An investigation was undertaken to determine whether highly aroused (e.g. highly anxious) students are handicapped with regard to their ability to learn through deep processing and elaboration. The hypothesis that well-developed deep and elaborative habits of thought might counteract the disruptive effects that excessive arousal has upon students…

Fifth-grade students with high or low vocabulary knowledge were taught new words according to the mnemonic keyword method. Three instructional conditions varied by the degree of structure provided by the experimenter. All variations facilitated learning. In aptitude x treatment interaction, structure made far less difference for high-knowledge…

Reports on a study which sought to identify and examine the effects of certain learning strategies--practice, monitoring, and inferencing--on second language learning. (AM)

Investigates processes involved in visual estimation and processes of judgment in visual estimation situations involving proportional reasoning. Exposure to a unit in the Agam project, designed to enhance visual estimation capabilities, resulted in changes in the nine-year-old subjects' strategies, reflecting processes by which children overcome…

Extends the concepts of utilization deficiencies in a review of 30 years of memory-training research. Finds that over half of training conditions showed at least one type of utilization deficiency. Utilization deficiencies were more common for younger than for older children and were more likely when training involved multiple, rather than single,…

Reports on a study that assigned Japanese students retrospective self-reporting tasks in which they were led to reflect upon their classroom second-language learning through self-analysis by reference to diaries, and by structured questionnaires and interviews on learning strategies, learner beliefs, and attitudes. (21 references) (Author/CK)

Studies based on an individual-difference model of student learning are reviewed. The "fitting" of conceptual models of student learning to atypical individual-similarity data structures is discussed, and an experimental categorization for such structures is outlined. Use of a locus model is also examined. It is argued that conceptual models of…

A study of 325 university students explored relationships between personality and learning styles in students with high or low self-esteem. Ways that personality and learning theory can combine to help define individual differences in learning, their origins, manifestation, and amenability to change are examined. Implications for achievement,…

Examines the relationship between high school students' perceptions of their science learning environments and their motivation, learning strategies, and achievement. Discusses the focus of shared perceptions and instruction and indicates that shared perceptions focused on understanding and independent thinking positively predicted students'…

These two articles discuss the contributions of behavioral and cognitive psychology to the design of computer-based instruction (CBI) and describe an integrated meta-model for use with instructional systems design (ISD) called ROPES + (Retrieving, Orienting, Presenting, Encoding, and Sequencing). Highlights include motivation, information…

Describes the use of hypertext to enhance the study process by linking related information together. Types of links used in hypertext documents are explained, exploratory hypertext systems are discussed, principles of effective studying are reviewed, and three specific hypertext systems are described as examples of how to enhance student learning.…

Described is the generative learning strategy, an approach which encourages pupils to discuss their out-of-school ideas about plant breathing, drinking, wood production, soil, minerals, and leaves, and assist them in linking appropriate ideas together to form an explanation of the origin of plant materials. (CW)

A learning theory is described that addresses the learning of lexical entries for certain predicational terms. The functioning of the theory is exemplified through a discussion of the learning schema, with particular attention to varying lexicalization patterns. (Contains 56 references.) (Author/LB)

Describes steps in a method for transferring critical thinking skills during a regular history lesson plan. Calls upon the instructor to ask how the skill to be transferred is a part of the lesson, when it can be used, what examples can be given, and how students will reflect on their practice. Emphasizes the necessity of consistent terminology.…

Three studies of the development of gender competence in elementary and intermediate level learners of French as a second language are reported. The findings support an emerging rule-governed process of gender assignment related to the learner's development of skill with the language's underlying phonological system. (11 references) (MSE)