In the realm of e-learning, supporting personalized learning effectively necessitates recommending sequences of learning items that maximize learning efficiency while minimizing cognitive load, all tailored to the learner's goals. These recommendations must account for the prerequisite relationships among learning items and the learner's…

Since the 1960s, researchers have been trying to optimize the sequencing of instructional activities using the tools of reinforcement learning (RL) and sequential decision making under uncertainty. Many researchers have realized that reinforcement learning provides a natural framework for optimal instructional sequencing given a particular model…

Sequential action makes up the bulk of human daily activity, and yet much remains unknown about how people learn such actions. In one motor learning paradigm, the serial reaction time (SRT) task, people are taught a consistent sequence of button presses by cueing them with the next target response. However, the SRT task only records keypress…

A theory devised initially on the basis of instrumental reward schedule data, such as the PREE, was extended to deal with various Pavlovian findings. These Pavlovian findings include blocking, unblocking, relative validity, positive and negative patterning, renewal, reinstatement, reacquisition, and inhibition. In addition, the sequential model…

The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) test requires a tester to attempt to teach to a person, using standard prompting and reinforcement procedures, six tasks that are hierarchically ordered in difficulty. Performance on the test provides valuable information for teachers and rehabilitation workers to match the difficulty of training…

On cyclic-interval reinforcement schedules, animals typically show a postreinforcement pause that is a function of the immediately preceding time interval ("temporal tracking"). Animals, however, do not track single-alternation schedules--when two different intervals are presented in strict alternation on successive trials. In this experiment,…

The purpose of these 2 experiments was to determine whether sequential response pattern behavior is affected by partial reinforcement in the same way as other behavior systems. The first experiment investigated the partial reinforcement extinction effects (PREE) in a sequential concept learning task where subjects were required to learn a…

THIS RESEARCH EXAMINED THE WAYS SUBJECTS USE SUCH A STRUCTURAL DEVICE AS GRAMMAR IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO RECALL OR PRODUCE BEHAVIOR SEQUENCES IN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION. RESEARCH TECHNIQUES TO STUDY THE BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF THE UTILIZATION OF RULES IN THE GENERATION OF LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR WERE DEVELOPED. THESE TECHNIQUES WERE THEN USED TO STUDY THE…

Reviews possible sources of reinforcement in computer assisted instruction and systematic utilization of these sources in courseware design. Sources reviewed include reinforcement from the machine itself; from the content of the instructional modules and its arrangement in a learning sequence; and from sources external to the modules. (MBR)

THE EXTENT TO WHICH INCENTIVES INFLUENCE CHILDREN'S LEARNING WAS STUDIED BY INVESTIGATORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT. BOTH VERBAL AND MATERIAL REWARDS WERE OFFERED TO SELECTED GROUPS OF CHILDREN WHICH VARIED IN NUMBER FROM 48 TO 80 CHILDREN. A DIFFERENTIAL METHOD PERMITTED THE CHILDREN TO EXPLORE THE RANGE OF REWARDS SO THAT THE COMPARATIVE…

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF ESTABLISHED AND INDUSTRIALLY VALIDATED LEARNING AND FORGETTING THEORIES IS OUTLINED, AND A COMPUTER-EXECUTED HEURISTIC ALGORITHM FOR SELECTING THE BEST SCHEDULE FOR SUBJECT PRESENTATION IS GIVEN. FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS OF THE MODEL INCLUDE EDUCATION POTENTIAL, TYPE OF SUBJECT MATTER, TYPE OF LEARNER, TEACHING METHODS, AND…

SIX SEPARATE STUDIES, ALL CONCERNED WITH GUIDED TRIALS DURING THE LEARNING PROCESS, WERE REPORTED. SPECIFIC ASPECTS COVERED BY THE RESEARCH INCLUDE--(1) GUIDANCE AND SYMBOLIC LEARNING AND (2) GUIDANCE AND SEQUENTIAL LEARNING. VARYING NUMBERS OF COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATES WERE USED AS SUBJECTS IN THE SIX EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES. THESE INCLUDED--(1)…

Using a developmental model, the author explains a hierarchy which describes how a young child learns to respond to various types of environmental stimuli and discusses some educational consequences of a reinforcement stimuli deficit. Development is seen to take place in succession beginning with the primary level, proceeding to the social,…