Marvin Karlins

A Tactical Game for the Analysis of Complex Decision Making in Individuals and Groups

An experimental simulation is described as a prototype for research concerned with the analysis of human information processing characteristics in complex environments. The method employs a simulated war game environment which lends itself to the analysis of performance and perceptual characteristics of individuals and social groups. Suggestions for procedures, space requirements and measurement techniques are included.

Academic Attitudes and Performance as a Function of Differential Grading Systems: An Evaluation of Princeton's Pass-Fail System.

An empirical investigation of the Princeton University pass-fail system is presented. Findings based on questionnaire and academic performance data indicate that the pass-fail grading alternative is not the panacea that some educators envisioned. It is suggested that further study of the pass-fail system be undertaken before it becomes a permanent grading procedure in our Universities.

Discovery Learning, Creativity, and the Inductive Teaching Program

A pedagogical innovation, the Inductive Teaching Program (ITP), is presented. The ITP contains a set of facts about a specific problem, situation or academic subject, stored on individual cards, analogous to the memory storage banks utilized by computers. The student is charged with the responsibility of getting these facts by the “inquiry” method: asking questions that will solicit these pieces of information. The applications of the ITP in education and educational research are examined, and its linking role between discovery learning and creativity investigations reviewed.

The effect of conceptual complexity on information search in a complex problem-solving task

Individuals varying in their level of integrative complexity (Schroder, Driver, & Streufert, 1966) requested information about a novel environment for use in solving a complex problem. Ss who are integratively complex are more active in this type of learning task (ask more questions) and request different types of information than their integratively simple counterparts.

Creativity and information search in a problem-solving context

This study found consistent individual differences in Ss information search patterns (questioning frequency and category sampling) across three problem-solving tasks, a relationship between this behavior and Guilford’s productivity measure of creativity (Uses for Things), and an independence of both creativity and information request from intelligence.

Examining Creativity with the Inductive Teaching Program

was through intelligence assessment. Recently, however, many educators and psychologists have come to feel that intelligence ixay not be the only important variable in problem-solving behavior. This has led to a second approach in viewing such activity: through creativity. This paper introduces a pedagogical innovation, the Inductive Teaching Program (ITP). The ITP can be used. both as a learning device and as a behavioral measure (criterion) of creativity. After a brief description of the ITP, the paper will offer experimental evidence from several studies supporting its use in assessing creativity.

A NEW USE FOR THE IBM PUNCH CARD

It is argued that the IBM card is the best “file card” available for constructing a personalized reference system that is inexpensive and flexible enough to allow for constant revisions of materials while providing a means of automating the information retrieval process. The advantages of utilizing the IBM card for such a purpose are presented, followed by an example of its use in a reference system developed for writing books.