A reply to criticisms made by Soulsby (see SO 501 001) provides reasons for the weaknesses in Gagne's theory, that Gagne's approach is valid despite its limitations. (ND)

Several theories of learning hierarchies are described. The author believes that they should be applied to social studies instruction, both in theory and in practice. (ND)

A laboratory experiment compared the relative effects of observing and participating in a first Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG) on subsequent PDG encounters by the original observer and participant. Concludes that vicarious experience is superior to direct experience in producing responses that reduce interpersonal conflict. Available from: Sage…

This study posits that social learning theory can explain development of structure in preadults' political attitudes better than the much-discussed "vulnerability" and "two-step" hypotheses. (Author)

Applying social learning theory to the problems regarding the education of American Indian students, this article recommends school administrations provide modeling stimuli exemplifying both Anglo and Indian values while stressing the set of values of most importance and worth for adjustment in a future world context. (JC)

Discusses the role of speed in second language learning, specifically the idea that speech in teaching leads to speed in learning. (Text is in French.) (AM)

The principal should recommend that the teacher regularly and consciously apply the self-fulfilling prophecy--the idea that one person's expectation for another's behavior can come to serve as a mechanism to help that expectation be fulfilled. (Author/IRT)

Curriculum theory provides the central principle that addresses itself to the question of what we ought to do when we teach children and youth. (Author/MLF)

Investigated whether learning style was related to gender and age among Elderhostel participants (N=103). Results indicated that gender was related to learning style; age and learning style were not related. Females scored higher than males on Abstract Random Channel; males scored higher than females on Abstract Sequential Channel. Both genders…

Maintains that our understanding of learning cannot be complete until we recognize the symbiotic relationship between cognitive and affective means of knowing. Asserts that in the development of critical thinking, aesthetic forms, perceived intuitively, become the criteria against which the child intellectually measures the "fit" of the…

Relates Feuerstein's theory of cognitive modifiability and mediated learning experience to Native American educational issues, including loss of cultural identity, and low academic performance, self-concept, and motivation. Suggests that sound cognitive instruction linked to Indian cultural heritage stimulates motivation and promotes the survival…

Examined the applicability of Sternberg's componential theory of intellectual functioning to young children's thinking and the validity of an observational approach to the measurement of metacomponential processing using elementary school children subjects (N=40). Results indicated that both reliability and construct validity of the observational…

Discusses Kohlberg's theory of moral development and the criticism leveled against its four main assumptions. States that if these "supposedly foundational" assumptions were discarded, the theory would stand on its own. Concludes that since the major criticisms focus primarily on these assumptions, dispensing with them would eliminate…

Reports a study (n=18) that compared growth in music reading skills among a group of students taught note recognition in isolation with a group taught by strategies focusing on whole-to-part relationships. Results favored the whole-to-part strategy. (BSR)

Scientists feel that progress in artificial intelligence and the availability of thousands of experimental results make this the right time to build and test theories on how people think and learn, using the computer to model minds. (MSE)