General Learning Theory Research Articles

Treatment efficiency as a function of target selection in the remediation of child language disorders

A number of studies appearing in the recent literature examined the effectiveness of treating language impairments using indirect, conversationally based interventions. However, such studies have been difficult to interpret, due, in part, to a lack of direct comparisons of treatment types. The present study was designed to compare directly elicited imitation treatment and conversational treatment using linguistic targets matched for structural stage and assigned randomly to treatment condition. These treatments were applied to four specifically language-impaired children (age range 4;9 to 5;11) during a 16-week training period. Spontaneous productions occurred following significantly fewer presentations within the conversational treatment. Additionally, the results indicated that both kinds of treatments were effective and that certain individual targets were acquired more rapidly within the elicited imitation treatment. These findings are discussed in terms of the differing approaches to treatment and in terms of more general theories of language learning.

Problem drinking as a form of learned behaviour: a final rejoinder to Gorman and Edwards

This article continues, and hopefully concludes, a dispute in this journal over the value of the learning paradigm of problem drinking, as outlined by Heather & Robertson. It is first reasserted that the idea that the problem drinking paradigm is nothing more than a bid by psychologists to take over the alcohol studies field is neither a useful nor serious proposition. Secondly, it is denied that our claim is that psychology has already succeeded in substituting a new paradigm for an old one, but conceded that the term 'general theory' may be more appropriate in some ways than 'paradigm'. Thirdly, the criticism that the general learning theory is as tautologous as the disease theory it aspires to replace is again rejected. Finally, the merits of a general theory of problem drinking, as opposed to a diversity of explanatory models, are expounded.

A learning model for science education: Deriving teaching strategies

A learning model for science education was proposed by Appleton (1989), based on Osborne and Wittrock’s generative learning theory (1983) and the Piagetian notions of disequilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation. The model incorporated many aspects of difficulties in learning science experienced by students, as revealed in the LISP projects and similar research. This paper examines how the model may be used to derive teaching strategies: components of the model are analysed in terms of specific types of teacher interventions which could facilitate students’ progress to accommodation. Some established teaching strategies are analysed in terms of these interventions.

Extending the Scope of the Acculturation/Pidginization Model to Include Cognition

This paper examines five cognitive models for second language acquisition (SLA) and assesses how each of them might account for the pidginized interlanguage found in the early stages of SLA. The conclusion drawn from this analysis is that all the models offer some account for how a pidginized interlanguage might be formed, but none provides an adequate explanation of the cognition that would be involved in pidginization. Based on this assessment, the paper discusses criteria for evaluating cognitive models for SLA. In addition, an argument is made that abstract characterizations of learner behavior (principles, rules, strategies, etc.) must not be confused with the cognitive mechanisms that cause the behavior. Finally, it is suggested that the structure and function of the brain might be a good source of ideas about the cognitive architecture and mechanisms involved in SLA and that a complete general theory of second language learning will ultimately have to contain an account of cognitive processing.

Mathematical foundations of neurocomputing

An attempt is made to establish a mathematical theory that shows the intrinsic mechanisms, capabilities, and limitations of information processing by various architectures of neural networks. A method of statistically analyzing one-layer neural networks is given, covering the stability of associative mapping and mapping by totally random networks. A fundamental problem of statistical neurodynamics is considered in a way that is different from the spin-glass approach. A dynamic analysis of associative memory models and a general theory of neural learning, in which the learning potential function plays a role, are given. An advanced theory of learning and self-organization is proposed, covering backpropagation and its generalizations as well as the formation of topological maps and neural representations of information.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Comments on Bernard Spolsky's "Bridging the Gap: A General Theory of Second Language Learning". The Author Responds

Comments on Bernard Spolsky's "Bridging the Gap: A General Theory of Second Language Learning". The Author Responds

Comments on Bernard Spolsky's "Bridging the Gap: A General Theory of Second Language Learning". A Reader Reacts

Comments on Bernard Spolsky's "Bridging the Gap: A General Theory of Second Language Learning". A Reader Reacts

Comments on Elizabeth Gatbonton and Norman Segalowitz's "Creative Automatization: Principles for Promoting Fluency within a Communicative Framework". The Authors Respond

implications? In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Report of the Twentieth Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies (pp. 143155). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Spolsky, B. (1985a). Formulating a theory of second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7, 269-288. Spolsky, B. (1985b). Some psycholinguistic conditions for second language learning. Per linguam, 1, 2-11. Spolsky, B. (1986). A multiple choice for language testers. Language Testing, 3, 148-158. Spolsky, B. (1987). The place of linguistics in a general theory of second language learning and in language teaching. AILA Review, 4, 32-43. Spolsky, B. (1988). [Review article: Review of R. Ellis, Understanding second language acquisition, and R. C. Gardner, Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation]. Applied Linguistics, 9, 100-113. Spolsky, B. (1989). Conditions for second language learning: Introduction to a general theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bridging the Gap: A General Theory of Second Language Learning

This article explores the requirements for a general theory of second language learning that can account both for the fact that people can learn more than one language and for the generalizable individual differences that occur in such learning. Such a general theory will be able to explain and describe differences between second and foreign language learning, between learning for general and special purposes, between formal and informal learning, and between developing knowledge and skills. It will need to be precise and clear on the nature of the goals and outcomes of learning and to recognize the complexity of the concept of knowing a second language, which can vary almost without restriction in both kind and amount. The model must be integrated and interactive, to assume that all or many parts of it apply to any specific kind of learning and that there is close interaction among the various parts. The theory proposed allows for a formally valued eclecticism, provided by the use of a preference model. This article considers the formalization of such a model in an expert system and the more recent implications of the Parallel Distributed Processing model.

