The role of elaborations in learning a skill from an instructional text

In these studies, we examined the role of elaborations for subjects learning a procedural skill (viz., using a personal computer) from an instructional text. In Experiment 1, we compared two sources of elaborations: those provided by the author and those generated by learners while reading. In the latter condition, subjects were given advance information about the tasks they were to perform so that they would generate more specific task-related elaborations while reading. Each source of elaborations facilitated skill performance. This result contrasts with results of the past experiments testing declarative knowledge in which author-provided elaborations were found to hurt performance. In Experiment 2, the author-provided elaborations were classified into those illustrating the syntax of the operating system commands and those explaining basic concepts and their applicability. Syntax elaborations produced significant facilitation for experienced and novice computer users. Concept elaborations produced no reliable improvement.     

THE IMPACT OF RELIGION ON GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES

Given the apparently growing significance of religion in American life, the general problem addressed in this paper was the relation between religious orientation and gender-related attitudes and behaviors. More specifically, this study examined variation over a range of dimensions of gender-role attitudes held by women in predominantly female and predominantly male college majors using religious devoutness and other variables as predictors. Five dimensions of gender-role attitudes were used familial roles, extrafamilial roles, male/female stereotypes, social change, and gender-role preference. No significanct difference was found between women in the two types of majors on any dimension of gender-role attitudes. Multiple regression revealed that religious devoutness was the most important variable among all those utilized in consistently predicting all five dimensions of gender-role attitudes.     

Cluster analyses of two acoustic confusion matrices

Three methods of cluster analysis are used to illustrate two acoustic confusion matrices. It is shown how the methods complement each other and, together, “explain” the large, unwieldy matrices.     

The psychophysics of the kinesthetic aftereffect in the Petrie block experiment

Kinesthetic size is reported in the Petrie experiment by a simultaneous size comparison in which a standard block held between the thumb and forefinger of one hand is matched in size by moving the thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand along a wedge until the proper width is reached. After a baseline is obtained, a kinesthetic aftereffect is produced by rubbing a block of contrasting size followed by a return to the standard block. Experiments with 22 male Ss and 20 female Ss, tested in separate cycles, show that augmentation following stimulation with a block smaller than standard and reduction following stimulation with a block larger than standard are both statistically significant, and, at least for augmentation, the aftereffect persists for at least 48 h. When the data are corrected for regression there is no significant relationship between initial baseline and the amount of augmentation or reduction; reasons why such a relationship has been reported are indicated. The results suggest that when this kind of experiment is used for the study of individual differences (a) it is satisfactory to derive augmentation and reduction scores by subtracting the baseline from the absolute scores, provided the scores are corrected for regression, and (b) a counterbalanced order of presentation is not advisable in view of the carryover of augmentation from one day to the next, which is likely to make the two orders incommensurate.     

Conditioning treatment of enuresis: Auditory intensity

The auditory stimulus characteristics of three commercially-produced enuresis alarms are described and the results of a clinical trial of the three alarm types are reported. No significant differences regarding outcome, either in terms of treatment efficiency or of subsequent relapse, were found.