The Wilderness Vision Quest is an outdoor retreat which helps participants touch, explore, and develop important latent human resources such as imagination, intuition, creativity, inspiration, and insight. Through the careful and focused use of techniques such as deep relaxation, reflective writing, visualization, guided imagery, symbolic drawing,…

This review of the literature on the workings of the brain in relation to learning and instructional design reviews recent research on both long- and short-term memory, and discusses findings on lateralized or "split-brain" functions. Problems associated with short-term memory are also considered, and the concept of the Tribune Brain is…

This study examined the effects of mental practice (MP), slow motion mental practice (SMMP), and attention placebo control (APC) on the performance of the putting throw in Frisbee disc golf. Subjects were randomly assigned to the three groups and participated in a pre-treatment performance session, a five session treatment phase, and a…

This final report on the relationship between orthographic characteristics and reading behavior consists of five chapters. The first chapter examines writing in its variety of forms in different cultures, noting that such differences can provide important clues to how the brain processes visual information. The second chapter addresses the issue…

Using between subject designs, Tversky and Sherman (1975) and Weaver (1974) demonstrated that increases in the blank interval (offtime) separating two successive pictures leads to improved performance on retention tests. If this improvement results from active rehearsal strategies, subjects should be able to differentially rehearse pictures cued…

A study designed to test the Piagetian theory that distinct stages in the organization of memory relating to horizontality correspond to successive stages in operative level was conducted with 154 twelve- to fourteen-year-old subjects. Loglinear and path analysis models were used to describe the association between operative level and spatial…

In 1975, Richard Atkinson's keyword method was formally introduced. He described the method in the context of foreign language learning. However, it has been extended to the learning of other curricular content as well, such as cities, states, individuals and their accomplishments. In the present study, eighth-grade students were presented…

A project investigated the feasibility of training spatial visualization to facilitate transfer among tasks requiring these abilities and thus reduce training time and increase personnel flexibility. Eighty undergraduate college students participated in a study of from one to five days duration. Experimental subjects received extensive practice…

This issue on suggestive learning contains the following articles: (1) "A Time of Growth," by Kay U. Herr; (2) "Sophrology and Suggestology/Suggestopedia: The Same System with a Different Name?" by W. Jane Bancroft; (3) SALT-Quo Vades or Caveat Emptor," by O. L. Caskey; (4) "A Comparison of Suggestopaedia and…

Short and long-term retention in a visual recognition memory task was studied as a function of race using 39 10th grade inner-city high school students as subjects and random polygons as stimuli. It was hypothesized that a black subject confronted by an unfamiliar white adult and requested to take a test might be more aroused than a comparable…

Sixth graders from a semirural midwestern community were randomly assigned to one of four different learning strategies--imagery, overt repetition, covert repetition, and control. Results showed that imagery instructions facilitated learning performance; overt repetition interfered with performance; and covert repetition was similar to the control…

Proposes guidelines for the development of a curriculum of visual thinking for early childhood education. Outlines suggestions derived from Piaget's theory and research as they apply to developing children's mental imagery skills in the school setting. Relates Piaget's findings to those of learning theory and "split brain" research. (MCF)

Explains an investigation which examined Nigerian students' (N=200) ability to respond to depth cues and to visualize the effects of rotations. Study results indicated that performance on cues tests correlated significantly with performance on rotation tests suggesting that cues influence students' ability to visualize the effects of performing…

Defines personal axioms as deeply held beliefs of individuals about themselves and their world that determine their activities, interests, and performance. Discusses the role of the teacher with regard to cognitive restructuring techniques that may help students change negative personal axioms and free themselves to learn more efficiently. (JHZ)