The place of structured experience in early cognitive development

This paper examines the role of structured or programmed experience in early cognitive learning, as embodied in prevalent approaches to the acceleration of such learning and to preschool education. Starting from a brief overview of research on the effects of training on the acquisition of conservation, the argument is presented that this concept is normally acquired as a by-product of the child's activities forming part of his normal, unstructured experience. A research project predicated on this view, and designed to reveal the link between changes in spontaneous measuring and ordering activities and the onset of conservation, is described. In the second part of the paper a pyramidal model of cognitive development is suggested, contrasting the effects of programmed learning, emphasizing vertical transfer at the expense of horizontal, to the opposite effects of unstructured experience. Finally, young children's differential response to structured versus unstructured situations is related to the development of creative behavior, leading to a reinterpretation of the basis for their relatively poor performance on standard measures of such behavior.

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Résumé Cette communication examine le rôle de l'expérience structurée ou programmée sur le premier développement cognitif, incarné dans les approches prédominantes à l'accélération de ce dévelopement et à l'éducation pré-scolaire. A partir d'un récit bref des effects de l'instruction sur l'acquisition de la conservation, on affirme que ce concept est acquis normalement comme dérivé des activités de l'enfant et qu'il fait partie de son expérience normale qui n'est pas structurée. On décrit une enquête basée sur ce point de vue, destinée à révéler le lien entre les changements dans les activités spontanées de la mesure et de la sériation, et la commencement de la conservation. Dans la seconde partie de cet article, on suggère un modèle pyramidal du développement cognitif, en faisantl'opposition entre les effects de l'apprentissage programmé, favorisant le transfer vertical aux dépens du transfer horizontal, et les effets de l'expérience nonstructurée. Enfin, on lie la réponse différentielle de l'enfant aux situations structurées par rapport aux situations non-structurées, au développement du comportement créateur, ce qui mène à une réinterprétation de la base de leur performance relativement pauvre sur les mesures classiques de ce type de comportement.

     

The effects of incentives,instructor motivation and feedback strategies on faculty evaluation response rates in large and small class sizes

Four instructor-led strategies designed to increase faculty teaching response rates were assessed across both small (n?<?50) and large (n?≥?50) class sizes. The interventions included: (a) individual incentives, (b) group incentives, (c) instructor motivation and (d) instructor motivation plus feedback. A comparison group utilizing the standard university strategies was also included in the study. The percentage of answers to open-ended or qualitative questions was measured across groups. The results show that implementing a contingency – whether group or individual – significantly improves the rate at which students complete course evaluation ratings regardless of class size; however, these contingencies, while effective for increasing overall rating response rate, do not promote increased submission rates of qualitative comments. Furthermore, it was found that class GPA did not differ across intervention strategy nor did it influence response rates.     

The comparison of performance by sex of deaf children on the WISC-R

The Performance Scale of the WISC-R was administered to 60 female and 65 male hearing-impaired subjects. The only significant sex difference found was on the Coding subtest, with females outperforming males by a mean scaled score difference of 1.77 points (t = −3.087, p<.01). Subtest intercorrelational results suggest that deaf females possessed significantly better visual-motor coordination and speed, while males demonstrated better spatial analysis and synthesis skills. A principal factor analysis procedure yielded only one factor for each sex. The high degree of factorial similarity between the female and male samples indicated that the underlying construct being measured by the WISC-R Performance subtests does not differ by gender.     

The effects of contingent feedback on perceived control and performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact on students’ performance of three contingent feedback strategies used by teachers. Contigency means that the feedback strongly corresponds with task behaviour that can be controlled by the students. Elementary school students (N=296) received individualized feedback about their performance during a series of five lessons. Within this contingent feedback structure, three strategies were applied which were assumed to enhance the perceived controllability of the task situation: (1) enhancing the perceptibility of the contingency between feedback and task behavior; (2) explicit reference to effort as part of the feedback, and (3) setting of goals. As predicted, the three contingent feedback strategies had a significant positive effect on perceived controllability, and led to better task performance.     

