THE STUDY MEASURED THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING IN A SERIES OF CLOZE PROCEDURE EXERCISES UPON READING COMPREHENSION. STUDENTS WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL IN BLANK SPACES IN WRITTEN TEXT. THIS ACT OF CLOSURE ITSELF WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A NONOVERT REINFORCEMENT. STUDENTS (1,411) IN 49 CLASSROOMS PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. A CROSS-SECTIONAL GROUP WAS STUDIED…

THE USE OF REWARDS AS INCENTIVES TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR WAS STUDIED AND AN EVALUATION WAS MADE OF THE INCENTIVE VALUE OF EACH OF THE REWARDS. PORTABLE VERSIONS OF THE WISCONSIN GENERAL TEST APPARATUS WERE USED TO TEST 120 CHILDREN FROM GRADES 1, 3, AND 5. FOR A DISCRIMINATION LEARNING TEST EACH CHILD WAS PRESENTED 5 STIMULI THAT WERE SELECTED FROM…

THE EXTENT TO WHICH INCENTIVES INFLUENCE CHILDREN'S LEARNING WAS STUDIED BY INVESTIGATORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT. BOTH VERBAL AND MATERIAL REWARDS WERE OFFERED TO SELECTED GROUPS OF CHILDREN WHICH VARIED IN NUMBER FROM 48 TO 80 CHILDREN. A DIFFERENTIAL METHOD PERMITTED THE CHILDREN TO EXPLORE THE RANGE OF REWARDS SO THAT THE COMPARATIVE…

MANY OF THE REPORTED BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FAMILIAL RETARDATES AND NORMAL CHILDREN OF THE SAME MOTOR ABILITY ARE PRODUCTS OF A VARIETY OF DIFFERENCES IN MOTIVATION RATHER THAN PERMANENT EFFECTS OF MENTAL RETARDATION ITSELF. MANY RESEARCHERS, HOWEVER, HAVE TAKEN THE POSITION THAT MENTAL RETARDATES ARE INHERENTLY "DIFFERENT." THIS…