Sixty students were categorized into a stratified four-group design to ascertain the predictive value of achievement motivation as it relates to: (1) diagnostic problem solving ability, (2) diagnostic problem solving knowledge, and (3) student attitude toward the course. Each of the four groups represented varying strengths of achievement…

Following an opening statement explaining the importance of small groups as an educational innovation, the author examines seven different types of groups, their organization and function. 1) The task group involves students in many types of meaningful work, with each member able to make a useful contribution towards the completion of the task. 2)…

This investigation gives attention to the developmental course and influence of social class on self-directed, private speech. The Ss were 108 white, middle and lower class pre-school, first and third grade children. Two measures of receptive vocabulary were administered as background language measures. The experimental task required S to sort…

This report by the campus ombudsman at San Diego State College discusses in the preface some ways of approaching the position and the elements to be included in prospective job descriptions. The report begins with a description of the kind of person needed for such a position, how to establish the office and choose the man, the type of office…

This report, the third of a series of reports dealing with convergent communication among children, compares children's performance on certain communication tasks with that of adults. (Convergent communication is defined as communication in which two persons cooperatively exchange information in order to reach an explicitly stated goal and where,…

The development of pupil behavior in the process of creative problem solving was investigated. A battery of pretests and post-tests (including written compositions, oral compositions, and open stories) was developed and administered as part of a program to develop cognitive skills. Treatment groups received instruction for 30, 60, or 90 minutes…

This study explores three areas of learning hierarchies: (1) the condition for learning in accordance with learning hierarchies; (2) the use of hierarchies in the diagnosis and learning of prerequisite intellectual skills; and (3) the conditions of learning and retention of principles. There were seven studies undertaken using elementary and…

This paper deals with the problems of rigorous research within the dynamic organizational context. Definitions and axioms establish the natures of a social problem, a social intervention program, continuous program monitoring, a method of describing alternative treatments, treatment effect testing, and programmatic change. These definitions and…

The paper considers the efficacy of role reversal, used in conflict situations, for reducing distortions in perceptions of the opponent's position, for increasing understanding of the opponent's position, for clarifying communication during negotiations, and for inducing cooperative behavior in conflict situations. It was noted that little…

The paper identifies some major issues in assessing creative problem solving. Four main problems are discussed: (1) no single widely accepted theory of creativity exists; (2) there is a lack of understanding of the implications of the differences in assessment procedures; (3) researchers, on the one hand, view creativity as entirely a cognitive…

This volume contains four articles by A. A. Krutetskii. The first article is a report of a study of individual differences in ability to solve algebra problems. The second article reports on a two-year study of a young girl who showed exceptional mathematical giftedness. Article three presents a summary of the author's theoretical position on the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if an effective conservation training procedure would be one in which a child was confronted with opposing points of view. Subjects were 108 children with a mean age of 6.7 years. In two experiments, a group of three children (generally one nonconserver and two conservers) was required to respond with one…

A self-controlled problem-solving approach to the facilitation of effective behavior is presented. This approach involves training in the use of a cognitive strategy for dealing with real life problematic situations. An individual will progress through five phases with respect to real or hypothetical problematic situations. The first phase,…

This study assesses the influence of an elaborative vs. non-elaborative teaching style on children's nursery school behavior. (Elaborative teachers elicit more comments from the child, and offer more options for solving problems than non-elaborative teachers). Subjects, 24 white children of welfare mothers, were assigned to an elaborative…

This report describes a group problem-solving approach to educating disadvantaged elementary school children. It is suggested that aggressive verbal exchange and active solution to real life problems are potent tools for helping disadvantaged students become active learners and creative participants in society. Methods for conducting such a group…