An alternative to the standard "rule based" account of a child's acquisition of the past tense in English is presented in this paper. While the rule based assumption suggests that children typically pass through a three-phase acquisition process in which they first learn past tense by rote, then learn the past tense rule and overregularize, and…

Experimental phenomenology requires that educators acknowledge the experiences of the learner. Today, many of those experiences are images that come from television. In a behaviorist or humanist tradition, learning takes place through experience, and learners comprehend, make decisions, and analyze their behavior through reflection. Meaning is…

A study using a biasing paradigm examined four hypotheses regarding specific mechanisms thought to underlie the Assimilation-plus-Correction (A-C) theory of schema-text interactions. According to this theory, the ideas implied by a schema (type-1 ideas) are thought to be assimilated and obscured, while those ideas representing novel information…

Because of their egocentricity, many students have a limited sense of other cultures and are caught up in a web of ethnocentric biases without quite knowing how and why these biases exist. A framework, encompassing the theories of J. Moffett and J. Piaget, may be designed to move students through a series of hierarchical writing exercises that…

Unproven beliefs about the process of reading and its instruction and about the effects of maturation and social structure on learning have obscured the question of what children know about how to read. An alternate conceptualization proposes that to learn to read children must obtain experience in three reading contexts: the use of print and its…

This report describes the results of a theoretical analysis of the ideal role functions of the Computer Managed Instruction (CMI) instructor. Concepts relevant to instructor behavior are synthesized from both cognitive and operant learning theory perspectives, and the roles allocated to instructors by seven large-scale operational CMI systems are…

Recent research in preservice and inservice teacher education has led to four generalizations concerning effective staff development: (1) teachers should be actively engaged in their own learning; (2) collaboration based upon mutual trust and respect between institutions of higher education, school districts, and the community is essential; (3)…

It is noted that it has long seemed possible to teach mathematics in two distinct ways: (1) learning with understanding, and (2) learning without understanding. The study discussed was designed to ascertain what might be lost if "understanding" was eliminated from instruction, as compared to teaching in which the…

Two experiments investigated the linear and nonlinear processes involved in a visual search of letter displays. The displays used in the experiments were well-illuminated 6 x 6 degree or 10 x 10 degree fields containing from 2 to 23 capital As, Bs, or Cs located randomly over the displays. The task of the subjects was to decide as rapidly as…

Algebra is a skill, according to this author, and as such, is best learned through repeated practice over an extended period of time. Unlike texts which treat a topic in some detail before moving to the next, Saxon's 126 lessons break a concept down into small units so that each may be practiced thoroughly before the next part of the same concept…

This document contains final versions of papers that were conference contributions. This second conference, held in September 1978, was attended by 70 participants from 11 countries. Lectures were presented under the following five main sections: (1) Acquisition of Arithmetical Concepts; (2) The Learning of Generalization and Proof; (3)…

Two views of the sources of poor reading comprehension are currently distinguishable in the research literature: a decoding sufficiency view and a comprehension skills view. The decoding sufficiency view argues that decoding is the only skill that must be acquired for general language comprehension. The broader, comprehension skills hypothesis…

As part of the Continuing Professional Education Development Project at Pennsylvania State University, the learning styles of 148 practicing professionals (accountants, architects, clinical dietitians, and nurses) were investigated. The study objectives were: (1) to describe their learning characteristics using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory…

Trap setting is a concept based on a psycholinguistic explanation of the acquisition of second language skills emphasizing cognitive and creative processes over the auditory, visual, and imitative. It proposes that opportunities for repeated attempts at solving new problems through constant testing and retesting of creative hypotheses bring the…

While reading and writing are both language processes and a natural relationship between the two could be assumed, they have generally been studied and taught separately--one as a production process and the other as a reception process. There has recently been increased interest in the relationship in the education community. The source of this…