TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF OVERTRAINING ON REVERSAL AND NONREVERSAL SHIFTS OF CUES, 96 NORMAL (MEAN AGE = 117 MONTHS, MEAN IQ = 109.8) AND 96 RETARDED CHILDREN (MEAN AGE = 119 MONTHS, MEAN IQ = 70.1) WERE TESTED ON A SIMULTANEOUS 2-CHOICE DISCRIMINATION TASK. SUBJECTS WERE TRAINED ON TWO LEVELS (CRITERION AND OVERTRAINING). FOLLOWING TRAINING ON THE…

Research on learning and conditioning suggests that verbal response modification does not occur in the absence of the subject's ability to define verbally (1) the response-reinforcement relationships and (2) his intention to change his behavior in the direction of reinforcement. This seems to be true for operant conditioning of verbal behavior,…

Formal, contextual, and technical aspects of language teaching methodology design are discussed in this article. The author develops a basis for tentative classification of language drills and exercises in terms of linguistic behavior in the light of these aspects. Basic language skills are classified according to three types of stimulus-response…

A brief introduction to various aspects of operant conditioning is presented, followed by a discussion of ethical concerns. Also discussed in this paper are topics such as (1) what is it? (2) motivation, (3) students need motivating, and (4) a new method. The latter part of the paper is concerned with a year long behavior project in an elementary…

Reply to a paper entitled "Implications of Recent Psycholinguistic Developments for the Teaching of a Second Language, by Leon A. Jakobovits, which appeared in "Language Learning, volume 18, number 1 and 2, June 1968. (DS)

Attempts to initiate and maintain awareness and expression of feelings can be successfully implemented through either teacher reinforcement procedures or feelings classes." Both methods merit further attention. (CJ)

This article showed that students demonstrate individual differences in their composition of text. It was found that noncontingent students tended to write more creative essays and used more text-creative or schema-creative propositions in composing their descriptions than did the other two register groups (imitative and contingent). (Author/GK)

One hundred twenty-eight preschool boys were subjects in a 4x2x2 factorial design to investigate the change in reinforcer efficacy as a function of prior stimulus exposure. The factors were: (1) amount of repetition, 5, 25, 45, or 65; (2) reinforcer, good or bell; and (3) satiator, good or bell. Two additional groups were run as control groups to…

This review of literature in linguistics and the psychology of language focuses on studies produced from 1961 through 1963. Such topics as language development, generative grammar, semantics, and the role of linguistics in the teaching of reading are covered, and much attention is given to the areas of verbal learning and the psychology of…

This article reviews the basics of learning channels and how specification of stimuli can help enhance verbal behavior. This article will define learning channels and the role of the ability matrix in training verbal behavior.