Browsing by Author "Echternacht, Gary J."

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    Academic achievement and individual differences in learning processes
    (1979) Schmeck, Ronald R.; Echternacht, Gary J.
    This study was concerned with the degree of relationship between academic achievement, as assessed by college grade-point average, and information-processing habits relevant to learning, as assessed by the scales of the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP). The ILP scales of Synthesis-Analysis, Fact Retention, and Elaborative Processing were significantly related to GPA and scores on the American College Testing (ACT) Program Assessment. Thus, the successful student seems to process information in depth and encode it elaboratively, while simultaneously retaining the details of the original information. Unexpectedly, the Study Methods scale demonstrated a small but significant negative relationship with ACT scores. A path analysis suggested that the effects which Fact Retention and Elaborative Processing have upon GPA are mainly direct, while the effect of Synthesis-Analysis is mostly interpreted by ACT.
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    Validation and comparison of homogeneous and occupational interest scales
    (1979) Reilly, Richard R.; Echternacht, Gary J.
    Occupational interest scales and homogeneous scales were developed and compared in a double cross-validation design. A sample of 3,072 Air Force personnel was randomly divided for study purposes. Homogeneous scales were developed in each half-sample using a backward item selection procedure. Occupational scales were developed by selecting items which discriminated satisfied personnel within a career field from a "men-in-general" group. A Bayesian classification procedure was then used to cross-validate the scales developed in each half-sample. The results indicated that the occupational scales were slightly superior in correctly classifying satisfied personnel versus men-in-general. However, correlations between all interest scales and job satisfaction indicated generally higher validity for relevant homogeneous scales than for occupational scales. It was concluded that where prediction of group membership or occupational choice is desired, occupational keying should probably be the preferred approach. However, when concern is with a broader range of criteria, homogeneous scales may offer more general utility.