Role of memory in concept learning.

Studies manipulating variables in the attempt to produce different memory requirements in concept learning are reviewed. Many of them have tested Underwood's theoretical position of response contiguity. Performance is generally improved by increasing the availability of previous stimulus information. The degree to which instances of the same concept occur contiguously directly affects acquisition of the concept. Attempts to demonstrate inferior performance with spaced practice have not been successful, although procedural problems make any conclusion tentative. There is some suggestion that memory effects could be classified as proactive and retroactive inhibition. A basic problem concerns the indirect type of question posed by investigators. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructional design for accelerating children's concept learning.

Used an instructional design based on task analysis procedures to develop written lessons to accelerate the attainment of subject-matter concepts by 64 3rd and 118 4th graders. In Study 1 on equilateral triangle, a variation of the Solomon 4-group design was employed to determine the effects of the pretest. Performance of the 4th graders on a posttest and 2-mo follow-up measure showed that groups receiving the lessons performed significantly better than groups receiving placebo lessons at 2 levels of advanced concept mastery. Study 2 was a replication with 3rd graders. These data suggest that the analysis of the concept to be taught and of the cognitive operations involved in attaining the concept at a specific level of mastery enables one to identify instructional strategies that promote enduring concept attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Same-different texture discrimination and concept learning by pigeons.

Investigated the acquisition and transfer of a "same-different" conditional discrimination using multidimensional visual texture stimuli in pigeons. Using a choice task, 4 pigeons were reinforced for discriminating different displays, created from aggregated differences in element color or shape, from uniform displays, in which all elements were identical. Discrimination of these 2 display types was readily acquired by the pigeons when they were required to locate and peck the contrasting target region of the different displays. The pigeons showed high levels of discrimination transfer to novel texture stimuli both during acquisition and in 2 subsequent transfer tests. The results suggest that pigeons may be able to learn a generalized same-different concept when promoted by the use of large numbers of multielement stimuli during training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Language-driven concept learning: Deciphering Jabberwocky.

Four experiments assessed (Whorfian) effects of language on acquiring event categories. During learning, English-like spoken language accompanied animated scenes in some conditions. Lexical (novel verbs) and/or syntactic cues (either argument structures or prepositions) covaried with event category. Other conditions provided no language. All participants' knowledge of event categories was tested without language. Participants learned the event categories better when some aspect of language covaried with them (Experiments 1, 2, & 3; but not with sounds, Experiment 4), and better still when two aspects of language covaried (Experiments 1 & 3). However, multiple (Experiments 2 & 3) and individual language cues (Experiment 4) did not always facilitate learning. The effect of language is more complicated than providing feedback, as in supervised learning, or increasing systematicity, as in unsupervised learning. Language form induced specific expectations, with effects on learning analogous to the effects of prior theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptive control of learning time and content sequence in concept learning using computer-based instruction.

Investigated 2 independent variables associated with the design of instruction for coordinate concept learning to clarify the transition in memory between conceptual knowledge formation and procedural knowledge development. The 1st variable, display time interval, controlled the amount of instructional display time of each interrogatory example; the 2nd variable, content sequence, sequenced examples according to response-sensitive decision strategies effecting incorrect solutions. 72 11th graders who were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 instructional treatment conditions served as Ss in a 2?×?3 experimental design. Data analysis showed that adaptive-controlled display time groups needed fewer examples and less instructional time and performed better on the posttest and retention test than did the learner-controlled groups. For the 2nd variable, the combined generalization–discrimination strategy resulted in better on-task learning efficiency and test performances than each of these strategies separately. Findings are discussed in reference to concept teaching using a 2-phase concept-learning theory. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive development and concept learning: An interpretative review.

According to the cognitive-developmental view of concept learning, children's ability to learn concepts is constrained by their stage of cognitive development. Several experiments that have purported to test this prediction are reviewed. Although the investigators who conducted them and previous reviewers have concluded that the experiments confirm the prediction, it is shown that this conclusion is based on statistical estimates of the learning-stage relation (correlations between pre- and posttraining concept-test scores) that are biased in its favor. When unbiased estimates of the learning-stage relation are computed, the same experiments fail to confirm the prediction. It is concluded that because of logical deficiencies in the designs of these experiments, attempts to explain observed differences in children's concept learning by invoking the stage construct suffer from circularity. (78 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prior knowledge and functionally relevant features in concept learning.

