Focuses on cognitive style trends within a generational cross section of Mexican American children and compares their differences in field independence to a group of Anglo American children; eighty elementary school students randomly selected from four populations--(first, second, and third generation Mexican Americans, and Anglo Americans),…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that instruction in pictorial depth perception will enable children to perceive depth more often in pictures, to offer a larger number of appropriate explanations for their dimensional judgments, and to attain their best performances when realistc materials are employed. (Author/JM)

Presents results of the application of the matched guise--a method requiring respondents to evaluate the personality traits of speakers whose tape-recorded voices are played to them--to a sample of bilingual Saint Lucians. Results indicate that Saint Lucian bilinguals have different evaluative reactions to their two languages, English and a French…

A progress report on API studies (Aptitude x Treatment interactions) related to instruction, is used to explore the consequences of attempting to establish in psychological experimentation, empirical generalizations in a world in which most effects are interactive. While the two scientific disciplines of experimental control and systematic…

A general overview of the various and most recent uses of large scale computer systems in psychological research as well as some notes of future trends in this area. (EH)

Teachers often regard educational and psychological research as irrelevant to the actualities of classroom teaching. There are many ways that researchers can increase their audience among teachers. More research should be done in the classroom with the teacher acting as a co-investigator. Applied developmental research can increase the base of…

Two research studies were designed to examine computer anxiety in teacher education students at West Virginia University. The studies explored the relationship between computer anxiety and performance, and the effects of both prior computer use and the instructional format on computer anxiety and performance. The first study was performed as part…

This study examined the effects of specific motivational dimensions and self-perceptions of a group of 47 urban black fourth and fifth grade students on attendance and academic achievement. Each student's responses to a measure of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and a self-perception inventory were compared to each other and to his or her…

A theory of interest is presented, with comments on the assessment of interest in a student. The concept of interest as an affective state, elicited by certain characteristics of the material, is not sufficient, since situational factors do not seem solely responsible for making information more interesting. The educational interest theory here…

This review of the literature on the workings of the brain in relation to learning and instructional design reviews recent research on both long- and short-term memory, and discusses findings on lateralized or "split-brain" functions. Problems associated with short-term memory are also considered, and the concept of the Tribune Brain is…

This review of the evolution of programmed instruction from Pressey and Skinner to the present suggests that current computer technology will be able to free the learner from the limitations of time and place as Pressey originally proposed. It is noted that Skinner provided the necessary foundation for treating the learning process on an…

Believing that an individual's development is strongly influenced by the way the person perceives his or her environment, Kurt Lewin had a strong influence on the theoretical foundations of social-emotional climate research. Lewin's theories may be compared with the following basic theoretical foundations of social climate research: symbolic…

This paper deals with questions having to do with the nature and effects of teachers' beliefs about schooling, and to the psychological relationship between theory and practice. It is posited that teachers' beliefs are likely to have a profound influence on their actions. A critical analysis of current school performance and teacher education…

Questions of how and why early childhood education has come to rely on a psychological perspective are examined and problematic aspects of the discourse of early childhood education are explored. An overview of the history of early education discusses the replacement of idealistic by pragmatic perspectives, the influence of Darwin's use of the…

A series of studies was conducted over a three-year period to determine whether the teaching technique developed in the 1960s called "inquiry training" is effective for teaching problem-solving, thinking, and/or decision-making skills. (Inquiry training is a process in which students are provided with a puzzling situation, are given the…