This study was a phenomenological investigation of Research and Development scientists' experience of creative self-efficacy. Creative self-efficacy is defined as an individual's belief in his or her ability to be creative in a given situation. A phenomenological research model (Moustakas, 1994) guided the investigation. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews with the 12 participants, a review of documents collected from participants, and researcher's reflective journal. Core findings that emerged were that creative self-efficacy seems to operate below the surface of awareness for the R&D scientist; it is not something he or she would have thought about until asked, and positively influences creative performance. Creative self-efficacy can be traced back to age four to twelve through the act of building things and making things work. It is influenced by freedom and thought space to be creative, along with positive feedback. Finally, creative self-efficacy contributes to the creative process providing confidence in the R&D scientist to use novel and new approaches to solve technical problems. Future research implications in the area of educational practice, the professional development of R&D scientists, organizational development, and society, are also discussed.

Late-adolescents face the challenges of leaving their families and creating lives of their own. Research has focussed on factors affecting their adjustment as they make this transition. Attachment theory is a useful model for understanding this process of adjustment, as moving away from home has been likened to a naturally occurring adolescent-equivalent of the Strange Situation that is used to measure security and style of attachment in infants. First year university students compose a large population of late-adolescents who recently left home, and attachment theory has been used as a basis for understanding the process of adjustment to university. The security of students' attachments to their parents impacts upon their adjustment in several domains. This research has not been linked to the growing literature on adult attachment styles. History of exposure to trauma has been linked to attachment style and to psychological adjustment in undergraduate students, but has not been linked directly to the process of adjustment to university. In the current study, the impacts on adjustment to university of security of attachment to parents, adult attachment style, and history of exposure to trauma were examined using path-analytic models. It was proposed that relationships between security of attachment to parents and adjustment to university would be entirely mediated by adult attachment style. It was also proposed that trauma and its negative after effects would have both direct impacts on adjustment to university, and indirect impacts through attachment style. The results did not support adult attachment style as a strong mediator of the relationship between security of attachment to parents and adjustment to university. Security of attachment style did predict self-perceived academic and social adjustment. Security of attachment style at the beginning of the year was a more important predictor than security of attachment style later in the year. Having a more preoccupied attachment style was linked to conformity motives for drinking. Trauma and its negative after effects had strong impacts on self-perceived emotional adjustment, also impacted significantly upon academic and social adjustment, and was related to drinking to cope with negative affect. The impact of trauma on adjustment in all domains was stronger later in the year than at the beginning of the year. The results are discussed in terms of implications for attachment theory, for the process of adjustment to university, and for the facilitation of adjustment among insecure and previously traumatized students.

Pour explorer comment la motivation des eleves peut etre affectee par les pratiques d'evaluation des apprentissages vecues en salle de classe, ce projet de recherche s'appuie sur la theorie de l'autodetermination (Deci, & Ryan, 1985) et sur la "goal orientation theory" (Ames, 1992). Toutes les etapes du processus d'evaluation sont examinees selon qu'elles respectent les besoins psychologiques fondamentaux apprenants (autodetermination) et salon les priorites qu'elles vehiculent--performer ou se developper (goal orientation). Au moyen de l'Echelle de motivation en education (Vallerand, Blais, Briere, & Pelletier, 1989) et de l'Indicateur d'intention pedagogique cree pour cette recherche, les donnees recueillies aupres de 331 eleves de 6$\rm \sp{e}$, 7$\rm \sp{e}$ et 8$\rm \sp{e}$ annee demontrent qu'en general, ils peuvent poser un regard critique sur la maniere qu'ils sont evalues a l'ecole. Leurs responses ont permis de decrire sommairement les pratiques courantes d'evaluation des apprentissages et d'identifier celles qui ont un lien etroit avec l'autodetermination des eleves. Plusieurs pratiques d'evaluation semblent pouvoir vehiculer aussi bien les deux types d'intention pedagogique, la difference se situant probablement dans leur application en salle de classe. C'est davantage l'impression que l'ensemble des pratiques degagent quant a leur equite, a leur utilite et la confiance demontree par l'enseignant dans la capacite de reussir qui stimulent le plaisir d'appendre, que les pratiques elles-memes$\sp\*$. ftn$\sp\*$L'emploi exclusif de la forme masculine dans ce document ne vise qu'a alleger le texte et n'exclut aucunement les femmes.

