Two studies involving workers with moderate/severe mental retardation analyzed productivity rates on a seated assembly task and analyzed the most efficient means to remediate a custodial vacuuming task. A motion economy-based task design was more efficient than the site-based task design in terms of cleanliness, production rates, and reduction of…

Discussion of constructivism focuses on instructional systems design (ISD) and how it can help develop constructivist instruction. Highlights include ISD limitations; objectives and learning analysis, including Competency-Based Teacher Education and levels of learning; task analysis; and formative evaluation processes. (23 references) (LRW)

Discussion of instructional systems development (ISD) focuses on recent developments in cognitive task analysis and describes the Integrated Task Analysis Model, a framework for integrating cognitive and behavioral task analysis methods within the ISD model. Three components of expertise are analyzed: skills, knowledge, and mental models. (96…

Examines some of the recent developments in cognitive theory and explores their implications for instructional design. Topics discussed include a shift from emphasis on behavioral theory to cognitive theory; task analysis; instructional objectives; learner characteristics; instructional strategies; metacognition; and the dynamic nature of…

This study tested the comprehension of object-control adjectives in second-grade good and poor readers using both an act-out task and a sentence-picture matching task. Contrary to an earlier study, significant group differences were not found in interpreting object control adjectives with either task. (Contains 20 references.) (JL)

The dominant approach to on-the-job training is the job instruction model (experienced colleague as instructor). The model involves task analysis and direct instruction. Task analysis is useful if restricted to elements that benefit from standardization. Direct instruction is effective only if embedded in continuous work improvement and is…

ACT-R is a theory of cognition that is capable of learning the relative usefulness of alternative rules. A model using this implicit procedural learning mechanism is described that explains results from a concept formation task created by McDonald and MacWhinney (1991), a role assignment created by Blackwell (1995), and a new role assignment…

Two experiments replicated an earlier study on the causal connection between rhyming skills and reading development found in English. Different results were found from the first study. Argues that methodological and instructional factors may be very important for the conceptual interpretation of studies attempting to pit small units (phonemes)…

Explores the extent to which children with specific language impairment (SLI) with severe phonological working memory deficits express knowledge uniquely in gesture as compared to speech. Using a paradigm in which gesture-speech relationships have been studied extensively, children with SLI and conversation judgment-matched, typically developing…

Explores the effect on pair-task performance of test-takers' familiarity with their partner. Japanese learners performed a series of tasks, once with a friend and again with a person who was not familiar to them. Results support findings in the literature that suggest learners vary their language when interacting with familiar or unfamiliar…

A study of clerical staff in two British banks (n=29) who completed National Vocational Qualifications in customer services shows that the potential for skill development and flexibility was not realized. Workers spent more time writing about their routine tasks to accredit existing skills than they did being trained in new skills. (Contains 49…

Two experiments investigated the Aspect First Hypothesis, which claims children initially use verbal morphology to mark aspect and not tense. The first tested 46 2- and 3-year-old children's comprehension of tense as it is marked in the auxiliary system using a sentence-to-scene matching task. The second changed the information available in the…

Impaired speech prosody has been identified as a critical feature of suspected childhood apraxia of speech (sCAS). Lexical stress productions of children with sCAS have been characterized as 'excessive/equal/misplaced'. This investigation examines two potential explanations of this particular deficit, articulatory difficulty and impaired intrinsic…

Background: Language intervention procedures often involve the speech-language pathologist highlighting or making more salient forms that are problematic for the child with a language impairment. According to limited processing accounts of specific language impairment (SLI), one way to increase the saliency of a form is to manipulate its sentence…

Difficulties with picture naming tasks are associated with literacy problems. When given naming tasks, children with dyslexia are slower to produce words and have a higher proportion of errors (M. Wolf & P. G. Bowers, 1999). However, little is known about the relation between literacy and naming in other populations. This study investigated this…