Showing papers on "Learning theory published in 1972"

Cognitive basis of language learning in infants.

Abstract: (1984). Cognitive Basis Of Language Learning In Infants. Journal of Visual Verbal Languaging: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 43-53.

Learning Strategies and Individual Competence.

Abstract: In a free-learning task, individuals are assigned to different categories of cognitive competence on the basis of the teaching strategy they adopt. Two major types are distinguished: holists or global learners and serialists or step by step learners, on the basis of analysis of the type of hypothesis that learners test in carrying out the task and a content analysis of the protocols produced when learners are asked to teach back what they have learned. For other tasks, using the same subjects, it is shown that teaching is most effective when the teaching materials are structured so as to match an individual's competence and the converse holds when there is mismatch. The results are interpreted for a theory of learning/teaching and the need for a language suitable for talking about strategies and subject matter structures is discussed.

An Approach to the Psychology of Instruction.

Abstract: Atkinson, F. C.; Paulson, J. A. An Approach to the Psychology of Instruction. Stanford Univ., Calif. Inst. for Mathematical Studies in Social Science. TR-1E7 14 Aug 7C 3Ep. EDRS Price MF-$0.25 EC-12.00 *Computer Assisted Instruction, *Instructional Design, *Learning Theories, *Mathematical Models, *Models, Rote Learning, Teaching Methods This paper describes three models of learning theories, derives optimal presentation strategies for the models, and compares the effectiveness of the strategies in two computer assisted instruction Experiments. The three models described are: 1) the linear, or response-insensitive model, in which the error probability for a given item depends on the number of times it has been presented; 2) the all-or-none model, in which the error probability for a given item depends on the number of times it has been answered correctly; and 3) the random-trial increments (RTI) model, which is a compromise between the linear and the all-or-none model. One (if the computer assisted instruction experiments reviewed compared the strategy derived from the linear model with the all-or-none strategy and found that the all-cr-none strategy accounted for significantly higher scores en both immediate and delayed posttests. Me second experiment compared all three strategies, and found the RTI strategy to be most effective. The paper recommends the formulation of other learning models which would take into account different variables. (RT) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION A WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY AN APPROACH TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INSTRUCTION

Processes which mediate behavior‐environment congruence

Abstract: The behavior setting is a useful unit for study of man-environment relationships, but research on this unit should go beyond static description to consider the question, “What events or processes mediate the influence of environments (behavior settings) on behavior?” In this context, several psychological theories are discussed: operant learning, observational learning, behavior setting theory, and social exchange theory. For each theory, research problems relevant to environmental planning and design are suggested.

Learning Theory and Prosocial Behavior.

Abstract: Altruism constitutes a paradox for learning theory. By definition altruism is a form of behavior which is engaged at some cost to the actor and without tangible rewards for him. Learning theory, however, implicates reinforcement both in the learning and the maintenance of all behavior. How then is altruistic behavior learned and maintained? The roles of affect, cognition, and possibly self-reinforcement are examined for their influence in establishing and maintaining altruistic behavior. The implications of these variables for theories of learning are considered.

Models and Mathematics.

Abstract: taught in the elementary school (Begle 1966) and that these ideas should be taught meaningfully (Dawson and Ruddell [a] 1955), there is little agreement on how learning environments should be structured to facilitate this learning. One reason for this lack of agreement is an inadequate recognition of the role that concrete and symbolic models can and should play in facilitating the learning of mathematical ideas.

Elaborative Strategies in Verbal Learning and Memory

Abstract: Publisher Summary Traditional theories of learning and memory are insufficiently complex to allow adequate description or understanding of the complex network of processes and variables involved in memorizing and remembering. Somewhat more adequate approaches are those which recognize this complexity and attempt to identify the processes and how they function in a variety of tasks. This chapter places major emphasis on S controlled processes, which directly influence the adequacy of recall performance in certain tasks. The results from various research paradigms strongly implicate S -control processes in determining how well material is stored in memory, and its form. Accuracy in recall is directly related to characteristics of these processes. The pattern of free recall and its organization is determined by the pattern of Ss' rehearsals. The experiments also demonstrate that “rehearsal” often involves coding or transformation of verbal items. In fact, elaborative coding strategies are almost universally used in verbal learning by the adults who form the S population for most experiments. It is suggested that the codes increase the accessibility of the verbal items at recall.

Science, Salience and Comparative Education: Some Reflections on Social Scientific Inquiry

Abstract: THE LEGITIMIZING POWER Of the term 'science' is apparently inexhaustible. One might have hoped, with the bankruptcy of crude philosophical positivism and the now recognized triviality and irrelevance of much of the 'scientific' research undertaken by students of man and society in the last two decades,2 that less scientized disciplines like education could bypass the unrewarding methodologism that has marked the fashionable, self-indulgent adolescence of too many of the developing humanities. While there is room in all of the humanities for increased rigor, more systematic, encompassing theory and a growth of comparative analysis, these modest aims often seem to be secondary in the rush to overcome an imagined inferiority,3 to stake out a claim to attention (and perhaps to a greater share of research funding), and to be done forever with complexity, uncertainty and even creativity. The remarks that follow may seem to some simplistic and unoriginal, but so then is the version of science advanced by certain ambitious social scientists to which the essay addresses itself. The comments fall into two parts: the first raising some basic problems in the philosophy of science, the second dealing more concretely with some specific difficulties that attend social scientific inquiry.

Mission Possible: Scientific Strategies and Methods for Systematic Improvement of Public Schools.

Abstract: EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$9.87 DESCRIPTORS Administrator Attitudes; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Evaluation; Educational Improvement; *Educational Innovation; Educational Quality; *Educational Research; Educational Strategies; *Evaluation Techniques; Factor Analysis; Learning Theories; Management Systems; Productive Thinking; *Research Methodology; Self Actualization; *Systems Approach IDENTIFIERS *Construct Validation; Hierarchical Cluster Analysis

Content and Instructional Analysis for Cognitive Transfer Tasks. Working Paper Number 40.

Abstract: The task analysis procedures described in this paper are based on the following assumptions: 1) content and instructional strategy are independent phenomena; 2) most courses, particularly at the secondary or higher education level, involve only two types of content-concepts and operations; 3) concepts and operations can be represented at two levels of abstraction-generalities and instances; 4) most courses, particularly at the secondary or higher education level, involve only four levels of behavior-discriminated recall, classification, rule using, and rule finding;' 5) instructional strategies should revolve around rule-using or rule-finding tasks based on mastery models derived from needs and goals. It has been found that these assumptions significantly simplify task analysis procedures. The content specialist with the assistance of an instructional psychologist does not spend time writing behavioral objectives but instead performs two separate and somewhat independent tasks-content analysis and instructional analysis.

Role of reinforcement in discrimination learning set in monkeys

Abstract: Following a review of empirical research on the role of reinforcement in learning-set formation, the major theoretical explanations of learning-set formation in monkeys are analyzed. Studies showing that a reward can function to decrease as well as increase the probability of choosing an object cast doubt upon theories based on an automatic strengthening function of reward. Hypothesis or strategy selection theories avoid this problem by assuming hypotheses, rather than responses, are subject to reinforcement principles, but hypothesis theories are at best incomplete in their treatment of retention. A theory which assumes that learning-set formation results from between-problem stimulus generalization of feedback from expected rewards is consistent both with retention studies and with experiments on the function of reward in learning set, suggesting that learning-set formation need not be considered a complex abstractive process.