Used Learning Process Questionnaire to examine urban South African students' endorsement of various learning approaches. Found that strategies used by students in Western educational contexts were similar to those used by African counterparts. Urban South African responses, compared with counterparts from Nigeria, Australia, and Hong Kong,…

An experiment was conducted to investigate the development of need achievement (n Ach), need for affiliation (n Aff), and need for power (n Pow) among 80 children between the ages of six through ten. A primary goal was to determine whether these motives are interdependent. (Author/MP)

Reports a study of 540 first-, fourth-, and eighth-grade students who participated in a discrimination task under three reinforcement conditions: reward, punishment and a combination of both. Results indicate the superiority of learning under punishment conditions. Interactions involving the sex of subject and experimenter are also discussed.…

Describes a study that determined the effect of two types of instructional media--interactive video and print--and learner gender on attitudes toward instruction. The use of role models with unemployed adults in an employment skills program is discussed; and the use of the Instructional Materials Motivation Scale is described. (32 references) (LRW)

Differences in the mastery motivation levels and approval needs of children, ages four and eight, were investigated. Two groups of 32 children each worked on puzzle tasks in one of two conditions: (1) verbal reinforcement or (2) nonreinforcement. Younger children needed more reinforcement than older children. (Author/BS)

Some research and ideas about learning, which are of interest to elementary school counselors, deal with individual differences and classroom environment. Studies find girls markedly superior to boys in language skills, with boys better in analytic thinking and transfer of learning. However, no sex differences in intellect have been found. There…

In a cognitive-developmental analysis of achievement and moral judgments, 300 black and white subjects aged 4-18 made moral and achievement evaluative judgments in sixteen situations. The situations differed according to the intent (effort) and ability of the person being judged, and in the objective consequences of the behavior. Analysis of…

Research on the differences in motivation to achieve in school among 10 groups of four-year-olds utilized a new, 75-item objective projective test called Gumpgookies. This test was individually administered to approximately 2000 children mainly from low economic backgrounds. The various ethnic and religious groups were compared with respect to…

The Learning Strategies Questionnaire (LSQ) was developed to assess students' declarative knowledge of strategy utility. Goals were to develop a reliable survey that: (1) could be administered for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders in a group setting; (2) would provide a profile of children's declarative knowledge of strategies for classroom…

This study investigated the effects of medium of instruction, task difficulty, and gender on continuing motivation. A total of 139 fifth and sixth graders with previous computer experience completed an initial learning task in one of the two media formats (computer or paper/pencil) and under either a hard or easy difficulty level. Students' choice…

This study explores the effects of physical differences in the architectural design of schools by comparing behavioral and performance variables for two groups of pupils: (1) those who had previously attended an open space school, and (2) those who had always attended classes in a traditionally built school. Three major variables are examined:…

A special Training Institute on Problems of School Desegregation was held at the North Carolina Advancement School; the project was undertaken to determine the degree of attitude change related to group learning method, social attitude set, and characteristics of race, sex, and age among 72 teachers and counselors participating in an adult…

The humor element as a reinforcing tool was examined. Experimental group subjects selecting nouns were shown humorous cartoons. Non-noun selection was followed by a humorless cartoon. Results indicated that humor significantly facilitated intentional learning for the low-creative experimental group. (Author/BEF)

This study examined five student characteristics with the expectation that if interactive characteristics could be established, attitudes could be improved by assigning students to classrooms with the appropriate degree of openness. It was hypothesized that some pupils might be happier in a traditional, or structured, environment. Five variables…

Examines gender differences in fifth- and sixth-grade students' self-reports of confidence, motivation goals, and learning strategies in whole-class and small-group sessions. Overall, results reveal few gender differences and indicate that students report greater confidence and mastery motivation in small-group lessons. Contains 55 references.…