Review: Teaching Adapted to Thinking

Children's Mathematical Thinking is an excellent book for preservice or in-service preschool, primary, and special education teachers. Much recent research on children's mathematics learning is presented in an interesting and assimilable manner. Two features used throughout the book contribute to its effectiveness with its intended audience: Short case studies are described, and two general theories of learning, absorption theory and cognitive theory, are contrasted.

Sensation Seeking and Behavior Disorders-Reply

Many clinicians and researchers have responded enthusiastically to recent articles in which I described a general neurobiologic learning theory of personality and its relationship to anxiety and mood disorders,^1,2alcoholism,³and personality disorders.⁴I have particularly appreciated readers who called my attention to parallel findings in their own work or that of others whom I might have otherwise overlooked. All observers of human personality share a common focus, so it is comforting that our descriptions sometimes agree with one another at least partially. The similarities in the descriptions of human motivation and personality by pioneers such as the experimental psychologist Wundt, the neurophysiologist Pavlov, the psychoanalyst Freud, the neuropsychiatrist Sjobring, and many later workers, such as Zuckerman and myself, suggest some fundamental validity to inferences drawn from widely different perspectives. Zuckerman has made many important observations about sensationseeking behavior that I have cited and discussed in

The ?interbehavioral? approach to treatment

This article introduces and describes the “interbehavioral” approach to clinical intervention as an interdisciplinary system where assessment and treatment encompass physical and psychological effects as continuous interactions. Behavior disorders and their elimination follow a general learning theory model as interpreted by J.R. Kantor. This theory view responses and stimuli as having their own functions that directly affect progress in therapy. Kantor's interbehavioral or “systems” methods obviate the narrow focus of operant (behavioral) psychology by broadening the analysis to include individual history and a better integration of human service disciplines. To this extent, clinical and training applications attend to more of the human operations and overcome such limitations as poor internal validity and problems with generalization of treated behavior to everyday settings. Implications of the interbehavioral system for clinical networks are discussed.

A general theory of aversion learning.

Infinitely various are the modifications of light and sound, whence they are each capable of supplying an endless variety of signs, and, accordingly, have been each employed to form languages; the one by the arbitrary appointment of mankind, the other by that of God himself. A connection established by the Author of Nature, in the ordinary course of things, may surely be called natural; as that made by men will be called artificial. GEORGE BERKELEY, 1733

The general theory of two-stage learning: A mathematical review with illustrations from memory development.

The general theory of two-stage learning: A mathematical review with illustrations from memory development.

Contrasting approaches to a theory of learning

AbstractThe general process view of learning, which guided research into learning for the first half of this century, has come under attack in recent years from several quarters. One form of criticism has come from proponents of the so-called biological boundaries approach to learning. These theorists have presented a variety of data showing that supposedly general laws of learning may in fact be limited in their applicability to different species and learning tasks, and they argue that the limitations are drawn by the nature of each species' adaptation to the particular requirements of its natural environment. The biological boundaries approach has served an important critical function in the move away from general process learning theory, but it is limited in its ability to provide an alternative to the general process approach. In particular, the biological boundaries approach lacks generality, it is in some respects subservient to the general process tradition, and its ecological content is in too many cases limited toex post factoadaptive explanations of learning skills. A contrasting, ecological approach to learning, which can provide a true alternative to general process theory, is presented. The ecological approach begins by providing an ecological task description for naturally occurring instances of learning; this step answers the question:Whatdoes this animal learn to do? The next step is an analysis of the means by which learning occurs in the course of development, answering the question:Howdoes the animal learn to do this? On the basis of such analyses, local principles of adaptation are formulated to account for the learning abilities of individual species. More global principles are sought by generalization among these local principles and may form the basis for a general ecological theory of learning.

Strategies for self promoting development

All people working in organisations learn and develop to some extent over time. The outcome of this development varies as widely between individuals as people themselves vary from one another. Some people achieve top managerial positions in industry and commerce in their late twenties or early thirties while others have to wait to the final stages of their working careers to achieve such positions. Some struggle at stages throughout their careers and achieve only moderate success; others do not seem to try at all. Management training and development activities are aimed at providing better opportunities and facilities for such development to meet the need of organisations to improve management performance. In practice these activities are designed to meet overall organisational needs and to conform with general behavioural and learning theories. The crucial significance of individual differences in motivation and ability to learn and develop is seldom, if ever, consciously exploited as a route towards securing real improvements in management performance. It is the contention of this paper that self‐development is such an approach.

