Given the privileged status claimed for active learning in a variety of domains (visuomotor learning, causal induction, problem solving, education, skill learning), the present study examines whether action-based learning is a necessary, or a sufficient, means of acquiring the relevant skills needed to perform a task typically described as…

Radford argues that psychology needs to be of greater value to psychology students, regardless of whether they intend to enter professional practice. He also suggests that psychology should be part of everybody's education, on the basis that human behaviour lies at the heart of the most serious problems facing humanity. This author agrees very…

Considered the academic achievement of underachievers and the part that competition plays in affecting student behavior. (RK)

The experiment reported here investigated how verbalization of subtraction with regrouping operations influenced learning disabled students' self-efficacy and skillful performance, and also explored how effort attributional feedback affected these achievement behaviors. Learning disabled students (N=90) from grades 6 through 8 received training…

IN THIS INVESTIGATION, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF SYSTEMATIC VARIATIONS OF SELECTED CONDITIONS OF REINFORCEMENT. EMPLOYED AS SUBJECTS WERE THREE GROUPS OF CHILDREN (MENTALLY HANDICAPPED, INTELLECTUALLY NORMAL, AND INTELLECTUALLY SUPERIOR), ALL OF WHOM HAVE MENTAL AGES (REVISED STANFORD-BINET, FORM L) WITHIN THE 9 TO 12-YEAR…

Six studies were performed investigating the relationship between digit span (DS) capacity and other memory and problem solving tasks: (1) Ss were administered a DS test, an aurally presented mental addition test, a similar multiplication task, and a written timed division test. DS correlated only with the second; (2) Ss were required to…

Research supported by Grant HD 03045 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Public Health Service.

Workplace learning is goal-directed activity shaped by the context and needs of a particular community of practice. Learning in the workplace includes close guidance by experts and distant guidance from other workers and the physical environment. The activities and the guidance are key components of the workplace learning curriculum. (SK)

Studied development of procedural knowledge in 14 adults, aged 18 to 35 years, engaged in a novel task using a toy tractor-trailer rig. Results revealed three phases of development in subjects' knowledge of steering procedures and the rig's movement patterns, and their use of feedback information. Subjects also manifested different levels of…

Explains scaffolding as temporary steps in the learning process where higher skills build on mastering more simple skills, often with the help of an expert. Topics include elaboration theory; joint problem solving; promoting self-regulation; Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD); and inner speech and external speech. (LRW)

Discusses planning instruction on the basis of children's thinking. First, individualize instruction by adjusting the value of the numbers used for individual children. Second, base problem presentation on the types of thinking prevalent in the class. Third, conduct some instruction in small groups. Fourth, suggest alternative strategies. Finally,…

Distinguishes between adaptive learning (reproducing routine actions) and developmental learning (using creativity or problem solving). States that the learning potential of a task is function of the following: (1) task complexity, variety, and control; (2) feedback, evaluation, and reflection; (3) type and degree of formalization; (4) employee…

Reviews the problem solving approach in chemistry and explains effective instructional methods for teaching problem solving. (YDS)

In two experiments we explored how learning from traditional molar worked-out examples--focusing on problem categories and their associated overall solution procedures--as well as from more efficient modular worked-out examples--where intrinsic cognitive load is reduced by breaking down complex solutions into smaller meaningful solution…