The High School Schedule in Midwestern Secondary Schools

Abstract

The role of sensory feedback factors in determining learning and memory was investigated in terms of the effects of four different modes of movement control of sensory input on memory of stimulus patterns-i.e., (1) visual tracking of the pattern without manual control, (2) parallel pursuit tracking of the pattern with a hand-con- trolled visual cursor, (3) opposed pursuit tracking of the stimulus pattern with a hand-controlled visual cursor, and (4) compensatory negative feedback tracking in which the subject observed only the error of tracking the stimulus pattern. Results indicated that mode of sensory feedback control of sensed input of stimulus patterns during learning determined immediate memory, and that memory was superior for modes of feedback control in which the pattern of stimulation and of movement could be compared. The main conclusion was that the processes of active and passive learning and their role in determining learning and memory are specifiable and predictable as variable forms of movement-controlled sensory feedback.