Empirical learning models have typically focused on statistical aspects of features (e.g., cue and category validity). In general, these models do not address the contact between people's prior knowledge that lies outside the category and their experiences of the category. A variety of extensions to these models are examined, which combine prior knowledge with empirical learning. Predictions of these models were compared in 4 experiments. These studies contrasted the cue and category validity of features with people's prior knowledge about the relevance of features to the functions of novel artifacts. The findings suggest that the influences of knowledge and experience are more tightly integrated than some models would predict. Furthermore, relatively straightforward ways of incorporating knowledge into an empirical learning algorithm appear insufficient (e.g., use of knowledge to weight features by general relevance or to individually weight features). Other extensions to these models are suggested that focus on the importance of intermediary features, coherence, and conceptual roles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unsupervised concept learning and value systematicitiy: A complex whole aids learning the parts.

Ease of learning new concepts may best be understood by simultaneously considering models of learning and theories of how "good" systems of categories are organized. The authors tested the effects on learning of value systematicity, a proposed organizing principle: If 1 attribute is predictive of another, it should predict still more. This principle derives from focused sampling in the internal feedback model (D. Billman & E. Heit, 1988) of unsupervised, or observational, learning. In 3 experiments, the authors tested how the organization of structure in input (value systematicity) affected unsupervised learning of categories about alien animals. Across all experiments, learning a target rule was easier in conditions with high value systematicity, relative to several low systematicity controls. The authors compare results to predictions of several learning models and consider the links between learning and the resulting category structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process learning time as an adaptive design variable in concept learning using computer-based instruction.

Investigated the effects of manipulating the display time of interrogatory examples in a concept-learning experiment according to individual processing needs. Extending the (see PA, Vols 66:6674 and 70:6652), 2-stage concept-learning theory by R. D. Tennyson et al it was hypothesized that prototype formation (Stage 1) requires an increase in the amount of information in the initial instructional period, whereas classification skill development (Stage 2) requires an increase in "reasonable" processing time in the latter instructional period. Data analyses using posttest and retention test scores showed that, for 96 9th-grade students studying 3 biological concepts via computer-based instruction, decreasing display time of interrogatory examples for incorrect answers (thereby increasing the amount of information) and increasing display time for correct answers (thereby increasing processing time) was better than several alternative procedures. These alternatives are (1) decreasing display time for correct answers and increasing it for incorrect answers (reversal of hypothesis), (2) controlling display time but without adjustment for responses, and (3) allowing for learner control of display time. Findings are discussed in reference to information processing theory and use of instructional display time as an adaptive design variable. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-based learning in a social medicine course--a concept for improving learning achievement and practice relevance

In many medical curricula around the world, problem-based learning (PBL), i.e. inductive, usually interdisciplinary learning based on real or constructed cases, has been shown to improve the acquisition of knowledge. Additionally, it is valued positively by students. On the other hand, lecturing is usually valued negatively. Teaching of epidemiology and social medicine is further handicapped by the fact that students consider it irrelevant. In 1994/95, one of 18 social medicine courses for fifth year medical students at Hannover Medical School was problem-based. The following "cases" were used: 1. rheumatic patient with various social medical problems (losing sick pay, receiving status as handicapped person, early retirement etc.), 2. cluster of patients with leukaemia in the surroundings of a nuclear power plant and 3. recent newspaper articles on the effects of the 1993 Health Care Reform Law (dentists refusing to treat patients because of a fixed budget, introduction of prepayment methods in hospital etc.). Evaluation by the students at the end of the course revealed that PBL is well accepted in social medicine. Students rated learning success, relevance of the subject compared to other disciplines and the ability to transfer the acquired knowledge into medical practice well above the traditional courses. Besides lectures, practical courses and seminars, PBL should therefore be used as a standard method of learning in undergraduate medical education.     