The effects of instructional explicitness on learning and error persistence

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of pictorial and/or verbal instructional stimuli on learning and error persistence. Subjects were 84 third-graders and 84 fourth-graders. Students were randomly assigned to a picture, oral, or combined presentation group. Each student saw and/or heard an adapted children's story. A constructed response recall test, containing both concrete and abstract items, was administered immediately, and 1 week after, the presentation. Oral and picture presentations yielded approximately equal learning of abstract content, but pictures yielded greater learning of concrete content. Error persistence for abstract content was greatest for picture-only presentations, while persistence of concrete errors was comparable across presentations.     

Solving structured geometric tasks on the computer: The role of feedback in generating strategies

This paper describes a year-long study of the way a group of six 12-year-old children went about solving a special class of geometric problems, using a computer and a limited set of Logo programming tools. We examined children's solution strategies from the perspective of whether the strategies led to insights about the underlying mathematical relations. It was found that the feedback aspect of the computer graphics screen encouraged solution strategies that were qualitative and driven by visual data, rather than being based on explicit or implicit relations. These visually based strategies did not lead to the kind of mathematization of problem-situations that we as mathematics educators would like to see and, in fact, seemed to be a barrier to the development of higher levels of geometric thinking.     

The effects of internal feedback and self-compassion on the perception of negative feedback and post-feedback learning behavior

Negative feedback confronts learners with errors or failure but holds great learning potential. However, learners might perceive it as self-threatening, and thus react maladaptively. Feedback theories recommend prompting internal feedback prior to external feedback. And self-compassion is found to support adaptive reactions to failure. Thus, this study examined in a 2 × 2 factorial design the effects of prompting internal feedback or self-compassion, or both, on feedback perception and post-feedback learning behavior. Participants (N = 210) completed a brief difficult reasoning test and received failure feedback. Perceived acceptance and fairness of the feedback were higher in the internal feedback and self-compassion conditions compared to the control condition with no prompts. The intervention effects were higher for participants with high perceived competence and low trait self-compassion. No significant effects on post-feedback learning behavior were observed. The results highlight the relevance of internal feedback processes for feedback perception.     

The effects of cooperative learning and feedback on e-learning in statistics

This study examined whether cooperative learning and feedback facilitate situated, example-based e-learning in the field of statistics. The factors “social context” (individual vs. cooperative) and “feedback intervention” (available vs. not available) were varied; participants were 137 university students. Results showed that the feedback intervention clearly supported learning. Feedback proved especially beneficial for students with little prior knowledge. Cooperation did not promote learning outcomes; however, group performance in the learning phase was superior to individual performance. Also, cooperative learning enhanced perceived performance and perceived competence. Probably, collective efficacy had a halo effect on self-efficacy.     

具阶段结构反馈控制Lotka-Volterra系统的局部稳定性

提出了具阶段结构反馈控制Lotka—Voherra竞争模型,得到保证该模型存在局部稳定非负平衡点的充分性条件．     

基于负反馈放大电路的电压增益估算及误差分析

在工程实际中,负反馈放大电路的电压增益大多依据套用电路模型和公式的方法进行估算。集成运放以及由分立元件组成的多级负反馈放大电路,估算误差较小;而由分立元件组成的单级放大电路估算误差较大。本文探讨了不同电路形态下,电压增益的估算及误差分析方法。     

The effects of cooperatively and competitively structured learning enironments on inter- and intrapersonal behavior.

This study examines the effects of cooperative versus competitive goal structures on the subsequent intra- and interpersonal behavior of fourth-grade children. 2 situational variables were operating in each situation: first, the variable of working on a project as a group versus as an individual; and second, the variable of public reward. Results indicate that the effects of competitively structured environments differ for winners and nonwinners and for boys and girls. Girls, both winners and nonwinners, adopt the evaluations of the experimenter and generalize worthiness or deservedness to other situations as evidenced by their prize giving to self and others. After failure to win, girls also refrain from taking a toy away from the winner. After failure to win, boys behave competitively by taking a toy away from the winner and rewarding self more relative to others. The data also suggest that boys may not have experienced cooperative winning as success.     