Un inventaire des recherches dans le domaine de la conceptualisation de la mort chez l'enfant atteste du besoin de mieux circonscrire la genese du concept. Cette recherche se propose donc d'etudier sa formation, son organisation et sa structuration chez l'enfant d'age scolaire. Elle comporte deux volets: un volet empirique et un volet exploratoire. Le volet empirique consiste a verifier un ensemble d'hypotheses formulees a partir des relations logiques inferees par les recherches anterieures. Il vise a valider la presence de relations significatives entre les groupements operatoires logico-mathematique et infra-logique des stades du developpement cognitif et la genese conceptuelle de la mort. Le volet exploratoire se propose d'etudier le mode d'elaboration du concept, c'est-a-dire l'organisation, la structuration et l'integration de ses diverses composantes. Il cherche a determiner si une progression par stades constitue un modele adequat pour representer le developpement conceptuel de la mort chez l'enfant. En ce qui concerne le volet empirique de la recherche, trois analyses distinctes sont effectuees. Une analyse par scalogramme pour les deux epreuves operatoires permet d'identifier le niveau de developpement cognitif des sujets dans les domaines logico-mathematique et infra-logique. Les coefficients de reproductibilite total (CR), de reproductibilite marginale minimum (MMR) et les indices de scalabilite (PPR) obtenus sont acceptables dans les deux cas. Les reponses aux items de la traduction francaise du "Derry Death Concept Scale" (DDCS) sont ensuite soumises a une analyse factorielle avec iteration et rotation varimax. Les reussites des items d'un meme univers de contenu et/ou de meme niveau de developpement se regroupent en sept facteurs qui expliquent 68% de la variance totale des resultats. Ces facteurs que nous appelons composantes sont: accessibilite, causalite, irrevocabilite, cessation des fonctions, realisation, inevitabilite et animisme. La structure factorielle et le regroupement des items sont tres similaires a ceux obtenus par Derry (1979). De tels resultats appuient la validite theorique de la traduction francaise du DDCS. La technique de l'analyse discriminante permet de verifier les hypotheses de la relation entre les stades du developpement cognitif et le concept de mort. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

In a problem solving context, executive control (EC) strategies are those strategies which monitor, direct and evaluate the problem solving process. Effective use of EC strategy knowledge characterizes the problem solving behaviour of expert solvers, but is commonly lacking in students. The exploratory investigation presented here addresses EC strategy knowledge at the university level and was guided by the following research objectives: (1) to explore EC strategy use and the associated strategic knowledge demonstrated by professors and students, while solving ill-structured problems within their domain of expertise and outside of that domain; and (2) to examine the differences in EC strategies applied and in associated strategies knowledge, across expertise and across domains. The research describes a broader range of EC strategy knowledge than is typically addressed in conventional expert-novice studies. This broader spectrum of strategy knowledge is reflected in a model of strategy knowledge first proposed by Pressley, Borkowski and O'Sullivan (1985) which, in its revised form, includes the interaction of general strategy knowledge, specific strategy knowledge and strategy acquisition knowledge. Four groups consisting of nine students and nine professors from the domain of biology and nine students and nine professors from the domain of political science respectively, were recruited on a volunteer basis. Following a short training session, each solver was requested to solve randomly assigned, ill-structured tasks in two domains: biology and political science. Participants were asked first, to work on each task while thinking aloud and then, to report on how they solved the problem in a semi-structured interview. All verbalizations were audiotaped, transcribed and then coded to extract EC strategy knowledge. The results indicate clear expertise and domain differences. Across expertise, professors and students differed in their patterns of global strategy use, the specific strategy knowledge they demonstrated and the beliefs they reported relevant to problem solving. Some of these results reflected a non-linear progression from novice to expert, suggesting that the EC strategy knowledge of both professors and effective student solvers provide an important resource in understanding and addressing EC strategy knowledge in the context of academic courses. Across domains, general strategy knowledge differences were strongest and influenced specific strategy knowledge, which in turn, was frequently implemented with different emphases and supported by different conditional knowledge. At a more general level, a number of themes emerged from the data. As expected, a full spectrum of EC strategy knowledge was demonstrated in the strategy knowledge reported by university students and professors, and the components of strategy knowledge in this spectrum were inter-dependent. The results on strategy acquisition knowledge indicated that solvers experienced little exposure to strategic knowledge in academic courses. Consequently, there was little conscious awareness of how EC strategy knowledge can be actively acquired. Finally, a performance-goal pattern of motivation was observed to influence the problem solving behaviour and strategy acquisition knowledge of both professors and students. The results have important implications for how university level educators represent and use Ec strategy knowledge in heir classrooms and demonstrate specific forms of EC strategy knowledge which could contribute to the development of "competence" in the domains of biology and political science.