A test of Weiner's attribution theory inertial motivation hypothesis1

This study (N= 160 males) examined the cognitive and inertial motivation effects of overt success feedback on subjects high and low in resultant achievement motivation. The cognitive effects of overt success feedback were investigated by requesting attributions to effort, ability, luck, and task difficulty concerning performance on a digit symbol substitution task. The inertial motivation effects of overt success feedback were investigated through a transfer design. Results indicated overt success feedback to have an inertial motivation effect on performance efficiency at a subsequent verbal learning task. The results provided evidence against Weiner's (1972) attribution theory version of the inertial motivation hypothesis, and were interpreted within the general learning theory framework combined with the achievement and test anxiety models of Atkinson and Sarason. The interpretation offered considers the various experimental conditions as sources of motivation.

Linking of learning signals in honeybee orientation

1. Honeybees link time, color, and scent together when these signals are simultaneously presented in training. 2. Presenting time and color, or time and scent, as constant signal combinations in training results in very precise orientation. When either one of the combined signals is varied, orientation by the other signal deteriorates. Varying time causes deterioration in both scent and color orientation. Conversely, time orientation is disturbed by varying color or varying scent. 3. Scent orientation is most precise when its combination with color and time is constant throughout training and testing. Scent orientation is reduced by 36% when the combined color is different in training and testing. In addition, a different time signal in training and testing reduces scent orientation by another 9%. 4. The tightness of linking between pairs of signals differs for different signal combinations. Time and color as well as color and scent form very close ties. The linking between time and scent seems to be weaker. The hypothesis is introduced that these differences reflect the order in which the signals are used in the bee's orientation to flowers. 5. Ecological significance, prior related findings, and general learning theories are discussed in light of these findings. Linking of learning signals is apparently adaptive when orienting with cues that occur in specific combinations. Linking of learning signals may be the mechanism of forming a ‘Gestalt.’

How do the various theories of stuttering facilatate our therapeutic approach?

Considering the current ascendency of learning theories in the treatment of behavior disorders, I believe that the question posed might be rephrased by many as “Are theories of stuttering really necessary?” More specifically, the question might be framed as “What evidence exists that stuttering behaviors differ from other behaviors that have been demonstrated to be under operant control?” To suit those favoring a two-factor theory of learning, the last question could be extended to include control by classical conditioning or desensitization. In these forms the question at issue is not whether theory plays a guiding role in therapy, but what sort of theory is appropriate in the treatment of stuttering. The latter is an interesting question while the former is a trivial one. Almost certainly theory of some sort, however unsystematic or to whatever extent implicit, guides therapeutic practice. Pure empiricism is a myth in treatment and research. The issue of current interest is whether the guiding theory should be one of the general theories of learning or should be some special theory that distinguishes stuttering behaviors from other behaviors and gives specific therapeutic guidance beyond that issuing from general theories of learning. The answer that I propose to offer is that, at the present time, the treatment of stuttering cannot be approached adequately without resort to special theory. This answer should not be construed to imply that stuttering will never be embraced by general learning theory, but is simply a recognition that the facts of stuttering cannot be accounted for by present learning theories. Studies of normal speakers have shown that speech disfluencies come under operant control with the attachment of rewarding and aversive contingencies (Hill, 1954; Savoye, 1959; Flanagan et al., 1959; Stassi, 1961; Stevens, 1963; Siegel and Martin, 1965a, b, 1966, 1967, 1968; Brookshire and Martin, 1967; Martin and Siegel, 1969; Siegel et al., 1969). When one turns to stuttering behaviors, however, several studies have failed to demonstrate a reduction in stuttering in the presence of negative contingent stimulation (Frick, 1951; Stevens, 1963; Daly, 1967, 1968; Timmons, 1966). Other studies have shown that when stuttering behaviors are differentiated, some behaviors will increase while others will decrease with negative contingent reinforcement (Martin et al., 1964; Quist, 1966; Webster, 1968; Starkweather, 1970). Such findings suggest that

Learning in the absence of forebrain noradrenaline.

CONSIDERABLE attention has been given to suggestions that forebrain noradrenaline (NA) plays a central role in the associative learning process1,2. For example, Kety2 has proposed a general noradrenergic theory of learning in which he hypothesises that NA release associated with reinforcement facilitates the formation of learned associations. Crow3 subsequently suggested that the dorsal NA bundle which extensively innervates the cortex could be the crucial pathway involved. In support of this hypothesis are findings that learning on shock avoidance4 and appetitive5–7 tasks is impaired after widespread loss of forebrain NA and dopamine. More specifically, Anlezark et al.8 found that bilateral electrolytic lesions to the origins of the dorsal NA bundle in the locus coeruleus impaired the acquisition of runway behaviour. Cortical forebrain NA loss was reduced to 69% of control levels in their study. We have used 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) treatments to achieve virtually total forebrain NA loss and have found no impairment on the acquisition of runway behaviour. The NA-depleted animals, were however, slow to inhibit running during extinction, suggesting that although the dorsal NA system is not involved in the acquisition of reinforced responses, it is important for the response to non-reward.