The 46 papers is this volume represent some of the most current thinking in educational communications and technology. Individual papers address the following topics: gender differences in the selection of elective computer science courses and in the selection of non-traditional careers; instruction for individuals with different cognitive styles;…

Children learn arithmetic procedures by rote, rather than by constructing them with an understanding of numbers. Rote learning produces lack of flexibility, nonsensical errors, and other difficulties. Proposed is a theory of conceptual understanding and its role in learning and executing arithmetic procedures. The basic hypothesis is that…

Arguing that goal knowledge is as important to intelligent machine activity as it is to human activity, and that it also must be well understood and explicitly represented in an instructional system if that system is to be successful in fostering learning, this report presents an architecture for intelligent tutors that explicitly represents…

The utility of negative evidence as input for grammar construction in second language learning is examined. Three issues are dealt with in this paper: (1) the arguments for and against negative evidence in first and second language acquisition are paralleled; (2) the question is situated within the larger issues of learner end-products and the…

Defining mathemagenics as adjunct aids that can be used in textual situations to enhance learning, this paper places a new perspective on mathemagenics research as well as on practical considerations derived from that research. Specifically, the paper addresses two questions: (1) Which explanatory concepts--degree of processing, selective…

To contribute to a deeper understanding of distance education and its potential development, this 19-chapter book systematically relates correspondence education to seven teaching models: Skinner's behavior control model, Rothkopf's model for written instruction, Ausubel's advance organizer model, Egan's structural communication model, Bruner's…

A study was conducted to test a model that conceives of long term memory as a propositional network of ideas made up of knowledge clusters and related subclusters. After two pilot studies suggested that recall order of ideas was unrelated to organization, the study investigated whether units of main and supporting ideas produced during…

James Kinneavy's "Theory of Discourse," already being used as the model for the writing assignments in the curriculum at St. Joseph's College, can also be used as the model for listening and speaking assignments. This proposed project would incorporate the following four-step procedure: (1) determining what is necessary in preparing…

The automatic/controlled processing theory proposal that the modification of long term memory (LTM) occurs only during controlled processing, and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no resulting LTM effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were shown words while performing tasks involving either…

This paper is the third of a series of three which attempt to integrate categories of description aimed at characterizing the experience of learning in terms of the logical relationships that exist between them. The description of the qualitatively different ways in which various aspects of reality are experienced and conceptualized, and the…

An experimental study utilizing 96 black grade school children substantiates the hypothesis that learning efficiency improves as the learner elaborates on the raw material presented to him. Suggestions are offered for the implementation of new learning strategies based on this mental elaboration approach which may be especially valuable for…

Examines the nature of the child and the impact of socialization experiences on his capacity to act nonviolently in a changing social order. Presents a socialization model that draws on different disciplinary frameworks and research areas (animal and human ethnology, social learning theories, altruism studies, and reviews of protest movements).…

The various theoretical orientations toward the etiology of dyslexia are evaluated and implications for future research are discussed. (CH)

Summarizes some of the major issues on which psychological theories of motivation differ, and provides a list of readings which relate to the controversy on the nature of motivation. (JR)

This document discusses how the organization of instruction influences the encoding and structuring of new material in the memory and the subsequent transfer of such information to novel situations. A theory of instruction for problem solving that considers relevant cognitive variables and that specifies the conditions for productive learning is…