IMPLICIT IN THE CONCEPT OF IMMEDIATE REINFORCEMENT ARE TWO ASSUMPTIONS--(1) THAT A NEED MUST BE SATISFIED, AND (2) THAT A REWARD CAN SERVE TO SATISFY THIS NEED. THE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILD NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT OR DISCOURAGEMENT RIGHT AWAY. HIS SOCIETY OPERATES IN THIS WAY. IN THE CLASSROOM, SUCH REINFORCEMENT MAY TAKE MANY FORMS. ONE TEACHER…

THREE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCIPLINES OFFER APPROACHES TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF INTELLIGENCE. AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO UNCOVER THE COMMON FEATURES OF THE PSYCHOMETRIC SCHOOL, LEARNING, AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES. A STRUCTURAL CONCEPT IS SELECTED FROM EACH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCIPLINE FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS--THE CONCEPT OF FACTOR FROM THE PSYCHOMETRIC…

A SERIES OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS CONCERNED WITH THE EFFECTS OF SYSTEMATIC VARIATIONS OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS RELATED TO LEARNING HAS BEEN CONDUCTED. PROJECTS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED INCLUDED TWO INVESTIGATIONS OF REINFORCEMENT AND SUBJECT VARIABLES AND ONE ON THE STUDY OF PRACTICE AND SUBJECT VARIABLES. THE NATURE OF THE OVERALL PROGRAM WAS DISCUSSED IN…

This study focuses on the mental processes used during estimation. This research: (1) developed an operational definition of estimation; (2) created an instrument to identify exceptionally good estimators; (3) collected performance level data on 1187 subjects; (4) constructed interview problems and developed protocols to identify the thinking…

The classroom may be described as an open system of interacting roles, with the function of the instructor described as defining boundaries and regulating transactions across them. In the classroom, the primary task (that which an organization must perform if it is to survive) is to change student behavior in prescribed ways. Boundaries are…

When 77 college students were asked a certain type of question after every four pages of a 48-page oceanography text that they were reading, it was found that the text information relevant to questions was learned better than text information irrelevant to questions. Furthermore, reading times and probe reaction times on a secondary task were…

The approach to teaching group theory used in this report was to give students many different kinds of examples of the concept being taught. The functions of models and examples in terms of student preferences and the psychology of the learning experience are discussed. Six representations of the tetrahedral group were developed as test materials.…

This paper describes an approach to task analysis which seeks to identify potential sources of difficulty in the self-discovery of improved procedures by students who have been taught simpler procedures. The approach considers novices' procedures in terms of the changes needed to produce an expert procedure; the knowledge required to make those…

The behaviorist and cognitive views of learning and language are contrasted, and some methodologies derived from the opposing positions are described. Programed reading in the form of machines, kits, and self-servicing devices of all sorts and most basal reader programs are identified as products of the behaviorist theory of reading instruction.…

This booklet delineates many elements for organizing and developing educational programs for preschool and kindergarten children. The primary goals of such programs are given as (1) socialization, (2) development of basic learning and language skills, (3) preparation for the regular school experience, (4) establishment of motivational systems, and…

Principles of concept formation extracted from an extensive review of theoretical and empirical work in psychology, and their relationship to home economics are presented. The present attempts of home economics educators to identify the basic concepts of the field and organize curriculums around them are potentially fruitful, both for students and…

This report is concerned with the re-training of 30 existing school psychologists. It is based on the need for more effective school psychology practice, the emergence of a new social learning approach to school problems, and the development of television techniques for immediate learning. The study utilized an experimental design wherein…

This paper proposes that interpersonal skills be developed through the use of a skill/subskill strategy which is effected by means of an Experiential Training Unit (ETU), or series of sequential training activities. Specifically, ETU training activities focus on the development of several skills: cognitive, transformation, activation, preliminary…

This study investigates the reliability and construct validity of a group administered test of Piaget's formal operations stage. A related problem involving a learning effect associated with Piaget's clinical methods is also investigated. The Piagetian Logical Operations Test (PLOT), a group-administered instrument, was developed and field-tested.…

The Chi-Square Test for Hierarchical Dependency (THD) is presented. The THD tests the hypothesis that all members of a population who possess a certain skill are a subset of the members who possess another skill. This hypothesis is basic to the writings of several prominent theorists, such as Gagne and Piaget. The THD is designed as an improvement…