Edited version of paper presented at annual meeting of the National Society for Programmed Instruction (Boston, April, 1967).

Reading researchers and theorists are sharply divided as to how meaning is obtained from the printed word. Three current explanations are that (1) meaning is accessed directly, without any intermediate processes; (2) meaning is accessed only through an intermediate phonemic stage; and (3) both direct access and phonemic mediation can occur. To…

Discourse analysis attempts to identify and describe the semantic relationships among units of thought larger than a word (predications). Two basic types of these relationships exist between predications, conceptual and nonconceptual. A conceptual relationship exists between two predications when they share a concept or when a concept in one…

This discussion of the kind of knowledge acquired by a novice learning BASIC programming and how this knowledge may be most efficiently acquired suggests that people who do programming acquire three basic skills that are not obvious either in instruction or in traditional performance: (1) the ability to analyze each statement into a type of…

The ACT theory of the learning of procedures is described. ACT is a computer simulation program that uses a propositional network to represent knowledge of general facts and a set of productions (condition action rules) to represent knowledge of procedures. There are currently four different mechanisms by which ACT can make additions and…

Although techniques of autosuggestion in personal development have a long history in some Eastern cultures, suggestibility as a character trait first came into focus in the West with the "animal magnetism" of Franz Mesmer. The uncovering of the nature and phenomena of hypnosis resulted in a steady and enduring interest in this state of…

Adult learning potential refers to our total learning capacities. It includes cognitive and affective learning as well as intuitive and reflective learning. It does not refer just to formal education (which accounts for only a small portion of our learning), but rather all learning for living, especially learning how we manage our lives. Adult…

A study tested the assumption found in schema theory that scripted knowledge automatically provides specific content details about scripted activity, thereby biasing a reader's immediate interpretation of a text. The study measured how quickly and accurately 16 college students could verify script related words. Subjects listened to four scripted…

This report discusses research and theory that explore relationships between comprehension and knowledge acquisition. Studies are reported that indicate the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between initial comprehension activities and abilities to remember. It is noted that the value of comprehensive activities depends on how people must later…

The results of this study support the assumption that long-term memory is not modified when a person performs a task utilizing an automatic process. Twelve university students performed an incidental learning task which consisted of scanning lists of words for either their own name, first names other than their own, words representing a unit of…

A REPORT OF A CONFERENCE HELD TO ANALYZE LEARNING THEORY AS IT RELATES TO NEW MEDIA AND THE LEARNER IS PRESENTED. THE INVITATIONAL CONFERENCE WAS ATTENDED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, STATE DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES, AND INDUSTRY. THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION COUPLED WITH THE CURRENT REVOLUTION IN…

LEARNING THEORIES, METHODOLOGIES, AND PROCESSES ARE DISCUSSED, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION MARKED. EARLY DISCUSSIONS CENTERED ON WHETHER LEARNING RESULTED FROM SPECIFIC RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC STIMULI OR GENERALIZED RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. TODAY, MOST THEORIZING HAS CONCENTRATED ON SPECIFIC TYPES OF LEARNING,…