THIS ARTICLE PRESENTED THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSES CONCERNING IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT A LEARNING THEORY WHICH INEGRATES INSTRUMENTAL AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING, CUTTING ACROSS THEORETICAL LINES, COULD SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE THEORY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND FUNCTION. THE PAPER ILLUSTRATED THE…

This paper describes a series of summer workshops for inservice teacher training (kindergarten, grades 1, 2, and 3) in the application of techniques and procedures based on pupil mastery of individualized modules of instruction. Contingency reinforcement management methods were demonstrated and practiced in the attempt to change pupil behavioral…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: first, to determine whether children under direct patterns of teacher verbal behavior significantly differed from those under indirect patterns on internal-external (IE) locus of control; and second, to determine which of the specific teacher verbal behaviors (comprising the direct and indirect patterns)…

Learning is not a simple unitary process. This paper identifies three qualitatively different phases of the learning process. In one phase, the learner acquires facts and information, accumulating more structures onto the already existing knowledge structures. This phase of learning is adequate only when the material being learned is part of a…

Educational institutions have at least two major functions: education and certification of competency. This paper examines the educational strengths and limitations of the mastery learning instruction model with respect to fulfilling these functions. The components of the mastery model are contrasted with components of other instructional models,…

A number of first language (L1) research studies are examined in an attempt to discover whether the hypothesized similarity between L1 acquisition and second language (L2) learning has any empirical support. The relationship between age and language learning is considered to determine if there are changes in learning ability, rate of learning and…

Reports on a study that sought to test theories which predict that spacing between two items to be learned improves the probability of remembering at least one of the items. (AM)

This article summarizes the content of the discussions at the 1977 M.L.T.A.V. Congress. The main issues were the relationship between language and culture, the aims and objectives of language teaching, problems of motivation and individualization, school language policies, examinations, and teacher training. (CFM)

Examines whether young children make explicit references to beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and intentions. Relates that three-year-old children correctly distinguish between real and mental items and that they think and dream about things that are not real. Concludes that conceptual development theories portraying early development as concrete and…

Presents an adaptation of "Euler's Circles" as a metacognitive tool for learning. Provides background about diagraming and learning theory. Details concept circle diagrams and considers their relationship to Ausubelian learning theory. Gives examples of the use of concept circles and rules for concept circle construction. (CW)

Discusses the evaluation of educational software designed for use with microcomputers, and emphasizes the need for criteria based on learning theories rather than technological considerations. A review of the literature highlights teacher training in software selection and predictive evaluation, and 49 references are included. (Author/LRW)

This study identified and examined the validity of a Brunerian theory-based, aptitude-enhancing, standardized educational simulation by assessing spatial visualization ability of students assigned to simulation and non-simulation treatment groups. Results indicate the simulation increased high aptitude learners' efficiency (and initially…

Nine cooperative learning techniques are described and classified according to the following categories: (1) type of subject matter; (2) nature of student interdependence; (3) interaction among cooperative groups; (4) method of grouping students; (5) basis for evaluation and reward; and (6) practical requirements for implementation. The academic…

Examines the hypothesis that there are preliminary stages in problem solving that are often neglected in teaching chemistry. Discusses correlations calculated between the student's ability to handle disembedding and cognitive restructuring tasks in the spatial domain and ability to solve chemistry problems. (TW)

Second graders (N=75) were randomly assigned to three learning conditions stratified for sex and ability level: (1) cooperative learning with structured oral discussion; (2) cooperative learning with unstructured discussion; and (3) individualistic learning. Achievement results indicate group-to-individual transfer does take place within…