RESEARCH IN THE LEARNING, MOTIVATION, AND PERCEPTION OF MENTAL RETARDATES IS ESSENTIAL TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR BEHAVIOR AND OF THEIR ABILITIES. MANY INVESTIGATORS HAVE USED THE PROBLEMS AND DESIGNS OF RESEARCH WITH LOWER ANIMALS IN STUDYING THE BEHAVIOR OF HUMAN RETARDATES. IT IS QUESTIONABLE THAT SUCH ORIENTATION WILL REALLY ADD TO THE…

This study examined the effects of the need to achieve, as measured by a behavioral checklist, on reading achievement. Subjects were 96 students enrolled in a southwestern Mississippi school district; 32 students were randomly selected from each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Each subject was then tested in reading achievement, IQ, and…

To investigate the attributional processes mediating between outcome and expectancies and persistence, children's expectancies, attributions and response latency were measured. Children, equally divided into three age groups (three-five, six-eight, nine-twelve) were shown figures to match and were provided with experimentally controlled feedback…

Five papers given at the International Reading Association conference held in conjunction with a National Council for the Social Studies conference in 1968 are presented in this work. Although each paper is addressed to a different subtopic, there is the common theme of the role that reading can play in social studies instruction. The subtopics…

During the spring 1970 semester at Meramec Community College, 28 students participated in an experimental program of supervised, self-directed learning. This program grew out of the belief that community colleges were not meeting the needs of students with widely varied backgrounds. Questionnaires were distributed to the students and instructors…

The psychological background of the Carabo-Cone Method of teaching music, which is based on the theory that structured subject matter can be assimilated if translated into a concrete explorable environment is discussed. Comparison is made with other methods (Montessori, Dalcroze, Orff, Suzuki, and Kodaly), and the arrangement of the room as a…

This book is designed to aid teachers in sending students away from their instruction with a positive, rather than negative, attitude toward a subject or toward learning in general--an attitude which is essential if students are to use what they have learned and continue to learn more. The three-part book deals with the relationship between…

This study examines the relative effects of motivational orientation, ability, social class, sex, and instructions to employ verbal mediation on a paired-associates (PA) learning task. One hundred ninety-two seventh and eighth grade students were categorized according to degree of Intrinsic Task Motivation (IM), ability, and social class (SES).…

This document is one of a series designed to aid instructors in meeting the consumer-homemaker needs of low-income adult learners. The information contained in this part provides idea starters for developing ways to encourage the adult learner to broaden his experiences. The contents are mainly a presentation of 91 slides that suggests methods…

Seventy-two sixth graders, stratified on the basis of sex and two levels of IQ (high and low) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) Group I (success only); (2) Group II (failure only); and (3) Group III (success and failure). These subjects (Ss) were used to investigate the effects of verbally controlled success and failure…

This study attempted to answer the question: Is a sibling relationship associated with concept learning of a younger child taught by an older child? Each of the 120 First Grade children in the study had an older sibling in Third Grade; equal samples of 30 sibling pairs were drawn from the population of boys with older sisters, boys with older…

A series of papers will be written to review in a comprehensive fashion the literature related to 3 categories of variables in concept learning: task variables, stimulus variables, and learner variables. This paper, the first of the series, focuses on task variables. Research dealing with instructions, temporal factors, and feedback is critically…

An in-service program for college teachers of Freshman English is reported as initiated and implemented at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. The point of departure for the program was the assumption that successful student-teacher relationships create conducive learning environments, and that such relationships are predicated…

Provides suggestions for an activity in which students are taught to observe and think in the manner of the archaeologist. Steps to be taken by the teacher before, during, and after a museum visit are specified. (Author/DB)

Authors believes that three phenomena are all instances of "learned helplessness," instances in which an organism has learned that outcomes are uncontrollable by his responses and is seriously debilitated by this knowledge. This article explores the evidence for the phenomena of learned helplessness, and discussed a variety of theoretical…