School-related time allocations of students, including time at home, as reported in sample surveys of students, teachers, and parents, are examined for systematic relations to socioeconomic indicators, controlling for ability. Special attention is paid to teacher-influenced student time allocations such as instructional time and homework. The aim…

Studies in the past have shown that reinforcements independent of the subjects actions may induce a feeling of helplessness. Most experiments on learned helplessness have led researchers to believe that uncontrollability (non-contingency of feedback upon response) was the determining feature of learned helplessness, although in most studies…

The most significant criterion for classifying spelling errors is whether the erroneous form yields the same pronunciation as the intended word. Five categories can be discerned: (1) non-identical pronunciation, non-existent English word; (2) non-identical pronunciation, confusion of existing words; (3) identical pronunciation, English spelling…

The development of a method for teaching oral comprehension in a second language depends on an understanding of the nature of comprehension and on an analysis of the problems that arise in the learning process. These issues can be approached by a theoretical investigation of comprehension from a psycholinguistic point of view and by the…

The major goal of the project was to modify the competency-based medical curriculum of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine so that essential competencies are identified and mechanisms are established to ensure that students not only learn but retain and integrate these competencies. The specific objectives of the Competency…

Elusive developmental processes are most often examined in the context of the philosophic problem of scientific determinism. The Markov process model, enhancing a probabilistic viewpoint for the explanation of developmental data, should be restricted. Attention should be focused on the immediate context and situational setting of a subject. The…

The hypothesis that the acquisition order of relational words directly reflects the complexity of these words in formal linguistic analysis was tested for the singular, non-neuter person pronouns of English. Data on the development of comprehension of these pronouns gathered in two conversational situations, child as person addressed and child as…

Exclusive reliance on objective testing focuses students' attention too narrowly on memorization and rote answers to complex problems. Grades become supreme ends; learning, merely a by-product. Since students learn best when asked to verbalize, analyze, and synthesize their ideas, a grading system was implemented in a social science course at…

This bibliography, made up of approximately 350 entries concerned with many aspects of problem solving and concept formation in young children, has been designed for use by people primarily involved in experimental research in these areas of child development. Entries include experimental journal articles, conference papers, unpublished research…

Classic studies in second language (L2) learning offer little evidence for the validity of the notion of universals in L2 learning. The present study investigates this notion in data collected from 15 observational studies of 40 L2 learners who acquired the L2 naturally, that is, they were not taught the language in any formal ways. Interpretation…

Methods of tryout and revision in development of instructional materials are identified and explained. Both "front-end" and "rear-end" analyses are included. Ways of anticipating potential student failures--identified as test failures, program task failures and learning failures--are discussed, with specific areas of possible…

The impact of informal learning on young children in the course of their play activities is discussed. A major objective is to emphasize that informal learning can help lay the base for multiculturalism in elementary education. It enables children from different cultural backgrounds to relate to and understand each other through play activities…

This is a study of the processes involved in second language learning in which the principal subject was an Iranian child who learned English in the United States without formal instruction. Some of the questions dealt with in this study include: what motivates language learning in a child; what makes the linguistic structure of a language more or…

The challenges facing education today, in particular the educational programs for children aged 3 to 6, are found to be many and varied, with the failures in urban settings pointing up the need for different and responsive learning environments. In the development of alternatives to current conditions in the schools today, the following are…

This speech focuses on the thesis that most good teachers cannot explain the psychological principles underlying their sound teaching practices. They appear to be unaware of the large body of theoretical and experimental evidence supporting one educational procedure over another. Through reference to a film showing a teacher teaching social…