Background/Objective: The use of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score as an outcome measure requires metrological study. This paper tests the hypothesis that a more accurate representation of motor function is obtained using separate upper and lower extremity scales rather than combining all 20 key muscle ratings into a single ASIA motor score. Methods: We analyzed archived data from 6,116 ASIA motor scale records extracted from the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center Database. Results: The hypothesis that separate scales more accurately represent motor function than a single motor scale was supported (v 2 (difference) ¼ 2,596; df ¼ 1; P , 0.0001). Two scales account for 87% of the variance, whereas a single scale accounts for only 82%. Lower extremity function is well represented in both solutions; however, upper extremity function is accurately represented only with the use of 2 separate scales. Conclusions: The use of components of the ASIA standards for other than classification of spinal cord injury needs study. Several lines of study converge to provide strong support for the existence of 2 distinctive dimensions underlying the ASIA motor scale. The use of a single motor score in spinal cord injury research should be questioned and justified to the extent possible. The use of upper and lower extremity scales will lead to a reduction in measurement error when the motor score is used as an outcome measure. The confirmation of 2 separate dimensions underlying the ASIA motor score will enable more accurate representation of motor function in spinal cord injury research.

Fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade students received oral instruction in social studies (multicultural content). In conjunction with the oral instruction, students were also randomly assigned to one of five organizer treatment conditions, including a control condition in which no organizer was presented. Treatment conditions consisted of either an advance or a post organizer presented visually or orally; the control condition involved no organizer, but augmented exposure to the oral instruction. Students in each of these treatment conditions were tested on the oral instruction to measure learning; 2 weeks later, the students were again tested for retention. There was substantial evidence to conclude that nonwritten cognitive organizers facilitated both the learning and the retention of oral instruction.

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This study demonstrates the use of structural equation modeling for investigating a hierarchical model of personality based on Loevinger's (1976) conceptualization. This model was constructed to have a multifactorial and hierarchical structure in which the ego development construct served as the source of covariation for specific personality constructs of impulse control, interpersonal style, conscious preoccupations, and cognitive style. This model and three other conceivable models were investigated to determine which structure best represented the relations among specific personality constructs and ego development. The specific personality ccmstructs were identified by chosen from the available pool of measures that were compatibleWe gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Steven De Almeida in scoring the Sentence Completion Test. We also are indebted to Leona Aiken and three reviewers for their careful, thoughtful, and critical suggestions.

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