The Productive Failure (PF) approach prompts students to attempt to solve a problem prior to instruction -- at which point they typically fail. Yet, research on PF shows that students who are involved in problem solving prior to instruction gain more conceptual knowledge from the subsequent instruction compared to students who receive the…

In accord with structural alignment theory, same-category comparison opportunities within a classification learning task should promote relational category acquisition. However, a straightforward merging of the classification paradigm with copresentation of same-category item pairs does not yield an advantage relative to an equal number of…

A broad foundation of behavioural (Hayes et al. in "Exp Brain Res" 204(2): 199-206, 2010) and neurophysiological (Kohler et al. in "Science" 297(5582): 846-848, 2002) evidence has revealed that the acquisition of psychomotor skills, including those germane to clinical practice (Domuracki et al. in "Med Educ" 49(2):…

This article contributes to research on music masterclasses through examining learning through observation. It investigates how students are learning as observers in this context; whether and how they will transfer their masterclass learning to their own instrumental/vocal development, and whether they have discussed learning through observation.…

We assessed whether observational learning in perceptual-motor tasks is affected by the visibility of an action producing perceived environmental effects and by the observer's possibility to act during observation. To this end, we conducted three experiments in which participants were required to observe a spatial compatibility task in which only…

In 4 experiments, participants viewed a short video-based lesson about how the Doppler effect works. Some students viewed already-drawn diagrams while listening to a concurrent oral explanation, whereas other students listened to the same explanation while viewing the instructor actually draw the diagrams by hand. All students then completed…

Presents empirical evidence for imitative problem solving and the interpretation theory, based on a study of Scottish secondary school students. Discusses analogical problem solving; the interpretation theory notation; and predicted sources of difficulty in mapping and adapting the practice problem to solve a variant. (Contains 42 references.)…

Infants viewed two objects that bounced in synchrony with two percussion sounds in order to learn about the relationships between sound and object. Learning was revealed in two ways: in a search test and in a transfer test. (Author/DB)

The effects of videotape exposure to a punished model on children's toy play were studied. Three levels of prohibition were used. Children who saw the videotape maintained their inhibitions over time and generalized them to an unfamiliar adult, while kindergartners who only received strong prohibitions did not. (Author/RD)

This study investigated the hypothesis that prerequisite skills in a seriation learning hierarchy mediate positive transfer for superordinate skills. In addition, the effect of instructional conditions involving modeling combined with variations in feedback on skill acquisition at different levels in the seriation sequence was examined.…

A model's influence on the creative behavior of 120 fifth-grade children was studied in four variations. Separate groups observed a model who was either high or low in the fluency or flexibility creativity dimensions. Multivariate procedures were used to assess treatment effects upon children's fluency and flexibility measures collected on…

The effects of training using visual modeling prompts as preresponse and as error-correction prompting, and a combination of both procedures were examined by teaching vocational rehabilitation clients three assembly tasks. Preresponse prompting resulted in fewer total errors and more trials. The combination group demonstrated superior performance…

This study examined effects of direct training and observational learning on acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of a first-aid skill for three pairs of preschool children with disabilities (three target learners and three observational learners). All six children learned the skill, generalized the skill to playground and home settings,…

This investigation examined the effect of model similarity on girls' acquisition, retention, transfer, and transfer strategies of a novel motor task. Forty girls (mean age = 10 years) were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (model skill level) 3 2 (model sex) factorial design using four treatment groups: (a) male skilled, (b) male learning,…

The effects of observing a model and of providing a response rule on the learning, transfer, and retention of a dial-reading, numerical concept were studied in 144 third-graders. Different experimenters conducted the immediate learning procedures versus the measurements of retention. No extrinsic reinforcers were promised or dispensed. The…