Arthur M. Taylor

Integrated Pictures and Relational Imagery Training in Children's Learning.

Abstract The effects of integrated pictures of nouns, training in imagining relations between separate pictures of nouns, and the combination of training and integrated pictures on the recall of noun triplets were assessed in children from grades one, three, and six. The cued recall of nouns under these three conditions was from two to six times greater than that of the control group in all three grades. In grade six, those children who had been trained to generate their own relations between the pictured nouns recalled significantly more than those who had been shown integrated (i.e., already related) pictures of the nouns. It was suggested that encouraging young children to seek out and generate relations between items to be learned might help them become aware of and more confident in their ability to improve their own learning efficiency.

Vocabulary Development of Educable Retarded Children

This study represents an example of translating basic research on learning strategies into the development of classroom instruction. In particular, three approaches to vocabulary instruction were developed based on research from the training of elaboration strategies with retarded children. These approaches were tested with a month of vocabulary instruction presented daily to nine classes for the educable mentally retarded. Data related to vocabulary development and strategy usage indicated the instructional conditions were differentially affected. The findings provided initial guidelines as to how elaborations could be incorporated into classroom instruction for the mentally retarded.

Brief Note: Instructional Treatments Based on Learning Strategies and the Recognition Memory of Retarded Children 1

Elaboration is the process by which two or more unconnected verbal or pictorial items come to be related by means of a common meaningful context. The basic elaboration finding is that children given a paired-associate (PA) task recall more noun pairs when they are supplied with an elaborative prompt, such as a sentence or an integrated picture, than when just supplied with noun pairs. This result has consistently been found with both normal (Rohwer, 1971) and retarded children (Jensen & Rohwer, 1963). Rohwer (1971) has asserted that the same elaborative processes that are activated in PA learning are also critical in more complex and naturally occurring tasks. Although it seems that elaboration is the optimal strategy for more complex modifications of the traditional PA paradigm (cf., Taylor,

Imagery and Verbal Elaboration in Learning and Multiple Associates

From current theory on the differential effectiveness of imagery over verbal elaboration one would expect imagery to be especially effective when the task requires recall of more information for each associative unit. A modified paired-associate task, requiring recall of three responses for each stimulus, was administered to college students under both imagery and verbal mediation instructions. Contrary to expectation, no significant differences were obtained between mediation instructions. The results were interpreted with respect to the nature of instructions and the structural features of the task.

Teaching Potentially Educationally Handicapped Children to Classify and Remember.

Caldwell, B. M. Descriptive evaluations of child development and of developmental settings. Pediatrics, 1967,40,46-54. Gray, S. W. The childs rust teacher. Childhood Education, 1971, 48,127-134. Quick, A. D., Little, T. L., & Campbell, A. A. Lesson plans: Guides to teaching preacademic skills. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1973. (a) Quick, A. D., Little, T. L., & Campbell, A. A. MEMPHIS Model of Individual Program Planning and Evaluation: A system ofdevelopmental-educational evaluation and educational program planning for preschool handicapped children. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1973. (b) Quick, A. D., Little, T. L. & Campbell, A. A. The training of exceptional foster children and their foster parents: Enhancing developmental progress and parent effectiveness. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1973. (c)