J Ronald Gentile Author

J. Ronald Gentile is a graduate of Penn State University (B.S., 1963, and M.S., 1964, in Psychology; and Ph.D., in 1967, in Educational Psychology) and has been teaching educational psychology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, since 1969. Among his more than threescore publica­tions are the following continuing research interests: memory by fast versus slow learners; mastery learn­ ing, standards, and grading policies; and expanding the instructional repertoire. For Dr. Gentile and his wife, Dr. Kay Johnson-Gentile (“The Genteels”), expanding the instructional repertoire has included teaching teachers how to integrate music into the elementary school curriculum. In 1998, Dr. Gentile was promoted to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor. James P. Lalley is an Assistant Professor of Education at D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.A., 1984, in History; and M.A., 1995, and Ph.D., 1997, in Educational Psychology). He has taught at the State University of New York, College at Buffalo and Canisius College. His previous publica­tions have been in the areas of educational technology and child development. In addition to mastery learning, his profes­sional interests include how affective factors influence motivation and learning, methods of teaching, and children at risk.