Relational reasoning, or the ability to identify meaningful patterns within streams of information, has emerged as an important factor in a variety of complex tasks. One factor that has received relatively little research attention, however, is how relational reasoning may be influenced by the representational systems (i.e., verbal or nonverbal)…

This reports the effects of the number of relevant stimulus dimensions and figural versus verbal stimuli on the concept learning ability of college students. Results force a consideration of mediational variables in explaining this form of cognitive learning. A set of verbal materials analogous to a set of dimensionalized figural materials was…

This investigation examined in the laboratory the type of learning commonly found in the school situation--the formalized acquisition of concepts. A verbal concept-learning task suitable for college students was devised which permitted the externalizing and quantifying of behavior at 6 points in the learning process. A pilot study evaluated the…

The "property-set model" is proposed for concept learning and subsequent recognition and classification of old and new exemplars. In an experimental evaluation of alternative models, the property-set model was the best predictor of both recognition and classification performance. (Author/RM)

The role of imagery is assessed in verbal concept identification and evidence is found that some concepts can be coded as images. (Author/AM)

This book is an introduction to the psychological study of basic learning processes in children. Written for students who are not majors in psychology and who do not have much familiarity with the technical vocabulary of psychology, it has two themes: even the most basic kinds of learning are included by cognitive processes or mental activities;…

Examined were the effects of verbal labels alone and in combination with two types of instruction on the concept attainment of 80 educable mentally retarded and 80 normal boys of school age matched for mental age. For learning the concept "equilateral triangle" Ss were randomly assigned to one of four experimental treatment conditions: verbal…

THE LEARNING OF VERBALLY CONDITIONED MATERIAL WAS STUDIED TO CLARIFY SOME OF THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SUCH LEARNING IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE USE OF HIGHER MENTAL PROCESSES, AND THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH IT IS NOT. THE STARTING POINT FOR THIS RESEARCH WAS THE PREMISE THAT LEARNING IN VERBAL CONDITIONING CAN OCCUR EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT AWARENESS ON…

The effect of supplementary questions on learning from textual materials was investigated in a sample of 94 college juniors. Each subject was given a 1,500-word passage describing the concept of measurement. One treatment group was asked to identify characteristics of the concept; another was asked to identify examples from the text; a third…

A verbal concept-learning task permitting the externalizing and quantifying of learning behavior and 16 ability tests were administered to female graduate students. Data were analyzed by alpha factor analysis and incomplete image analysis. Six alpha factors and 12 image factors were extracted and orthogonally rotated. Four areas of cognitive…

The purpose of this study was to investigate both the relationship between verbalization and shift-learning and the possible prepotent stimulus dimensions of the eighty-four 7-year-olds used as subjects. Four pairs of two-dimensional stimuli were presented to the children, for the discrimination learning task, in the following order: large black,…

This project was concerned with the topic of elaborative activity and learning efficiency. "Elaboration" is regarded as an hypothetical process, internal to the learner, which consists of conceiving an event that can serve as a common semantic referent for elements that are initially disparate. The objective of the project was to examine…

A 3-MONTH STATUS REPORT WAS MADE ON THE ACTIVITIES PURSUED IN PHASE 1 OF A LARGER 10-YEAR PROJECT DEALING WITH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN TRANSFER OF TRAINING. REPORTS OF ONGOING PROJECTS AND THEIR CURRENT STATUS WERE PRESENTED. THEY INCLUDED (1) A STUDY OF THE TRANSFER EFFECTS OF WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS TO TASK PERFORMANCE…

Elementary school (kindergarten through sixth grade) deaf children were exposed to varied thinking activities based on J. Piaget's principle of action rooted intelligence to determine if thinking might be successfully encouraged in the classroom through activities which were not highly dependent on verbal performance. Each class of approximately…

A TWO-YEAR SEMINAR IN LEARNING THEORY AND THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION WAS CONDUCTED FOR A FACULTY GROUP OF A SMALL PRIVATE LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE. EIGHT VISITING RESEARCHERS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION PRESENTED THEIR WORK AND DISCUSSED ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH RESPECT TO THE DISCIPLINES REPRESENTED BY 22 FACULTY…