The present study was designed to elicit the mental models or implicit theories held by adults about everyday problem solving. Twenty-four adults, age 25-60, from a wide range of educational and occupational orientations, were interviewed in pairs. Research questions were posed to draw forth the type of information which would allow the researcher to identify the content of these mental models. The integrated framework on Induction proposed by Holland, Holyoak, Nisbett, and Thagard (1986) was adopted as a conceptual framework for the study, by virtue of its use for ill-defined problems and its application to social science research. The study establishes the existence of mental models or implicit theories held by adults about everyday problem solving. The results identified the predominance of the interpersonal and emotional factors salient to this genre of problem solving. Individual differences, communication and problem identification were highlighted as the most significant and difficult areas upon which success was contingent. Degrees of self-confidence and habitual usage of a system or method were seen to be significant factors, often correlated with experience and education. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The purpose of this study is to examine one aspect of the cognitive development of pre-service education students; i.e. the ability to utilize different modes of mental representation. This study attempts to provide a basis for understanding the relationship between the degree of experience in mathematics and the ability to utilize different modes of mental representation. The selected instrumentation illustrates different aspects of mental representation. The "Modes of Thought Questionnaire" (MOTQ) of Aylwin (1985) is allied to thinking itself, the "Knowledge Accessing Modes Inventory" (KAMI) of Rancourt (1989) is allied to knowledge accessing, and the Diehl and England (1958) version of the "Griffitts Test of Mental Imaging" is allied to mental imaging. In the MOTQ, associations were found between the level of experience in mathematics and both the ability to utilize each mode of mental representation and the overall use of the preferred modes. Specifically, a lack of experience in mathematics appears to be related to an ability to utilize correctly all three modes of mental representation when directed to do so. A lack of mathematics experience also appears to be related to a lower utilization of the verbal mode of mental representation, and a higher use of the visual mode, than expected. In the KAMI test, likewise, an association was found between levels of experience in mathematics and the dominant mode of knowledge accessing. A significantly higher percentage of subjects with no experience in mathematics have the noetic mode as dominant mode, whereas a significantly higher percentage of subjects with a high level of experience in mathematics have the rational mode as dominant mode. In the Griffitts test, however, no association was found between the level of experience in mathematics and the use of the three modes of mental imaging. This study has implications both for future research and for education. First, it gives a clear indication that differences do exist between the mental representation modes preferred by individuals with no mathematics experience as compared to those who have even a small level of experience in mathematics. Second, it provides implications regarding teacher education in Ontario, which arise from these differences in the utilization of all of the modes of mental representation and knowledge acquisition.

La presente etude avait comme buts d'enqueter sur les pensees et comportements suicidaires des etudiants et etudiantes anglophones, francophones et allophones a l'Universite d'Ottawa et de verifier leur perception en regard de la vie universitaire. Mille six cents etudiants ont ete choisis au hasard pour repondre a un questionnaire portant sur la qualite de vie universitaire, sur cetains evenements critiques et sur les manifestations suicidaires. Les resultats obtenus des 578 repondants demontrent que le phenomene suicidaire est present a l'Universite d'Ottawa. Ils revelent aussi que plusieurs differences existent entre le groupe des repondants suicidaires et celui des non-suicidaires ainsi qu'entre les trois groupes culturels, tant au niveau de la qualite de vie universitaire que des evenements critiques vecus.

The present study was designed to clarify the relations between parenting practices and cognitive performance in school-aged children. Particular attention was directed toward the identification of gender differences in the pattern of relations among variables and toward investigating a model of how parenting practices may influence children's cognitive performance. The model postulated that parenting practices affect children's task orientation (i.e., mastery behaviors and impulse control), which in turn affects their cognitive performance. Using path analysis, the model was assessed in a sample of 63 female and 62 male Grade 6 children. The measure of cognitive performance was academic grades, and the possible confounding influence of cognitive ability upon academic grades was controlled. As expected, maternal encouragement of independence predicted both boys' and girls' academic performance, with mastery behaviors mediating the relation in the female sample. Paternal nurturance also predicted girls' academic performance, with impulse control mediating this association. The remaining findings of the study provided support for individual components of the model. With respect to the relations between parenting practices and task orientation, maternal nurturance predicted both higher mastery behaviors and impulse control in the female sample. For girls, paternal restrictive control predicted lower impulse control, whereas maternal restrictive control predicted higher impulse control. For boys, both maternal and paternal nurturance predicted higher impulse control. In both the male and female samples, the expected associations between academic performance and both mastery behaviors and impulse control were obtained. The implications of the results and suggestions for future research were discussed.

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