Some factors in the programming of conceptual learning.

Abstract

Studies of conceptually mediated behavior in human beings are often concerned with the effects of variations in previously established concepts on behavior in the solution of problems. This is true, for example, of the work of Maier (1930) with practical problems; of Luchins (1942) on water-jar problems; and of Maltzman and his collaborators (Malzman, Eisman, Brooks, & Smith, 1956;Maltzman & Morrisett, 1952, 1953a v , 1953b on anagrams; to mention a few well-known investigations. Usually, in such studies, the concepts employed by 5 are assumed to have a history of previous establishment, and are considered to be available to 5 at the time the problem is set. In a different category can be placed research on the learning (or formation) of concepts, such as that of Hull (1920), Smoke (1932), Reed (1950), and Heidbreder (1947, which need not be reviewed here. The concepts acquired in the course of the experiment are usually not further "used," as in the solution of a problem, but are

Improving Comprehension for Jury Instructions

“…This "hierarchical" type of structure has been advocated for use in classroom instruction by educational psychologists in order to make material more comprehensible (Briggs, 1968;Gagne, 1970;Gagne & Brown, 1961;Gagne & Rohwer, 1969). Several researchers have shown the effectiveness of such a method in controlled situations (Eustace, 1969;Lee, 1968) and have shown that the more complex the task is, the smaller and simpler the component steps should be (Naylor & Briggs, 1963).…”

The sequencing of instruction and the concept of assimilation-to-schema

“…Roe (1962), using a longer version of the Roe et al (1962) statistics program, found that subjects receiving ordered instruction made fewer errors in learning and performed slightly but significantly better on a posttest. The most striking instance of inferior performance due to scrambling was reported by Brown (1970) in which subjects who learned the Gagn6 and Brown (1961) series sum program in scrambled order performed significantly worse on measures of learning ease and transfer. Unfortunately, the differences cited in the latter two studies were quite small and larger transfer tests would certainly be useful in further investigations.…”

Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule Against Pure Discovery Learning?

“…Finally, in a study by Gagne and Brown (1961), students learned to derive formulas and solve series sum problems such as how to compute the sum of "1, 3, 5, 7, 9. . .…”