Effects of Computer-Based Fluency Training on Concept Formation

This study provides a preliminary analysis of how the techniques of fluency training can be combined with systematic concept instruction to improve the learning of complex verbal concepts. Fluency techniques, which require the learner to respond accurately at high rates, have typically focused on definition learning when teaching concepts. Instructional psychologists, however, recommend multiple exemplar training for conceptual instruction. To examine this issue, 41 undergraduate students completed a computer-based instructional module on logical fallacies. Participants were assigned to one of four groups, with the modules for each group differing only in the type of practice provided—either fluency or practice with either examples or definitions. Examination of posttest scores revealed significantly higher scores for participants in the examples groups than those in the definitions groups, but low experimental power prevented a clear conclusion to be drawn about differences between the fluency and practice groups. Implications of results and several methodological issues relevant to this area of research are discussed.     

论心理学发展的困境与出路

近年来西方心理学家对心理学发展取向提出强烈批评。综合各家所论,心理学以往发展的困境乃是由于：(1)自哲学心理学到科学心理学对人性解释的理论始终纷歧,以致无法形成常规科学条件;(2)科学心理学自始即标榜自然科学而缺独立意识;(3)强调科学方法,忽视人性特质而陷入削足适履困境。因此,今后国内心理学的发展势不能再全盘西化,而应在人性特质与本土文化基础上吸取西方心理学精义,针对国人心理特质研究发展出属於自己的理论与应用心理学。本文最后提出的四会能力教学构想,希望对本土文化取向应用心理学的研究发挥一点抛砖引玉作用。     

语音训练对幼儿英语语音意识和字母知识的促进

语音意识是影响英语阅读能力的关键因素。本研究结合语音教学法的思想,采用自编的教学材料和语音游戏,通过字母故事和语音训练游戏,训练儿童的语音意识。研究者在北京市一所普通幼儿园选取了无英语学习经验的3岁左右中国幼儿63名,随机分为实验组和控制组,经过8周的语音教学实验,发现接受语音教学的实验组儿童在音节意识、音韵意识、音素意识和字母识别等方面较接受普通英语教学的控制组都有显著提高。结果表明早期有针对性的语音训练可能能够更快地提高幼儿的语音意识。     

VIDEO MODELING TO TRAIN STAFF TO IMPLEMENT DISCRETE‐TRIAL INSTRUCTION

Three new direct‐service staff participated in a program that used a video model to train target skills needed to conduct a discrete‐trial session. Percentage accuracy in completing a discrete‐trial teaching session was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across participants. During baseline, performances ranged from a mean of 12% to 63% accuracy. During video modeling, there was an immediate increase in accuracy to a mean of 98%, 85%, and 94% for each participant. Performance during maintenance and generalization probes remained at high levels. Results suggest that video modeling can be an effective technique to train staff to conduct discrete‐trial sessions.     

Teaching chained skills in a non-school setting using a divided half instructional format

This investigation evaluated the use of dyadic instructional arrangements in teaching chained skills to four students with moderate mental retardation. Each instructional dyad consisted of two students. Each of the three cooking skills was divided into two equal parts, and each student in a dyad received direct instruction on one part of the task analysis during each instructional session. During the following session, the two parts were reversed and a student received instruction on the second part. A constant time delay procedure was used to teach the targeted skills in an off-campus setting. A multiple probe design across skills and replicated across students evaluated the effectiveness of the instructional procedure and teaching arrangement. Results indicate that each of the four students learned the three cooking skills. Implications for future research are discussed.     

The influence of instructional intervention on children's understanding of fractions

An experimental instructional program based mainly on an equal-whole schema in fractions was given to two fourth-grade classes of a Japanese elementary school. As a control, conventional teaching based on a traditional Japanese textbook was given to another fourth-grade class. The study tested the hypothesis that students given the experimental program would understand order and magnitude as central characteristics of fractions better than those who were instructed using the traditional textbook. Students in the experimental group showed better understanding of both the order of fractions and the representation of the sizes of fractions than did the textbook group. However, there were no differences between the experimental and textbook groups in the performance of assessment tasks which were less related to the equal-whole schema. These results are discussed in view of the important instructional aim of having students understand fractions.     

Ecobehavioral analysis in the classroom: Review and implications

A rapidly developing area within applied behavior analysis that has implications for classroom instruction and behavior management is ecobehavioral analysis. Ecobehavioral analysis adds to behavior analysis the assessment of situational or contextual factors, such as classroom physical arrangements, instructional materials used by students, and teacher's behavior. Its eventual importance and contribution to behavior analysis and to education, however, has yet to be realized. In fact, it is difficult to find adequate accounts of exactly what ecobehavioral analysis entails (Morris & Midgley, 1990). To date, it has led to a number of interesting contributions. These include the development and validation of specific classroom instructional procedures, the development of a number of approaches to the reduction of challenging behaviors, an improved understanding of the components of effective instruction including the identification of instructional risk factors within regular and special education, as well as providing a better understanding of how the quality of implementation functions as a mediating variable for student outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the theory and principles that support ecobehavioral analysis, review research literature concerning its use in educational settings, describe emerging applications by school personnel (e.g., teachers, school psychologists), and examine a number of future research directions and their implications.     

CONSTRUCTED-RESPONSE MATCHING TO SAMPLE AND SPELLING INSTRUCTION

The development of interactive programmed instruction using a microcomputer as a teaching machine is described. The program applied a constructed-response matching-to-sample procedure to computer-assisted spelling instruction and review. On each trial, subjects were presented with a sample stimulus and a choice pool consisting of 10 individual letters. In initial training, sample stimuli were arrays of letters, and subjects were taught to construct identical arrays by touching the matching letters in the choice pool. After generalized constructed-response identity matching was established, pictures (line drawings) of common objects were presented as samples. At first, correct spelling was prompted by also presenting the printed name to be “copied” via identity matching; then the prompts were faded out. The program was implemented with 2 mentally retarded individuals. Assessment trials determined appropriate words for training. Correct spelling was established via the prompt-fading procedure; training trials were interspersed among baseline trials that reviewed and maintained spelling of previously learned words. As new words were learned, they were added to a cumulative baseline to generate an individualized review and practice battery for each subject.     

Altering student responses through changes in teacher verbal behavior

Two experiments were conducted in a junior-high special-education class of eight pupils in an inner-city school. In the first experiment, the teacher doubled the number of words used by the pupils in answering questions by altering the type of questions asked. In the second experiment, the number of words used by students and the percentage of answers given in complete sentences, increased from less than 5% to approximately 90% when the teacher instructed the pupils to answer in complete sentences and asked another pupil to answer using a sentence if the first one did not do so. In both experiments, a brief return to baseline conditions brought a return to low levels of verbal responding. An analysis of which pupils were called on by the teacher, teacher praise, and in the second experiment the types of questions asked, indicated that these variables were not responsible for the increases in verbal responding.