Recent years have seen substantial improvements in the teaching of reading and early arithmetic based on rigorous analysis of the component learning skills involved in these areas and of the ways they are developed. Despite the importance attached to science, there has been very little comparable work that might provide a steer to primary school…

Beliefs are a complex psychological construct that have potential to drive a person to make decisions and act. A person's metaphors can serve as roots of their beliefs. In this study, the metaphor construction task (MCT) was utilized to uncover beliefs about teaching and learning held by 216 educational supervisors from 10 provinces in the central…

In this article, we argue for a change in how researchers study motivation to learn. We believe that research can provide better explanations of the origins and outcomes of behavior, and thus be more useful, if we focus on how motivation develops and why it changes. We suggest reframing motivation research in education by extending the current…

The definition of film attributes must bridge the gap between technical descriptions of the attributes (e.g., the arrangement of the visual material) and expected psychological effects of the attributes. Interaction effects between learner traits, learning objectives, and a film's attributes should be expected, since each attribute contributes to…

Reports bita-Adrenergic antagonists injected into rats trained in a passive avoidance task produced time-dependent and dose-dependent decreases in retention of the task. Results were stereospecific and reversed by norepinephrine. (SL)

B. F. Skinner's influence on various applications of psychology in education has been greater than J. R. Kantor's, the founder of interbehaviorism. However, the field of education might benefit from a greater input of Kantorian, as opposed to Skinnerian, theory. Policymakers, administrators, and teachers have failed to totally adopt Skinner's…

This study was conducted to determine whether efficiency in concept attainment can be increased as a function of the interaction of the use of good negative instances and increased attention as defined in terms of risk conditions. Subjects were 36 ninth-grade students of average problem solving ability as determined by IQ. Six treatment groups…

This paper relates philosophical and psychological concerns in formulating a theory of teaching and learning. The laboratory exercise is shown to be a paradigm case of the theory, and a means by which students can be taught to think. The laboratory exercise is presented as a means to demonstrate a facet of the conceptual nature of science and to…

The role of meaning in the learning of verbally presented paired associates (PAs) is described by means of an experiment with a replication. A printed PA list containing six different types of items was presented to Sixth Graders. Four of the item types consisted of sentence-embedded PAs on the study trials, followed by test trial cues varying in…

Discusses motivational processes as they apply to educational contexts. Defines motivation and compares it to other constructs. Provides a brief history of motivation theory and reviews important trends and areas in motivation research. Suggests four areas that future research might address: constructivism and learning, long-term motivation,…

THIS ADDRESS, GIVEN AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING (BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1964), PRESENTS A GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE PRESENT SCOPE, ROLE, AND POTENTIAL USE OF RESEARCH IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY, AND MAINTAINS THAT THE BEST RESEARCH IS THAT WHICH IS CLOSELY ALLIED WITH THEORY, AND THE HARDEST TO…

Examines the articulation of theoretical issues in learning that is taking place through studies of instruction that are grounded in descriptions of competence. Discusses programs for the acquisition of proceduralized knowledge, the development of self-regulatory strategies, and the structuring of knowledge for problem solving. (JS)

A brief review of the history of cognitive style research and a summary of definitions and terminology used by investigators in the area are presented. Most of the research on cognitive style has been motivated by work from three major groups: Witkin and associates; Holzman, Gardner, and associates; and Kagan and associates. Various definitions of…

The study described in this volume investigated the talk of thirteen-year-old boys and girls, recorded while they were working in small groups on tasks set by their teachers. Specifically, research focused on the interplay between cognitive and communicative functions of speech in contexts planned for learning. "The Children and Their Talk"…

This report by the Schools Council Project in England examines questions and responses of children aged 8-16, and in particular, the role that curiosity and questions can play in learning. Chapter 1 compares comments of various government-sponsored reports. The second chapter reviews ideas and evidence about both curiosity and questions and the…