Can the laws of learning be applied in the classroom? The issue is whether control over the stimulus affords management-control over the learning processes within the student. The S-R (stimulus-response) position in psychology, most notably associated with Skinner, tends to accept and assert the affirmative. However, accumulated experience with…

Different theories of programed instruction are compared and contrasted, and their application in the language laboratory is discussed. Chapters on programing theories include: (1) Skinner and linear programing, (2) Crowder and intrinsic programing, (3) Pressey and complementary programing, (4) Gilbert and mathetics, and (5) computer assisted…

Various Soviet conceptions of technology and their influence on the automation of instruction in the Soviet Union are examined, and the history of the development of Soviet programed instruction is sketched. Key principles and techniques from Soviet psychology, pedagogy, computer technology, and cybernetics are explained in terms of their…

Computer assisted instruction (CAI) can achieve its potential as a tool for individualizing instruction only if the flexible logic and memory capabilities of computers are utilized. An instructional program must be written in such a way that it can handle at least three variables: (a) who is being taught; (b) what is critical; and (c) how the…