Executive function (EF) skills are the attention-regulation skills that make it possible to sustain attention, keep goals and information in mind, refrain from responding immediately, resist distraction, tolerate frustration, consider the consequences of different behaviors, reflect on past experiences, and plan for the future. As EF research…

Proposes an instructional design model which bridges the gap between the cognitive psychology and instructional design field. The model predicts when learning of task components will occur and suggests which components of a task should receive training. The proposed decomposition model guides task analysis when designing instruction of…

This study examined the matching and sequencing of quantities, numerals, and arbitrary forms by two individuals with mental retardation. Results showed that sequence training did not readily lead to new matching performances, unlike prior research with college students. Instead, training in matching to sample yielded emergent sequence production…

To lay a foundation for the design and effective use of low-cost, part-task and low-fidelity training devices, this report identifies dimensions of skill performance in terms of modern learning and behavior theory, and analyzes cognitive and motor skills as they relate to information processing. Cognitive processes discussed include task…

Describes a learning strategies training model that engineers the instructional environment following study skills training to prompt students to use previously taught learning strategies during study. Empirical and theoretical evidence supporting this model are presented, and a basic skills curriculum incorporating this model--the Job Skills…

Six studies which were conducted to determine the effects of testwiseness training on middle school and undergraduate college students' test scores are described. Testwiseness was defined as the cognitive ability or set of skills which a test taker can use to improve his or her score. Testwiseness training presented methods for using deductive…

The role of equivalence class formation in delayed position recognition span performance was examined with three mentally retarded adults. Matching-to-sample training established equivalence classes. In subsequent span tests, subject-produced numeral names led to dramatic increases in span scores. The equivalences provided precursors of verbal…

Research indicates that people do not spontaneously transfer prior clues to solve problems, even though the necessary information is available in memory. To investigate the effects of the symmetry between clue statements and problem statements on problem solving performance, subjects were asked to provide plausible explanations for five…

Study of children's retention of training in class inclusion reasoning skills. Sixty-four kindergarten-age children who showed no evidence of class inclusion skills were assigned to one of three groups: training, training with corrective feedback, and control. Posttests were administered immediately after training and 3 months later. (Author/BN)

Reviews recent research on retention that is demonstrated without conscious recollection, such as the ability to tie shoelaces or drive a car. Suggests that future research in this field may have implications for such educational issues as the transfer of training and the carryover of abstract classroom learning to problems in other contexts. (EVL)

This study examined the relationship between productive phonological knowledge and generalization learning patterns in nine phonologically disordered children (ages three to five). Although all subjects exhibited equivalent levels of knowledge and received identical training, three different generalization learning patterns were observed.…

This study, with 30 preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 controls, found a dissociation between limited learning of training targets (words, affixed forms) and limited bound-morpheme generalization (BMG) performance. Results suggest limited BMG reflects problems not with storage or access of facts but with the…

An investigation was made of the extent to which mental operations involved in quantitative conservation and pretense play affect the development of gender constancy. The research design included three phases: a pretest establishing subjects' levels of conservation and gender understanding, a training phase, and conservation and gender constancy…

This article discusses the idea that overt verbalization helps to develop children's self-regulated learning of cognitive skills. It points out that (1) verbalization can enhance children's attention to task-relevant features; (2) as a type of rehearsal, verbalization may improve coding, storage, and retention of material, and thereby facilitate…

Applies to the inclined-plane task Siegler's (1981) observation that performance on Piagetian tasks is governed by similar rule structures. Also replicates Siegler's original observations about the development on the balance-scale task and determines the consistency in children's rule usage across tasks. (Author/AS)