Abstract
This report describes an experiment which applies general principles of operant reinforcement to creating and maintaining new verbal behavior in the classroom. An application of these principles in a class of 79 students of the author’s introductory psychology course at Georgetown University has led to an instructional program in which the student completes the course of study at his own pace. The course is reactive to those study behaviors leading to fluent understanding of the subject matter and which guarantees mastery of one part of the syllabus before the student goes on to the next.
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References
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This research was supported, in part, by Grant 32-20-7515-5024 from the Office of Education.
The present experiment grew out of the training program of the Linwood Project (Ferster, 1967) and a course for a small number of graduate students at the College of Education of the University of Maryland. Subsequent to these experiments, the same procedure described here was used successfully by Dr. John J. Boren teaching the same course at the University of Maryland. Similar procedures are being used by the author in all of his courses at Georgetown University. Enrollment in the introductory course is planned for 120 students for the 1968–69 academic year.
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Ferster, C.B. Individualized Instruction in a Large Introductory Psychology College Course. Psychol Rec 18, 521–532 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393802
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393802