view of learning. The Japanese students view learning from a much broader perspective. For them, learning is not only related to what happens at school, it is also seen as a lifelong, experiential process leading to personal fulfillment. However, in spite of these differences in learning conceptualizations, the strategies used by students in a Western learning context are similar to those used by Japanese students. A conception of learning as "understanding" is associated with a greater total use of strategies for both Australian and Japanese students.There are many clear descriptions of the characteristics of good self-regulators of learning. Typically, self-regulators are characterized as purposeful, strategic, and persistent in their learning. They possess the ability to evaluate their own progress in relation to the goals they have set and to adjust subsequent behavior in light of those self-evaluations. Selfregulated learners generate and direct their own learning experiences rather than act in response to external controls. In sum, they are self-initiators who exercise personal choice and control of the methods needed to attain the learning goals they have set for themselves.Although such descriptions provide important information about the students in classrooms, they do not tell why or how students become self-regulators. A model of selfregulated learning, set within the framework of social cognitive theory, proposes that personal, environmental, and behavioral factors operate separately but interdependently as students engage in academic tasks (Zimmerman, 1990). Of the personal factors that influence learning, social cognitive theory emphasizes the role of students' self-efficacy beliefs. A less emphasized set of beliefs, but nevertheless one with the potential to influence the learning strategies used, is students' conceptions of learning itself. In turn, how

The present investigation examined differential patterns in executive functions of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; no diagnosed comorbid disorders) according to subtype and gender, and identified instrumentation sensitive to executive function in children aged 6 to 12 years with ADHD. Data were obtained from 94 children diagnosed with ADHD (predominantly inattentive, n = 32, ADHD combined, n = 62), and from 28 controls. Participants with ADHD, who were unmedicated at the time of testing, were administered five tests of executive function (the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Stroop Color-Word Test, the Matching Familiar Figures Test, the Trail Making Test, and the Tower of London). A two-way multivariate analysis of covariance with age as the covariate and subtype and gender as the independent variables was conducted on all of the tests administered. While children with ADHD predominantly inattentive and those with ADHD combined differed from controls, it was only the latter subtype that differed significantly in perseveration and response inhibition. The absence of diagnosed comorbidity in the children with ADHD at the time of test administration demonstrates that the impairments in executive function are clearly located in ADHD, particularly in the ADHD combined subtype, thus providing support for Barkley's proposed unifying theory of ADHD.

Children with ADHD exhibit impairments in executive function and processing speed in real-world activities as well as in neuropsychological testing. Cognitive deficits detected by standardized neuropsychological testing are related to performance difficulties in real-world activities.

Wright's (1969) widely used "unconditional" procedure for Rasch sample-free item calibration is biased. A correction factor which makes the bias negligible is identified and demonstrated. Since this procedure, in spite of its superiority over "conditional" procedures, is nevertheless slow at calibrating 60 or more items, a simple approximation which produces comparable estimates in a few seconds is developed. Since no procedure works on data containing persons or items with infinite parameter estimates, an editing algorithm for preparing item response data for calibration is appended. Wright and Panchapakesan (1969) described a procedure for sample-free item analysis based on Rasch's simple logistic response model (Rasch, 1960, 1966a, 1966b) and listed its. essential FOR-TRAN segments. Since then that procedure has been incorporated in a number of computer programs for item analysis and widely used in this country and abroad. The procedure described is incomplete in two minor but important ways. It mentions neither the editing of incoming item response data necessary to remove persons or items whose parameters will have infinite estimates nor the bias in estimation (Andersen, 1973) which the procedure entails, because the estimation equations are not conditioned for person ability. In addition, although the Wright-Panchapakesan procedure has proven far more efficient and practical than any other method reported in the literature (Rasch, 1960; Andersen, 1972), it can nevertheless take a quarter of an hour on a small computer to handle a large problem. An approximation which provided accurate calibrations, but executed more rapidly, would be useful. We will refer to the Wright-Panchapakesan procedure as the &dquo;unconditional&dquo; solution. UCON. We will review UCON, discuss its inadequacies, report on an investigation of its bias, and describe a new &dquo;approximate&dquo; calibration procedure, PROX, which we have found to be as accurate as UCON under ordinary circumstances and much more rapid.

Study design: To establish benchmark normative data for dive entries performed by young adults of the age range most likely to sustain a diving spinal cord injury. Data acquired from analysis of the dives performed, along with survey information, were used to determine which factors make the most contribution to the level of risk in diving. Objectives: To identify in¯uential variables which could contribute to risk of spinal cord injury for each of four types of dives. The types of dives investigated were: dive entries from deck level to tread water (Treadwater); deck level to swim 25 m (Deck); starting block height to swim 25 m (Block); and a running dive entry to swim 25 m (Running). Setting: Victoria, Australia. Methods: Ninety-®ve ®rst year university students (average age 19.9 years) performed three or four dives which were video-recorded for later analysis. Maximum depth reached was used as an indicator of risk, and velocity at maximum depth, distance at maximum depth, angle of entry and¯ight distance were measured for each dive. Participants also completed a questionnaire designed to elicit information about their swimming and diving background. Unlike previous diving studies, participants were recreational rather than competitive swimmers. They were not aware that the dive was the focal point, assuming that the researchers were investigating their swimming and treadwater ability. Results: A stepwise multiple regression was applied to predict depth for each dive condition, and demonstrated that four variables were able to account for 56% of the variance for Treadwater, 68% for Deck; 73% for Running and 79% for Block. In all conditions involving swimming after the dive (ie Deck, Block and Running), beta weights showed that distance at maximum depth had the greatest in¯uence on the depth of a dive. Flight distance and angle of entry were the next most in¯uential variables. For the Treadwater condition, beta weights showed angle of entry was the most in¯uential variable, followed by velocity at maximum depth, distance at maximum depth and swim rank. Conclusion: It is recommended that divers strive to surface in as short a distance as possible by maximising¯ight distance and aiming for a low entry angle. Implementation of steering-up techniques will assist in minimising dive depth.