Incidental concept learning, feature frequency, and correlated properties.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 19(2) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-10487-001). This article included three typographical errors in the statistics. The corrected statistics are provided in the erratum.] Four experiments examined sensitivity to feature frequencies and feature correlations as a function of intentional and incidental concept learning. Feature frequencies were encoded equally well across variations in learning strategies, and although classification decisions in both intentional and incidental conditions preserved correlated features, this sensitivity was achieved through different processes. With intentional learning, sensitivity to correlations resulted from explicit rules, whereas incidental encoding preserved correlations through a similarity-based analogical process. In incidental tasks that promoted exemplar storage, classification decisions were mediated by similarity to retrieval examples, and correlated features were indirectly preserved in this process. Results are discussed in terms of the diversity of encoding processes and representations that can occur with incidental category learning. [An erratum concerning this article appears in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1993(Mar), Vol 19(2). The statistics on page 211 are corrected.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pigeon same–different concept learning with multiple stimulus classes.

Two experiments examined the acquisition and transfer of a complex same–different discrimination by pigeons. With the use of a 2-alternative choice task, 5 pigeons were reinforced for discriminating odd-item Different displays, in which a contrasting target was present, from Same displays, in which all elements were identical. Four different types of same-different displays were concurrently tested. The display types differed in their configuration (texture vs. visual search organization), the nature of their elements (small and large colored shapes; pictures of birds, flowers, fish, and humans), and the processing demands required by their global-local element arrangement. Despite these differences, the pigeons learned to discriminate all 4 display types at the same rate and showed positive discrimination transfer to novel examples of each type, suggesting that a single generalized rule was used to discriminate all display types. These results provide some of the strongest evidence yet that pigeons, like many primates, can learn an abstract, visually mediated same-different concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low-inference variables of teacher clarity: Effects on student concept learning.

Investigated the combined effect of 6 low-inference variables of teacher clarity (vagueness terms, mazes, utterances of "uh," specification and emphasis on content, clear transitions, and additional unexplained content) on student achievement. The occurrence of the low-inference variables was controlled by a videotape technique. The clarity main effect and the time of achievement (immediate vs delayed) effects were significant. There was no significant differential effect of level of teacher clarity on student retention. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational interpretations.

We review studies of relational interpretations as predictors of psychotherapy outcome and alliance. Investigations examining frequency of interpretations and outcome have yielded mixed findings. However, studies specifically of transference interpretations have converged toward the conclusion that high rates of transference interpretations can lead to poor outcome, particularly for patients with low quality of object relations. Several studies of the quality of interpretations have yielded consistent findings suggesting that relatively more favorable treatment outcomes are produced when therapists accurately address central aspects of patients' interpersonal dynamics. Few studies that have examined the relation between interpretations and the therapeutic alliance or tested the common clinical notion that interpretations have their greatest impact in the context of a positive alliance. Practice implications based upon this research literature are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational being.

Reviews the book, Relational being: Beyond self and community by Kenneth J. Gergen (see record 2009-10534-000). In this book, Gergen develops and elaborates a theoretical framework for shifting the unit of analysis in psychology and other social sciences away from the individual toward relationships. The core arguments of the book revolve around claims that individuals (“bounded entities”) are social constructs that should be understood not as natural and self-evident phenomena but rather as emergent from relationships. By corollary, many of the properties traditionally associated with individuals (e.g., thoughts, feelings, beliefs) are argued to be better understood as relational accomplishments; that is, as arising from the larger context of the social fabric from which individuals are seen to be emergent. Significantly, Gergen also asserts that traditional individualist assumptions have negative impacts on our social world. He focuses on a number of specific domains to illustrate how a relational approach would lead to a more constructive, harmonious, and better existence. I found much value in the practical aspects of Gergen’s exposition of relational being, while feeling uncomfortable with the epistemological and ontological foundations provided in the book. The root of this ambiguity seems to lie in Gergen’s own contradictory stance, which oscillates between offering a relational approach as “just another perspective” (i.e., no more or less true than any other) and implying the moral and epistemic superiority of relational over individualist approaches. Although the former position seems to me sensible and appropriate, the latter (which dominates in the book) constitutes an unnecessary universalism that seems to run counter to the pluralistic spirit that is evident in parts of the book. Gergen’s own words, Let us replace the Hobbesian dystopia of 'all against all,' with a vision of 'all with all' (p. 403) for me sums up both the strengths and weaknesses of the book—the insights offered by the application of a relational perspective to specific practical contexts are a truly valuable contribution; but suggesting that this perspective is a panacea and needs to replace all individualistic accounts is counterproductive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hippocampal Dampening During a Relational Memory Task.

