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Kolb's 'Learning Style Inventory' was used to examine learning characteristics of incoming nursing students (n = 166) which were then compared to those of more advanced nursing students (n = 102). A majority of students were found to have concrete learning styles. Advanced students had a greater incidence of concrete learning styles than first year students suggesting increasing concreteness with exposure to nursing education. Diploma students were found to have a higher incidence of concrete learning styles than university students. Students with concrete learning styles were more influenced by person-oriented factors in career choices than those with abstract learning styles. No relationship was found between learning style and preferred nursing specialty. Implications for nursing education are discussed.

The extent to which three appropriateness indexes-z&dquo; ECIZ4, and w (a variation of Wright's person-fit statistic)-are well-standardized was investigated in a monte carlo study. To assess the effects of the item response theory (IRT.) model and test length on the distribution of the indexes and their cutoff values at three false positive rates, nonaberrant response patterns were generated. ECIZ4 most closely approximated a normal distribution, showing less skewness and kurtosis than z, and w. The ECIZ4 cutoff values were affected less by test length and the IRT model than were z, and w. In contrast, the distribution of w was the least stable over replications, and its cutoff values varied greatly depending on the IRT model and test length. Index terms: appropriateness measurement, caution index, item response theory (person fit), person-fit statistics, unusual response patterns. Tatsuoka, K. K., & Tatsuoka, M. M. (1982). Standardized extended caution indices and comparison of their rule detection rates (Research Report 82-4-ONR).

Dickstein's (1972) 30-item Death Concern Scale was developed as a measure of the extent to which an individual consciously contemplates death and evaluates it negatively. Scoring procedures provide a single score as a measure of death concern. Dickstein's definition of death concern and an examination of the items support the authors' contention that two aspects of death concern are being measured. Factor analyses of the item scores of 671 college students indicated the presence of two distinct factors in the Death Concern Scale. One factor represented Dickstein's “conscious contemplation of death” component, the other the “negative evaluation” component. The results of the factor analyses corroborated the subjective judgments of 5 independent judges and the authors of this article. It is suggested that the usefulness of this instrument may be enhanced by the utilization of separate scores for each of these two factors.