CAI: Goals and perspectives: Computer users’ group panel discussion

This report of the users’ group meeting contains a condensed version of a panel discussion of general issues involving computer-assisted instruction (CAI) systems. The discussants were asked to comment on the goals of the CAI efforts and the past accomplishments and future of computer systems in education.     

Job satisfaction related to tested congruence and differentiation

Tested personality-environment congruence and differentiation, singly and in combination, as measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory (J. L. Holland, Palo Alto, California, Consulting Psychologists Press, 1977b), were predictive of reported job satisfaction for teachers employed in five subject matter areas. Time-related variables and sex were not significantly related to the job satisfaction measure used in the study.     

Stimulus factors and listening strategies in auditory memory: An experimental demonstration

Three experiments are reported in which digits spoken at different rates were recalled and monitored. In Experiment I, digits to be recalled were embedded in varying levels of noise. In Experiment II noise was presented only during the inter-digit intervals, either to the same or to the opposite ear as the digits. In Experiment III Ss monitored these sequences for a specified digit and reported its successor. Stimulus rate and signal-to-noise ratio affected perceptual processing time, as evidenced by the frequency and relative proportion of item and order errors. These stimulus factors induce listening strategies that influence the shape of the serial position curve and that persist after stimulus conditions are changed. The data are consistent with a two-stage processing model for the temporal course of speech perception and the nature of listening strategies.     

Syntax model games and language in early education

Some procedures for developing language skills in young children are set forth. These procedures, syntax model games, were developed with consideration for children's language development and their developmental styles, and a consideration for transformational-generative grammar. Through the syntax model games, participants inductively acquire language patterns through functional use in a playful setting. A purpose of the activities was to support more efficient and flexible use of language. In addition to discussing induction as a way of knowing language, this article deals with the contrast of understanding and using language, the relation of metalinguistic awareness, some processes of syntactic development, relevant aspects of transformational-generative grammar, and a detailing of some syntax model games that were used with several hundred children between 5 and 9 years of age.Some of the concepts discussed in this article are expanded further by the author inEarly Childhood Education: A Perceptual Models Curriculum to be published by John Wiley and Sons in 1976.     

The impact of computers on cognitive psychology

Computer developments and their applications in cognitive psychology are reviewed. Examples from recent studies illustrate the ways that computers are used for different research purposes: stimulus generation, on-line interactive experimental control, response collection, data analysis, and theory building. A quantitative analysis of federal funding for computer-based and noncomputer research compares costs over the past 9 years for the areas of perception, memory, learning, and thinking. A tabulation of journal articles relevant to computer-based cognitive research shows the distribution of articles over various categories of hardware and software development. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of using computers in cognitive research are evaluated.     

Computer use by the visually impaired

Several recent developments have made computers accessible to the blind and partially sighted: hard-copy (paper) and softcopy (raised-pin) braille output, magnified high-resolution characters, and synthetic speech. We report survey data on these users’ computer education, tasks, and goals; their hardware uses and preferences, particularly for special-purpose I/O devices; and seven classes of human-factors problems that affect the use of these I/O devices by the visually impaired.