Conference Proceedings: Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction. Volume 1. Cognitive Process Analyses of Aptitude

摘要

This conference takes on a formidable task, that of trying to relate in a meaningful way the processes underlying human aptitude and intelligence to the cognitive aspects of learning and the real world of instructional practices. For about the last 6 years, ONR has been conducting a thematically oriented research program aimed, in large part, at developing the kind of broad theoretical framework necessary for a workable process interpretation of aptitude, learning, and performance. The papers in this collection are generally addressed to three broad areas that are central to these interests of the ONR Personnel and Training Research Programs. One area is concerned with individual differences in information processing, as revealed in simple laboratory or psychometric tasks. Whereas conventional measurement of abilities and aptitudes relies on the actuarial criterion of their success in distinguishing between high- and low-level individuals, the emphasis here is on the direct measurement of the component, basic information-processing operations that undergrid the target abilities. The second area focuses on the structural aspects of learning and performance, using tools and concepts from semantic memory theory to describe what is learned and how it is learned. And the third area is aimed at the management of instruction: It addresses itself to the kinds of research and instructional designs required for effective implementation of adaptive instruction.