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431 studies in general support the view that soeially-translnitted attitudes to- ward authority, exploration, inter- personal cooperation, stimulus induc- tion, and task involvement are cen- tral to the development of intelligent behaviour. Recent studies indicate that task-centered motives (as op- posed to motivation to seek the ease, comfort, and safety of the environ- ment) may serve to enhance learning ability as well as to promote general mental health. Tlae notion that the intellect can be trained by specific educational pro- cedures has received serious and sys- tematic attention only quite recently, with some notable successes. The area of language development is seen as most crucial, partly because of tim over-riding relevance ef language fmaetions to the academic enterprise, and partly because of the nature of language as a general mediator of thought. Results so far are tentative, but suggest that specific training in the use of verbal symbols may result not only in greater verbal facility but also in a laigher level of general in- tellect ual functioning. Some explanatou,, efforts have seen emotionality as a mediator of the ef- fects of early experience, while others have emphasized tim mefiiating roles of learning sets and of attitude change. Learning Transfer and Cognitive Development A. D. B. CLAnKr:, Ph.D., University of llttlL England This paper reports some of the re- suits of a five-year research program by the author and his colleagues, in particular A. M. Clarke and G. M. Cooper. A common but ill-supported belief is that there is something special about earl}, human learning~ Thus a stinmlating, but undeveloped, view was advanced by McGeoch and by Hebb that learning transfer might be a particular characteristic of early life, declining in obvious importance thereafter simply because it had al- ready occurred. Using imbecile sub- jects of different ages, support was at first obtained for this hypothesis. At the same time the assets and defi- cits in the learning of subnormal per- sons were outlined. A more crucial test ' was later can'ied out, however, in which adults and children were placed (m an equal footing by adjust- ing task complexity until the same starting point for both was reached. Similar acquisition and transfer now resulted. Having ttms found a probable re- lationship hetween transfer and task complexity in subnormals, the next problem was to check this association by lmlding age constant and varying the complexity of the training tasks. Additionally it was important to de- termine whether transfer might occur between widely different conceptual problems. Using groups of imbeciles matched for age, I.Q. and other vari- ables, and tasks incorporating no "identical elements" other than the need to categorize, once again trans- fer was shown to be related to inter- vening training task complexity and to occur between widely different sorting problems. Finally," similar re- lationships emerged even more pow- erfully in an experiment using bio-

Learning transfer and cognitive development

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studies in general support the view that soeially-translnit ted at t i tudes to- ward authori ty, exploration, inter- personal cooperation, stimulus induc- tion, and task involvement are c e n - tral to the development of intell igent behaviour. Recent studies indicate that task-centered motives (as op- posed to motivation to seek the ease, comfort, and safety of the environ- men t ) may serve to enhance learning abili ty as well as to promote general mental health.

Tlae notion that the intellect can be trained by specific educational pro- cedures has received serious and sys- tematic at tention only qui te recently, with some notable successes. The area of language development is seen as most crucial, par t ly because of tim over-riding relevance ef language fmaetions to the academic enterprise, and par t ly because of the nature of language as a general mediator of thought. Results so far are tentative, but suggest that specific training in the use of verbal symbols may result not only in greater verbal facility but also in a laigher level of general in- tellect ual functioning.

Some explanatou,, efforts have seen emotionali ty as a media tor of the ef- fects of early experience, while others have emphasized tim mefiiating roles of learning sets and of at t i tude change.

Learning Transfer and Cognitive Development

A. D. B. CLAnKr:, Ph.D., University of llttlL England

This paper reports some of the re- suits of a five-year research program

by the author and his colleagues, in part icular A. M. Clarke and G. M. Cooper.

A common but i l l -supported belief is that t h e r e is someth ing spec ia l about earl}, human learning~ Thus a stinmlating, bu t u n d e v e l o p e d , v i e w was advanced by McGeoch and by H e b b t h a t learning transfer might be a p a r t i c u l a r characterist ic of early life, declining in obvious importance thereafter s imply because it had al- ready occurred. Using imbecile sub- jects of different ages, suppor t was at first obtained for this hypothesis. At the same time the assets and defi- cits in the learning of subnormal per- sons were outlined. A m o r e crucial test ' was later can'ied out, however, in which adults and children were placed (m an equal footing by adjust- ing task complexity until the same start ing point for both was reached. Similar acquisit ion and transfer now resulted.

Having ttms found a probable re- lationship hetween transfer and task complexity in subnormals, the next problem was to check this association by lmlding age constant and vary ing the complexity of the training tasks. Addit ionally it was important to de- termine whether transfer might occur between widely different conceptual problems. Using groups of imbeciles matched for age, I.Q. and other vari- ables, and tasks incorporat ing no "identical elements" other than the need to categorize, once again trans- fer was shown to be related to inter- vening training task complexity and to occur between widely different sorting problems. Finally," similar re- lationships emerged even more pow- erfully in an experiment using bio-

432

logically normal pre-sclmol children. I t appears that exposing a child to

new and complex learning experi- ences can affect his mediational re- sponse system, accelerating the de- velopment of categorizing ability and lifting him above a narrow depend- ence upon specific learning. It may be that it is the non-complexity of a depriving environment which limits transfer and hence restricts the child's response repertoire. The dependence of transfer upon complexit), is thus seen as one of tim possible factors underlying the clinical truism that a limited environment retards develop- ment.

I n v e s t i g a t i o n s o f S o c i a l - C u l t u r a l Inf lu- e n c e s o n I n t e l l i g e n c e

~'IAItTIN DEUTSCH, Ph.D., New York Medical College

The paper is divided into three basic sections: a general (but not e-xhaustive) review of the literature, a discussion of current experimental and demonstration work on influ- encing intelligence by changing en- vironmental conditim~s, and a final section on the practical and theoreti- cal problems encountered in attempt- ing to improve intellectual func- tioning.

The review and discussion of the li terature ,,','ill include both historic and current literature, leading to the notion that these concerns, while cur- rent today, have a long histor3", re- lating to different atti tudes and un- ders tanding of both culture and genetics. Also covered w i l l be such issues as the findings on tim macro- scopic socio-cultural influences and those on influences of a more limited

scope, such as tlle family or the com- munity. Included in tile brief reviev¢ v¢ill be a discussion of the animal experiments (e.g., Krech a n d Rosen- zweig, Rosenthal) and tile older and newer experimental and demonstra- tion work with children. From tile review, there will be some extrapola- tion about what might happen in the future.

The n e x t sections consider such questions as the relative contribution of intrinsic social factors such as caste and class, and particular at- tributes associated with them, as con- trasted with the thinking of the ge- netic determinists. Some discussion is also included of the more specific en- vironmental features which influence ~ o r apparently i n f l u e n c e intellec- tual functioning. Examples here are the Rosenzweig type environment ex- periments, the recent work on expect- ancy and performalme, and the like.

Another fundamental problem dis- cussed is the question of how social- cultural factors are reinforced to maintain high frequencies of love per- formanee in certain populations. Can the specific features be extirpated in a generation, and can they be re- placed with features that ha,`:e suffi- cient stimulus and attentional prop- erties to obtain higher-order re- spon.~s? Problems subsmned here are those of transfer, level of genemliza- bility, and critical and optimal pe- riods.

The final section deals with the question of the possibility that tlm massive intervention programs now planned and underway may not sue- ceed because of the shot-gun meth- ods used. Considered here will be the complex task of separat ing out