Dennis Hunt

Relationship Between and Among Cognitive Variables and Achievement in Computational Science

an attempt was made to ascertain the relationship between and among the cognitive variables thought necessary to ensure success in the course and the actual achievement in the course. Method-Procedure. Early in the Fall of the 1971-1972 academic year, the instructors of the computational science class met with the researchers. They were asked to identify some of the cognitive abilities they felt were involved in order to handle, successfully, the requirements of the class. As a result of this meet-

Computers and Computer Literacy in Contemporary Psychological, Socio-Economic and Educational Context

AbstractThis paper deals with the concept of computer literacy in three contexts: psychological, socio-economic, and educational. It is argued that the development of computer literacy and the use of computers in education should be considered in the light of fundamental principles of these contexts. Furthermore, it is argued that educational institutions cannot afford to ignore the tremendous impact of computers on our society and that in order to use computers for administrative and instructional purposes, systematic research, development, and evaluation must become an integral part of such applications.

Sex and Rural-Urban Differences in Standardized Achievement Scores and Mathematical Subskills.

A mental ability test and an achievement battery were administered to a large sample (N = 4918) of Grades 4, 7, and lo students from a mid-Western province in Canada. Rural-urban, as well as male-female differences in achievement, particularly in mathematics, were examined. When ability differences were controlled statistically, it was found that, in general, there was a rural superiority in achievement in a majority of subtests with no sex and jurisdiction interactions. Also, the results supported the general notion that females score better than males in verbal tests, while males score better than females in quantitative tests. The mathematics item clusters were investigated in greater detail by an examination of the mathematical subskills involved. The results are discussed in terms of previous findings and related to various theoretical postulations about gender differences in mathematical achievement.

PROBLEM SOLVING, PLANNING AND PERSONALITY*

Abstract The present study was designed to investigate student behaviour in a river-crossing problem in light of prior experience, intelligence, personality, mode of presentation and age. Ninety-six students at Year 6 and 61 students at Year 8 from schools in Australia were administered the Eysenck Junior EPQ and IVE scales, together with six cognitive tasks used to index the Luria successive and simultaneous processing and planning functional units. Each student was given a river-crossing problem presented in one of two modes and at one of two levels of difficulty. Success on the river-crossing problem was found to be independent of age, mode of presentation or prior experience on the task. There was a significant effect due to problem awareness, intelligence and empathy and a mode by success interaction. An attempt was made to group students into problem-solver ‘types’. The results were discussed in terms of the link between cognitive and affective variables and intervention programmes.

DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL ACHIEVEMENT OF CHILDREN FROM THREE SOCIOCULTURAL GROUPS

Abstract The present study investigated, under three experimental conditions, the induction of communication messages of 219 7-and 9-year-old children of Anglocelt, Aboriginal, and mainland European heritage in Australia Childrens selfconcept and their teachers ratings of their classroom behavior were also examined. Hierarchical multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were applied to task-specific data sets. On the communication task, sigmficant differences were obtained on Condition (C), Sociocultural Group (SG), Age (A), and SG ± Sex. On the self-concept variables, significant differences were obtained on A only. Significant differences on A, SG, and Sex were obtained for the teachers ratings of childrens classroom behavior. Correlations between the communication tasks and bchaviour ratings increased systematically as the complexity of the communication tasks increased to the asymptotic levels. The selfconcept measures were uncorrelated to both the communication tasks and teachers ratings....

Teaching Experience in Recall of Typical and Atypical Protocols

First- (n = 11) and fourth-year education students (n = 6) and experienced teachers (n = 6) were asked to read and recall typical and atypical case studies (protocols) to investigate the hypothesis that experienced teachers, because they have superior ability to pattern the information, would recall more of the typical cases than inexperienced subjects. Analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant main effect and a significant interaction, although these effects were not as hypothesized. The results are discussed with reference to previous research on information processing.

Spontaneous EEG Correlates of Intellectual Functioning in Talented and Handicapped Adolescents.

EEG correlates of intellectual functioning were investigated in 35 academically talented and 20 academically handicapped adolescents. EEG data from Ertls Brainwave Analyzer were factor-analyzed and factor scores entered into regression equations predicting four primary mental abilities, verbal, numerical, reasoning, spatial, and two sequential tests of educational progress, reading and mathematics. Analysis indicated that (1) frequency ratio, with relatively greater left-hemisphere activity was the most important EEG variable related to mental functioning in the talented group; (2) while EEG period and alpha ratio were the two most important EEG variables related to intellectual functioning in the mentally handicapped group; (3) hemispheric symmetry was of some importance for both groups, with greater symmetry being associated with superior performance. Contrary to Ertls neural efficiency theory, (1) neural information transfer rate was significantly positively (not negatively as predicted) related to intellectual performance (for the handicapped group only), and (2) alpha was significantly related to intellectual functioning (for the handicapped group only). Further research is needed to extend and confirm the above findings dealing with persons scoring in the normal IQ range and during mentally active as well as resting conditions.

Empirical Validity of Ertl's Brain-Wave Analyzer (BWA02

The empirical validity of Ertls brain wave analyzer was investigated by the known contrasted groups method. Thirty-two academically talented (mean IQ score = 147) and 16 academically handicapped (mean IQ score = 79) boys and girls aged 12-14 years were compared on four Primary Mental Abilities (PMA) tests, two Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) measures, and seven Brain Wave Analyzer (BWA) measures. Results indicated that (1) the PMA and STEP variables alone provide excellent discrimination between academically handicapped and academically gifted adolescents; (2) the PMA and STEP variables in combination with BWA variables, (e.g., Frequency Ratio) did afford more accurate discrimination between the two groups than did any one measure alone—a finding suggesting that BWA variables can make a valuable contribution to the understanding of learning potential; (3) BWA variables alone did not furnish an adequate level of discrimination between the two groups—an outcome revealing that the BWA cannot be used as a substitute for paper-and-pencil measures of learning potential; (4) the present significant sex differences in BWA scores did imply a need for separate norms for males and females; and (5) the norms set forth in the BWA manual should be revised.

SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS AND COGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENT

Differences in social-psychological environments between parochial and public schools, and between mathematics and English courses, were investigated for 317 boys and girls in Grade 10. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance produced significant main effects and an interaction of school × subject. Differential validities of environmental variables in predicting achievement using multiple regression suggested that perception of the learning environment for course content substantially predicted achievement in that course content. Incremental validity of the learning environment with achievement when IQ was partialled out was also substantial. Implications for instructional effectiveness and school organization are discussed.

Cognition and Learning

According to the dictionary of psychology, cognition is defined as a general term covering all the various modes of knowing—perceiving, remembering, imagining, conceiving, judging, and reasoning (Drever, 1969). In order to understand the relationship between cognition, as defined above, and learning, it will be necessary to examine the historical development of learning including changes in learning definitions. It will also be necessary to tease out the interaction between cognition and learning and the effect on cognitive learning theory as now loosely defined; some of the inherent problems; and some of the resulting implications for education.