The effects of model age and competence on the imitation behavior of 80 educable mentally retarded boys (mean age 12.2 years) were investigated. (Author/PHR)

Describes a psychology program to involve undergraduate students in community child care centers. Assessment of student performance indicated that students achieved skill in observation and evaluation techniques but did not develop adequate objectivity. (Author/DB)

Explains that in teaching scientific concepts in the elementary school the focus should be on observations and inferences, that can be drawn only from observation, suitable to the childrens' mental maturity, and carried out in an environment that reinforces discovery learning. (GA)

Six-and eight-year olds were exposed to a modeling sequence for cluster rule learning under high, medium, and low degrees of structure. Age differences in vicarious learning emerged only in the medium structure condition, while immediately imitating a model failed to influence learning for either age group. (Author/CP)

A possible use of toy gliders to introduce elementary school children to flight and to sharpen their skills of observation is given. (MR)

Subjects in a T-group tend to decrease reactive attributions. They are perceived as having learned to act, rather than observe and react. T-group change is conjecture. Some learning transfer from group to external environment is expected. (MFD)

Freshmen through senior physical education majors' observation and interpretation of a videotaped soccer skill lesson indicated that over time they tended to observe the lesson more congruently with program goals and reflect the targeted teaching skills in the current field experience. The quality and clarity of responses improved as the subjects…

This article reports some cautions to consider when too much emphasis is placed on phonic instruction, especially with adolescent and adult learners. The importance of developing automaticity in word identification and fluency in reading rate is discussed. Six specific procedures designed to improve reading fluency are outlined. (Author/CT)

This article presents guidelines to be used by student teachers for developing observational skills in field experience situations. Suggested topics for observation include: classroom arrangement, classroom interaction, teacher movement, social interaction, analysis of teaching techniques, classroom control, and participant-observers' involvement.…

Compares the effects of mothers' mode of instruction on their children's memory test performance. Subjects were from the United States and Guatemala. A nongeneral, contextually influenced effect was found only for tests relying on verbal material and for children whose exposure to verbal instruction is not as extreme as in Western culture.…

This experiment investigated the effects of progress self-monitoring on children's achievement and percepts of self-efficacy in the context of mathematical competency development. Results showed that self- and external monitoring led to significantly higher percepts of efficacy, skill, and persistence compared with no monitoring. (Author/PN)

Outlines six activities for grades six through nine designed to illustrate the processes used by archaeologists. These processes include observation, comparison, classification, communication, use of numbers, and hypothesis formation. (AM)

This study investigated the hypothesis that prerequisite skills in a seriation learning hierarchy mediate positive transfer for superordinate skills. In addition, the effect of instructional conditions involving modeling combined with variations in feedback on skill acquisition at different levels in the seriation sequence was examined.…

School personnel participated in Career Guidance Institutes funded by the National Alliance of Business. They visited area businesses to learn about job qualifications and working conditions, and also held in-school seminars. Evaluations showed the benefits of observational learning in producing attitudes required for teaching guidance. (JAC)

Presents a modified social learning theory account of the contribution of imitation to sex role development. Subjects of the two experiments described were elementary school boys and girls. (MP)