Assessment of student learning outcomes can be a powerful tool for improvement of instruction when a scientific approach is taken; unfortunately, many educators do not take full advantage of this approach. This article examines benefits of taking a scientific approach to critical thinking assessment and proposes guidelines for planning, conducting, and using assessment research. Specifically, we discuss study design options and strategies for improving the quality of assessment data and the use of such data to improve critical thinking instruction in programs. Examples of practices from three programs that have conducted considerable critical thinking assessment illustrate use of the guidelines. Using scientific assessment to develop evidence-based educational practices shows great promise in contributing to the scholarship of teaching critical thinking.

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We compared our findings with other documented cases and concluded that MELAS is characterized by a pattern of global deterioration. This pattern differs from that observed in other mitochondrial disorders. The absence of identifiable frontal lobe pathology despite the presence of deficits in executive functioning may be related to the distribution patterns of deficient mitochondria and neuronal projection patterns.

The present study examined the effects of type of task and stimulus size on two well-known illusions of perceived size: the Oppel-Kundt illusion and the Irradiation illusion. In Experiment 1, a forced-choice task, in which 87 male and female college observers chose the "longer" of two side-by-side stimuli, was used to determine the relative perceived size of stimuli of different length that were all white, all black, or white with various numbers of black stripes. In Experiment 2, an absolute judgment task, in which 73 male and female college observers reported their direct estimate of a single target's length, was used for the same determinations. For both kinds of perceptual judgment, the Oppel-Kundt illusion is strongly in evidence (p less than .001), but the magnitude of the illusion does not increase proportionally with the size of the stimuli. The Irradiation illusion is only found with the forced-choice judgments in Experiment 1. Implications for the generalizability of these illusions to nonlaboratory settings are noted.

Do psychologists become depressed themselves from working with depressed clients, as J. C. Coyne's (1976) dysphoric mood induction would predict? An assessment of psychologists' moods before and after sessions with depressed clients over a 3-week period showed no such effect. Rather, it appeared that the use of specific coping strategies by these psychologists in dealing with the stress of working with depressed clients (mainly planful problem solving and self-controlling) prevented the therapists from becoming depressed. Clinical practice is frequently stressful, and it is recommended that psychotherapists engage in problem-focused coping strategies to lessen the effect of this stress.