Presented kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade Ss with a discrimination learning task in which the stimuli varied along 3 dimensions. A blank-trials technique was employed, permitting inferences to be ...made about Ss' hypothesis testing from their response sequences. A much larger percentage of older Ss achieved solutions as compared to younger Ss, but those kindergartners who learned did so in significantly fewer trials than the older Ss. On initial trials there was no evidence of hypothesis testing for any of the 3 age groups. As training progressed, those Ss who learned exhibited a tendency to test hypotheses regarding the relevant stimulus dimensions, immediately prior to solution. The magnitude of this tendency was related positively to age. Ss who failed to learn responded at a chance level throughout training, but an analysis of response sequences indicated that there was a strong tendency for kindergarten nonlearners to follow a positional alternation set while 2nd and 4th grade nonlearners gave no evidence of any systematic mode of responding.
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Conducted a study to assess which of 2 variables, task structure or modality of presentation, is most important in accounting for performance differences between good and poor readers on the ...Visual-Aural Digit Span Test. Fourth-grade good and poor readers (17 boys in each group) were given 6 different digit span tasks in which task structure (simultaneous vs sequential presentation of digits) and modality of presentation (visual vs auditory) were varied systematically. Results suggest that task structure is a more powerful variable in determining individual differences on this test than is modality of presentation. The relationship of these results to the basic assumptions of the diagnostic-prescriptive approach to remediation is discussed. (12 ref)
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Examined the hypothesis that high school completion and achievement level could be predicted from 3rd and 4th grade subject and conduct averages in a group of black inner city adolescents. Ss were ...(a) 37 male and female high achievers (HAs), (b) 41 low achievers (LAs), and (c) 47 dropouts. Averages significantly differentiated between male HAs and LAs and between female LAs and dropouts. No differences were found for male LAs and dropouts or for female HAs and LAs. Differences between HAs and dropouts were significant, especially for females. Later elementary records revealed the same patterns for the males, while by the 5th grade, female HAs and LAs were differentiated. 6th grade IQ scores revealed significant differences for females but not for males. Results suggest that "dropping out is more related to academic skill and ability for girls than for boys."
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In a verbal operant conditioning paradigm with sex-role attributes as reinforcers, black and white 1st grade (n = 40) and 4th grade (n = 40) lower-class females were shown pictures of animals and ...were asked questions to be answered by naming 1 of the animals. After base line (no reinforcement), 1 predetermined animal choice was reinforced by E's statement "girls say that" or "boys say that." Results support the hypotheses that (a) responses defined as feminine would increase in frequency over base line in both grades; and (b) for 1st graders only, the decline in response frequency for "boys say that" would be significantly different from the increase in frequency for "girls say that."
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Obtained 96 4th grade boys' perceptions of verbal reinforcers, tape-recorded by a female actress and encompassing all combinations of 3 levels of content and 3 of intonation in "vicarious" and ..."direct" reinforcement situations. Several personality neasures were also obtained. Results show that content and intonation, both singly and in interaction, had significant effects on the perceived meanings of the reinforcers and on Ss' judgmental response latencies. It was also found that the boys' Intellectual Achievement Responsibility scores were significantly related to positiveness of perceptions, while their anxiety scores were related to relative sensitivity to intonation. (16 ref.)
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In a study with 40 1st grade and 40 4th grade Canadian children from both lower- and middle-class backgrounds (N = 160), a suggestion to organize free recall by category clustering was found to ...increase the Ss' clustering and recall. The fact that the suggestion to cluster was capable of offsetting social class differences in recall is discussed in terms of A. Jensen's recommendations for differential education of middle- and lower-class children. The suggestion to cluster had greater impact on the middle-class Ss than on the lower-class Ss. The 4th graders exhibited better recall and more clustering than did the 1st graders.
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48 4TH-GRADE CHILDREN WERE TRAINED TO EMPLOY A STRINGENT SELF-REWARD STANDARD BY AN AGENT WHO ADHERED TO OR DEVIATED FROM THIS STANDARD. SS SUBSEQUENTLY PERFORMED IN THE AGENT'S ABSENCE. THEREAFTER, ...THEY OBSERVED A 2ND AGENT EXHIBIT A SELF-REWARD PATTERN WHICH WAS CONSISTENT WITH OR DISCREPANT FROM THE STANDARD THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT. FINALLY, SS AGAIN PERFORMED ALONE. THEIR SELF-IMPOSED CRITERIA DURING THE 1ST TEST WERE IN ACCORD WITH PREVIOUS FINDINGS. AS PREDICTED, SS WHO OBSERVED 2 DISCREPANT SOCIAL AGENTS WERE MORE SELF-LENIENT THAN THOSE WHO OBSERVED UNIFORMLY HIGH STANDARDS DISPLAYED. SS WHO OBSERVED 1 CONSISTENT AND 1 DISCREPANT AGENT WERE INTERMEDIATELY SELF-LENIENT. THIS LATTER FINDING WAS RELATED TO ORDER OF PRESENTATION.
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The interactive methods/techniques are applied successfully in the educational practice, both abroad and in our country, the didactic activities becoming this way more attractive for the ...schoolchildren of all ages. In this paper we emphasize the teacher's point of view concerning the mode in which the interactive methods/techniques are applied within the lessons carried out with the children from 1st - 4th grades. The method used in this research was the questionnaire, which was applied to a plot formed from 36 teachers from Argeş county. The analysis of the answers given by the teachers revealed that they were using a diversified interactive methodological register. Heuristic conversation, Educational game, Brainstorming, and Didactic riddles have been applied to a large extent by all the questionned teachers. They appreciated the results obtained by applying interactive methods, and mentioned numerous factors on which depends their use within the lessons.
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