Inherent in all sport, dance, and movement activity are implied patterns of interaction between and among all participants and the relevant characteristics of their environment. Through these patterns children learn various structures of acceptable social behavior as defined by the roles-oriented value system of our culture. Eight different…

THE FIRST TEACHING MACHINE WAS INVENTED IN THE 1920'S BY SIDNEY L. PRESSEY AND THE FIRST MODERN TEACHING MACHINE WAS DEVELOPED AND POPULARIZED IN THE EARLY 1930'S BY B.F. SKINNER. TODAY BUSINESSMEN AND INDUSTRIALISTS AS WELL AS EDUCATORS HAVE FOUND TEACHING MACHINES USEFUL. ACTUALLY, TEACHING IS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE PROGRAM, A CAREFULLY…

In a self-directed student group, learning activities are controlled and directed by the students themselves. This approach to learning was investigated at Hope College to: (1) explore the amount and patterns of interaction observable in small self-directed groups, (2) assess conditions and events in group interaction which enhance or inhibit…

Two divergent approaches to the treatment of children with nonprogressive brain injury (the medical or neuropsychological and the educational or perceptual-motor) are discussed and compared by treatment rationale, models of the perceptual process, etiology, and organization theory. A guide to a comprehensive theory of development, based on…

Parts I and II of a four-part report on a study of the relevance of existing knowledge about child development to social science curriculum development are combined in this document. Part I explores the problem of inadequate communication between the developmental psychologists and curriculum workers and suggests some directions for cooperative…

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether the development of combinatorial schema as defined by Piaget is dependent on, or independent of, instruction, and (2) whether or not a prescribed treatment compatible with contemporary learning theories can develop the combinatorial operational abilities of students who are in a transitional…

Studies on learning in infants show that in infancy every month of life represents a new level of learning. The functional state of the central nervous system can be influenced by physiological factors which cause fluctuating changes in functions important for learning. Once a stimulus becomes a conditioned signal, it acquires strong power in…

It is difficult to account for the real and easily measured differences in verbal competence. Differential psychologists investigate basic traits from which observed behavior is thought to be generated, but if thinking is viewed as a problem in information handling, research will more profitably focus on the relationship between behavior in…

This module for the classroom teacher is intended to help the teacher realize specific aims in instructional practice. Objectives outlined for the teacher are: (1) to be able to distinguish between broad goals and instructional objectives; (2) to be able to identify the characteristics of an instructional objective; (3) to be able to describe the…

The paper proposes that when behavior change is the major target of an adult education program, the designer must consider three factors: (1) the four basic targets for behavior change efforts (behavior goals and plans, basic knowledge and skills needed for successful performance, physical environment, reinforcers of behavior); (2) individual…

The manual provides vocational and technical teachers with a review of the principles of learning which have application to their subject fields. Organized into three sections, the booklet offers: (1) a selected review of the literature related to how learning theory is applied to instruction; (2) principles of learning that have been identified…

Children learn a second language quickly and easily simply by being exposed to it. Adults generally learn more slowly and less well. It is hypothesized that the brain in youth is extremely plastic, but hardens with adolescence and adulthood and becomes less receptive. Children learn in an active way, during play, and the language is reinforced by…

This paper argues that a major aspect of intelligence is the ability to solve problems and that careful analysis of problem-solving behavior is a means of specifying many of the psychological processes that make up intelligence. The focus is on the mechanisms involved when, in the absence of complete instruction, a person must "invent" a new…

Numerous studies have demonstrated that disruptive classroom behavior can be decreased by delivering tokens contingent on periods of time during which children do not engage in it or by removing tokens contingent on its occurrence. To date, the best controlled of these studies have consistently reported the two procedures to be equally effective.…

Some educators are turning to the process of contingency management within a classroom as a short term, immediate motivator which can work for virtually every student, regardless of his/her final grade in the course. Contingency management consists of providing a set of alternatives from which those chosen by the student reward the students in…