The hippocampus (HPC) has an essential role in relational memory. One task used to test relational memory is the transverse patterning (TP) problem (A+ B-, B+ C-, and C+ A-), which is sensitive to HPC damage across species. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans, the authors observed activation maps and time course data indicating that the HPC is involved in this task, but it is paradoxically less active during the hippocampal-dependent relational memory phase relative to both a hippocampal-independent control memory phase and to a fixation control phase. This suggests that traditional assumptions suggesting that brain regions critical for a task must produce an increased blood oxygen level-dependent response during performance of that task are probably inaccurate and alternative explanations should be entertained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantitative connotation of a concept.

Trait referent terms (adjectives) were rated on the "bad-good" scale and the mean rating of each word computed. Based on these ratings, lists of 3 terms were constructed with varying distributions, and Ss formed impressions of a person therefrom. Results showed that (a) a positively skewed list produced a more positive (good) impression than one composed of terms having almost identical values, and (b) of 2 lists having identical means and midranges, the 1 including a more highly positive term produced the more positive impression. It was suggested that the connotation of an impression is influenced more by extreme terms than by relatively neutral ones. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The concept of intelligence and its role in lifelong learning and success.

This article proposes a definition of intelligence as comprising the mental abilities necessary for adaptation to, as well as selection and shaping of, any environmental context. According to this definition, although the behavior that is labeled as intelligent may differ from 1 environmental context to another, the mental processes underlying this behavior do not. An individual's ability to apply these processes may differ from 1 context to another, however. The abilities are applied to achieve external correspondence to the world and internal coherence among various knowledge and belief structures. The relevance of the definition for understanding current theories, testing in the field of intelligence, as well as for understanding the role of intelligence in lifelong learning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language learning and concept acquisition: Foundational issues.

Reviews the book, Language Learning and concept acquisition: Foundational issues edited by William Demopoulos and Ausonio Marras (1986). This is a stimulating and informative book presenting various attempts to account for the highly regular nature of language acquisition. Although many of the individual chapters in this book are quite excellent, the book suffers from a lack of cohesiveness because: (1) the chapters vary tremendously in their complexity and completeness--some are written at an introductory level, whereas others assume the reader to have a highly sophisticated knowledge base; and (2) the editors make no attempt to tie the book together. There are no introductory or summary comments to the various sections in the book and, in fact, there is not even a proper foreword. This severely limits the usefulness of the book. Nevertheless, I would recommend this collection of readings to researchers and scholars in the fields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and the cognitive sciences. It contains many provocative ideas, and would be particularly useful to study in a seminar (or other group) setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The locus of knowledge effects in concept learning

Three experiments investigated how knowledge influences concept formation and representation in a standard concept acquisition task. The primary comparison was among arbitrary concepts, which had meaningless features; meaningful concepts, which had meaningful features from different domains; and integrated concepts, which had meaningful features interconnected by common knowledge. Experiment 1 found that learning was superior for the integrated concepts but that there was little difference as a function of feature meaningfulness. Experiment 2 suggested that the integrated Ss were learning to form a knowledge-based schema as their concept representation because they did not distinguish the typicality of features that differed in frequency. Experiment 3 introduced a category whose features were from the same domain but were not otherwise related. This concept was as difficult to learn and use as the meaningful concepts were. These comparisons help specify the ways in which knowledge does and does not influence concept formation.