This pilot study tested the effectiveness of direct instruction about disadvantages of aggressive behavior in helping sociometrically rejected kindergarten children break patterns of aggression. The intervention sought to change children's behavior by increasing their knowledge of the effects of their behavior on other children and by giving them…

Researchers studied the effect of cognitive conflict between peers in a collaborative problem-solving task in which the relationship between participants could not be described as "expert-novice" and in which development was potentially possible for all. A total of 156 subjects between 5 and 9 years of age, inclusive, participated in the…

This multiple case study describes a socialization intervention program for three multiply handicapped 8-13 year-old children that was designed to teach prosocial behavior and promote generalization to non-teaching situations. Behavioral instruction procedures (such as role-play and role-play rehearsal) were used to teach peer social skills and…

This document was written for junior and senior high school students to help them learn to cope more effectively with their problems. It is intended as a quide for helping adolescents explore and solve problems through constructive critical thinking. Ten steps in the process of constructive critical thinking are presented with personal and social…

Learning is a metaphoric function in which the individual confirms or reorders his sense of reality by relating previous experiences with present ones. Outward Bound, an experiential learning approach, incorporates this insight in its theoretical foundations. The effectiveness of the metaphor is dependent on the extent to which the experience is…

The report presents summaries of 11 studies performed on 25-45 autistic students in a residential center to investigate processes of discrimination and response acquisition using automated reinforcement technology and exact timing procedures. The computer operated display and recording system for language and discrimination training is described…

The psychological effects of perceived lack of control have been extensively investigated. This study was conducted to examine a compensatory control strategy called boundary expansion. Boundary expansion is exhibited in social interactions where control needs are directed toward influencing others' views on a particular subject. Boundary…

The paper describes a pilot project in which 17 hearing impaired adolescents are participating in a program to improve thinking skills via the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) approach. IE focuses on concepts by suggesting alternative strategies by which the learner can arrive at the objective, thus allowing for opportunities to reflect on one's own…

To test the hypothesis that a bidirectional or hierarchical relationship exists between self-efficacy and mnemonic self-concept, an investigation was made of the relationship between a task-independent learning strategy and self-efficacy for a variety of cognitive skills. A total of 60 second graders were pretested for self-efficacy on four…

Part of a collection of papers commissioned by Foundations, a career development project sponsored by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), the paper reviews research on transfer of knowledge and skills from one situation to another. A transfer classification scheme is proposed based on the notion that an individual's knowledge can…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of several instructional formats (e.g., lecture, discourse, seatwork) on the generalizability of teacher behaviors. Two structured observation instruments were used to observe two samples of teachers: 42 fifth grade science teachers on eight occasions, and 87 fifth grade mathematics teachers…

The problem of finding the area of a regular polygon is presented as a good example of a mathematical discovery that leads to a significant generalization. The problem of finding the number of sides which will maximize the area under certain conditions leads to several interesting results. (LS)

Subjects of several ages were asked to copy, trace, or point to the beginning of a set of shapes. The aim was to determine the extent to which sequential behavior was consistent across tasks. With one notable exception, behavior was consistent. (Author/BJG)

Explanation of how a unit in ethnic relations can be developed and utilized by elementary and secondary teachers. (ND)

Research supported by U.S. Public Health Research Grant No. MH-07176-01 from the Mental Health Division.