Several of the theoretical and experimental assumptions relating to behavior modification are examined and criticized: (1) the human mind can only be understood by observing and measuring the functional behavior it causes, (2) performance can be equated with learning, (3) reward systems and token economies improve intrinsic learning, and (4) all…

Junior highschool students in three special classes for the educable retarded and regular class children from three low-track sections were administered the Kohs block designs and assigned a learning potential status: highscorer, gainer, or nongainer. All subjects were then interviewed individually in a 1-hour session in which questions relating…

This pamphlet presents two articles on student evaluation of instruction. The first article, "Research on Student Ratings of Teaching" by W. J. McKeachie, deals primarily with the reactions to his article in a recent AAUP Bulletin where he argued that systematic methods of collecting student evaluation of instruction should be used by faculty…

Written in the form of programmed instruction, this book is designed to help parents and teachers understand and correct situations in which a child's behavior is distressing. The book utilizes the social learning approach (that people learn most behavior patterns from other people). The first section discusses how parents and children learn and…

The study was conducted to determine the effects of experimentally-arranged success and failure experiences on the subsequent performance of learning tasks by educable mentally retarded (EMR) students. Subjects were 68 EMR intermediate grade children, divided into four groups. Prior to the learning task on each of 5 subsequent days, subjects in…

A pretest/post-test procedure for measuring information gain from discourse was investigated together with several other aspects of discourse processing. The main purpose was to determine the effect of a pretest on discourse learning as measured by post-test performance. The study also investigated (1) serial position effects in learning from…

The book of selected readings was designed to include articles which give a clear picture of elementary science today and to familiarize pre-service teachers with professional journals in education and the teaching of science. It updates an earlier edition published in 1967. The book is organized into eight sections: the role of science in the…

This study identified and defined 30 structural variables related to problem solving. Four dependent variables (only one, percent correct, is analyzed in this report) were derived from data retained by the computer from 172 arithmetic word problems presented to and solved by junior college students on IBM 2741 computer terminals. The structural…

Recent theoretical analyses have implied that there may be age differences in children's tendency to exercise component selection, i.e., to attend selectively to a single component of stimulus objects in a learning situation. In the present study, 6 experiments were conducted, each designed to investigate developmental changes in component…

Reported is a study of the effects of locus of control and the school organization on science achievement of 122 students in non-graded schools and 181 students in graded schools. The dependent variable of the study was scores on the Stanford Achievement Test in Science and the independent variables were the student scores on the Children's Locus…

The effects of distraction on achievement are particularly important in relation to the acceptability of computer-assisted instructional materials. In addition to these effects, various levels of anxiety may also be deleterious to the learner. In order to measure the effects of both distraction and anxiety 121 subjects were used in a two-by-two…

The author has identified a set of creative positives that occur frequently among disadvantaged children and upon which can be built successful educational programs. Many of these characteristics have commonly been regarded as educational deficits, but he contends that these qualities are positive strengths which can be capitalized on to…

This is a collection of 20 abstracts of research papers presented at the 50th annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Four papers were presented at each of five research reporting sections: (1) mathematics instruction and instructional materials, (2) aspects of mathematics learning, (3) general research topics in…

This paper focuses on the relationship of verbal factors to mathematics achievement and reviews research from 1930 to the present. The effects of verbalization in the mathematics learning process are considered; mathematics functioning as a unique language in its own right is analyzed. Research on the readability of mathematics materials and…

Reported is a study of the development of conservation and measurement concepts, with reference to certain task factors which may affect performance. A group of 129 first and second graders were given a test of conservation and measurement consisting of five problem types crossed with three transformation types. The problems all involved moving…