Causal attributions of success and failure on WISC-R subtests by high and low achievers

Students referred by teachers for a gifted program and students referred for evaluation because of learning difficulties were asked a series of questions about their highest and lowest subtest scores on the WISC-R. Both groups tended to view Performance subtests as best, and the correlations between particular subtests perceived as best or worst and actual scores were significant. For free response attributions, no students ascribed success or failure to luck, and very few mentioned effort. High-achieving students credited ability as most responsible for their best subtest. No significant difference between the groups was found, however, when students rated the relative importance of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. Equal proportions of students in both groups expressed preferences for continued work on their best or worst subtest.     

The effects of expectancy-incongruent feedback and self-affirmation on task performance of secondary school students

In the present study, the assumption was tested that expectancy-incongruent feedback in conjunction with explicit self-affirmation directs attention away from the task and to the self. As a result, performance should decrease in resource-sensitive text/picture comprehension tasks as compared to resource-insensitive tasks. Three hundred and thirty-seven fifth graders first completed either easy or difficult text/picture comprehension tasks and then rated their learning outcome. After that, they received bogus feedback that had been congruent or incongruent with their expectations. In addition, half of the participants were given the opportunity for self-affirmation before they completed additional easy or difficult text/picture tasks. As predicted, feedback better than expected or worse than expected impaired performance in the resource-sensitive tasks but only in the self-affirmation condition. The results are discussed with regard to central assumptions of the feedback intervention theory (Kluger and DeNisi, Psychological Bulletin, 119: 254–284, 1996) and practical implications for the provision of feedback.     

The impact of disciplinary background and teaching experience on the use of evaluative language in teacher feedback

This study was designed to examine secondary teachers’ use of evaluative language resources in their qualitative written feedback on student work and factors shaping the deployment of such resources. Drawing on appraisal theory as an analytic framework for the language of evaluation, the study analyzed 84 teachers’ evaluative reports on their students’ research projects. The teachers’ use of several types of evaluative language was found to differ along the lines of disciplinary background and teaching experience. These results can be explained by disciplinarily valued dispositions, epistemological beliefs, knowledge-making practices, and varying knowledge of (in)effective feedback resulting from cumulative teaching experience. Implications are derived from these findings for developing teachers’ competence in using evaluative language effectively to provide feedback that can support and maximize students’ learning.     

The WISC-R and evidence of item bias for native-American Navajos

The study investigated cultural bias in the 79 items of the three verbal tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The Information, Similarities, and Vocabulary subtests were administered to 40 Anglo and 40 Native- American Navajo subjects matched for grade level. The responses of the two groups of subjects on individual items were analyzed by log-linear technique using the likelihood ratio chi-square statistic. The findings revealed that performance of subjects was homogeneous across groups on most of the items of three verbal subtests of the WISC-R. Only 15 (19%) of the 79 items comprising Information, Similarities, and Vocabulary subtests were found to be biased against the Navajo sample. Five of these items are from the Information, four from the Similarities, and the remaining six items are from the Vocabulary subtest. Implications of these findings for the psychoeducational assessment of minority children were discussed.     

The effects of a structured learning sequence on Children's correlative thinking about biological phenomena

The purpose of this study was to determine if the achievement on correlational thinking tasks could be enhanced by a set of structured training exercises. The exercises were based on Piaget's analysis of the development of correlative thinking in adolescents. The achievement of the ninth grade students was greater than the achievement of the fifth and seventh grade students. However, some of the ninth grade students exhibited difficulty with the equivalence and reciprocal exclusion operations that were necessary for the solution of the correlation tasks. The results of the study suggest that the ninth grade students may be in the transition zone for this particular operation.