This study examined and compared the effectiveness of a simultaneous prompting procedure used in both 1:1 and small group instruction to teach pretend play skills to a group of preschool students, three having a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder and one having a diagnosis of severe developmental disabilities. The study also assessed…

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a faded knowledge of results (KR) frequency during observation of a model's performance enhanced error detection capabilities. During the observation phase, participants observed a model performing a timing task and received KR about the model's performance on each trial or on one of two…

Given the privileged status claimed for active learning in a variety of domains (visuomotor learning, causal induction, problem solving, education, skill learning), the present study examines whether action-based learning is a necessary, or a sufficient, means of acquiring the relevant skills needed to perform a task typically described as…

Being asked to give the Charles H. McCloy research lecture is one of the highlights of the author's academic career. Although McCloy's primary area of expertise was measurement and the analysis of motor skills, he also shared an avid interest in youth development through sport and physical activity. In this article, the author features youth sport…

This study investigated whether warm or neutral interactions with female models would enhance or reduce the subsequent attention level of 4- and 8-year-old girls. Data indicate that a warm, nurturant model draws more attention from a child at both age levels than a neutral, uninterested one does. (GO)

This study of the function of reinforcement in imitation training indicates that reinforcement is involved in imitative learning as well as performance. (DP)

Seventy second-grade children who had succeeded on pretests involving liquid conservation observed a nonconserving model and were subsequently retested. Regression to nonconservation was obtained only among some of the children who had been submitted to maximal pressure in the presence of an adult model. (Author/JMB)

A simple lesson on magnetism can foster childrens' natural enthusiasm for science and set the stage for discoveries that parallel those of famous scientists. (JD)

Both modeling and imitation training were found to be effective procedures in eliciting imitation of utterances. (ST)

Compared the abilities of 3 mother-reared and 3 human-raised (enculturated) chimpanzees and 16 human toddlers to imitatively learn novel actions on objects. Found that mother-reared chimpanzees were poorer imitators than both enculturated chimpanzees and human children, who did not differ from one another in imitative learning. On time delay…

This investigation examined the effectiveness of teaching letter sounds in a small group arrangement using computer-assisted instruction with SMART Board technology and a 3s constant time delay procedure to three students with learning disabilities. A multiple probe design across letter sound sets and replicated across students evaluate the…

Examined four variables affecting children's resistance to deviation: (1) modeling resistance to deviation, (2) modeling alternative activity incompatible with deviation; (3) availability of alternative activity, and (4) attractiveness of alternative activity. It was concluded that the modeling of behavioral inhibition and incompatible responses…

Second-, third- and fourth-grade children participated in two experiments involving gameplaying. Substantial persistence and generalization of effects of exposure to a peer model were found. (JMB)

The effects of intermittent modeling were examined using three groups of 15 four- and five-year-old children. (Author/SBH)

The effects of different degrees of stimulus organization on subsequent generalization were studied with 120 fourth-grade children. (BRT)