To provide effective instruction, a taxonomic framework is proposed which (1) includes all possible learner outcomes yet is understandable and manageable, (2) provides order to currently existing taxonomies of learner outcomes, and (3) facilitates instructional planning. Domains of organismic adaptation roughly corresponding to (1) the need for…

Studies which have utilized low-error-rate linear type programs have not been able to compare the effectiveness of various modes of feedback in correcting error in programed learning. In the present study using 75 university students, it was possible to correct errors without teaching erroneous material by using materials designed to teach 30…

It is reasonable to assume that information such as the fact that "a beaver is larger than a mouse" is part of the average college student's generalized world knowledge. The present experiments examine the processes whereby new information is integrated with this type of generalized world knowledge. During the study phase of these…

An experiment was conducted in which the relationships of basic television and film codes to particular literacy mental skills were examined. Different versions of the same film, each focusing on a different code, were produced and shown to fifth graders. It was found that children with initially better mastery of the relevant skills extract more…

The purpose of the present study was to determine if a developmental sequence could be established for the appearance of conservation. A series of four dimensional tasks and a conservation task were administered to 25 kindergarten girls and 25 kindergarten boys. The dimensional tasks tested understanding of comparative and superlative terms along…

The relation of arousal to retention in free learning was studied in a 3 x 2 design employing 48 undergraduates as Ss, three list conditions (high arousal, low arousal, mixed list) and two retention intervals (immediate and 3 days). Arousal value of the words was based on earlier studies. Contrary to previous paired-associate studies, no…

In three experiments employing 60 Ss, arousal was manipulated by white noise during paired-associate, serial, and free learning in an effort to investigate the relationships of arousal and long-term recall. Previous research suggested that high arousal in the paired-associate paradigm leads to better retention relative to low arousal. The present…

Early childhood learning of language has led some to postulate innate knowledge of an abstract symbolic linguistic system. However, if the child's abstract understanding initially requires concrete support in the form of agreement of the message with his nonlinguistic experience, the indication would be that the development of syntactic…

Very little cognitive development research has been done among African children, and most of the completed studies have relied on "translated" versions of Western test materials that are inappropriate to the African milieu. This paucity of research has had two affects: (1) rural African children have been represented as somewhat less…

The purpose of this study was to determine if implicit associational responses (IARs) occur to individual words presented as pairs for associative learning. The occurrence of IARs was determined by a YES-NO recognition test, and IARs for words presented singly for study provided a base line. For all condition, false recognitions to assumed IARs…

Following a review of recent research in the University of Washington Department of Psychology project, Individual Differences in Cognition, analyses are reported linking performance in laboratory studies of cognition to performance on selected psychometric instruments. Intent of the study was to provide an empirical followup of Carrolls's (1974)…

The purpose of these studies was to provide evidence to support either the dual-coding hypothesis or the single-system hypothesis of human memory. In one experiment, college subjects were shown a mixed series of words and pictures either while simultaneously engaged in shadowing (repeating aloud) a prose passage presented via earphones or while…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of adjunct objectives (AO) or adjunct rules (AR) on instructional materials. The subjects were 110 undergraduate volunteers attending Arizona State University. As each subject entered the lecture hall for the class, he was given an envelope containing the experimental materials appropriate to a…

Compared were performances of 12 educable mentally retarded (EMR) and 12 normal children in grade 6 on a perceptual learning task to determine whether individuals with different intelligence levels have different learning abilities. A protable minicomputer was used to present "old letters" (usual lower case letters) and "new letters" (letter-like…

The purposes of this study were to examine priority of recall of newly learned items (PRNI) from a developmental standpoint and to investigate whether preschool children are capable of using the attentional strategy employed by adults in free recall learning (FRL) of new items. In the first experiment the PRNI effect was examined from a…