This is one of a series that is a collection of translations from the extensive Soviet literature of the past 25 years on research in the psychology of mathematics instruction. It also includes works on methods of teaching mathematics directly influenced by the psychological research. Selected papers and books considered to be of value to the…

SCIENCE UNITS CONSTRUCTED TO DIRECTLY TEACH CRITICAL THINKING ARE COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL SCIENCE UNITS FOR EFFECTIVENESS IN THE TEACHING OF CRITICAL THINKING. THE SAMPLE INCLUDED 1,554 FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS TAUGHT BY 65 TEACHERS IN FIVE DIFFERENT SCHOOL SYSTEMS. TEACHERS OF THE 469 STUDENTS IN THE RESEARCH GROUP WERE…

A SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION OF THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF A DRAWING WAS CONDUCTED. A SITUATION WAS DESIGNED IN WHICH A SAMPLE GROUP OF ABOUT 30 ARTISTS COULD BE OBSERVED AT WORK. BEHAVIOR WAS RECORDED AND THE PROGRESS OF THEIR WORK PHOTOGRAPHED. OF THE BEHAVIORS OBSERVED, SIX WERE TAKEN TO REFLECT RELEVANT STAGES IN THE…

SKINNER'S VIEWS ON THE NATURE OF THINKING WERE DESCRIBED IN NONTECHNICAL LANGUAGE. THIS LAYMAN'S INTRODUCTION TO SKINNER'S POSITION ON THE NATURE OF THINKING WAS INTENDED FOR USE BY PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS AND PRACTICING SCHOOL TEACHERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MACHINE PROGRAM TO TEACH COLLEGE STUDENTS THE BEHAVIORS INVOLVED IN THINKING AND…

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY WERE (1) TO STIMULATE THINKING ON THE PART OF STUDENTS BY EMPLOYING NEW FORMS OF AUTOINSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCES AND (2) TO SEEK INCREASED UNDERSTANDING OF THOUGHT PROCESSES. IN PHASE ONE LINEAR PROGRAMS WERE ANALYZED TO IDENTIFY CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE PROGRAMS THAT INCREASED ACTIVE RESPONSE BY THE STUDENT. THE ANALYSES…

This study focuses on the mental processes used during estimation. This research: (1) developed an operational definition of estimation; (2) created an instrument to identify exceptionally good estimators; (3) collected performance level data on 1187 subjects; (4) constructed interview problems and developed protocols to identify the thinking…

This paper describes an approach to task analysis which seeks to identify potential sources of difficulty in the self-discovery of improved procedures by students who have been taught simpler procedures. The approach considers novices' procedures in terms of the changes needed to produce an expert procedure; the knowledge required to make those…

This research furthers our understanding of the relationship between an organismic factor, "cognitive style," and performance on concept learning and information processing tasks. These results, obtained from students in grades six, eight, and 10, indicate that not only do "high analytical" type students perform better on this…

This study investigated five ability tests related to the water-jug problem. Previous analyses identified two processes used during solution: means-ends analysis and memory of visited states. Subjects were 240 undergraduate psychology students. A real-time computer system presented the problem and recorded responses. Ability tests were paper and…

This book, containing conference papers and a summary of activities, focuses on the contributions which current research in cognitive psychology can make to the solution of problems in instructional design. The first three parts of the book include sets of research contributions followed by discussions: part one deals with different strategies for…

The concept of an algorithm derives from the physical sciences, but it has often been misunderstood and misapplied in the social sciences and in education. The theoretical and practical significance of algorithms stems from their applicability to problems of learning, instruction, and instructional design, and they may potentially provide the…

Discussed in this report is a technique used in cross-cultural research for measuring cognitive processes in children and youth. The research strategy aims at evaluating the subject's performances on problem solving tasks by having subjects become active agents in the discovery process while experimenters remain as passive and neutral as possible.…

This paper discusses some of the central issues involved in philosophizing about rhetoric by raising two primary questions within the context of three traditional branches of philosophy: ontology, axiology, and epistemology. The two questions raised are: What are dialectical tensions in a philosophy of rhetoric? and How does a person try to cope…

In order to help students to be more efficient decision makers, it is essential to consider individual differences in the decision making process. The problem of this study was to determine the influence of specific internal and situational factors on the amount of information demanded prior to making risky decisions. Factors studied were category…

Boys (n=800) between the ages of seven and twelve were administered 35 problems for three successive years. Each problem was characterized according to its logical structure and language which corresponded to a pictorial presentation, its ordinary verbal language, and its abstract symbols. Each structure was presented in each of the three…