Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-02-03

,u+ou,, ,o+noon learning and recall can be most adj
vantageously filled, then the arrangement OF tne scnoo'
program of studies can be worked ouC on a psysnoNos
ical basis and not on the more or less napnazaru .
which seems to be the present plan
Among other problems in this Held OF appned psy
chology which the department has undertaken or pro
poses to carry out in the near future may be menuoneo
the following:
/. What are some of the most advantageous condi
tions of learning to spell correctly?
2. In learning, is 1t better to give all Of the time e
a study Of the subject matter to be learned, or is 1t pet
ter to devote a portion Of the time in the attempt to
recall material that has already been masteredf
8. Is it better, In learning, to attempt to memorize
the material by commencing at the beginning and run
ming through to the end consecutively and by repeating
this process until the whole has been mastered or is 1t
better to learn q part and then another part, and SO on?
A. What method of presentation is more advanta-
geous in learning? By this Is meant, specifically, is 1t
better to present to the child material to learn orally or
usually, and is it better to present the material stimuli
taneously or successively-that is, should the whole
thing that he is to learn be given at once or is he to
study one part and then the next and SO on?
In considering the first Of these problems it may be
said that results at Illinois clearly point to the fact that
the method Of teaching children to spell by giving the
word as a whole and not breaking it up into syllables
is not the psychological method and that the old method
Of syllabication with some Of its obvious faults had dis
tinct advantages over some of the extreme methods Of
to-day.
Apropos the second problem 1t is clearly established
by experiments at Illinois that there Is great advantage
in not spending the entire period Of learning on study
ing the, material presented, but that 1t is Of very great
advantage to spend part of this time in attempting to
recall what has been shown. Train the pupil to look
at the page that he is trying to memorize for a period
and then to turn his gaze away and in his minds eye
recall the printed matter.
1t is generally held by investigators that the best
method Of memorizing is to learn the material by com.
mencing at the beginning and running through the whole
process to the end. The Illinois experiments brought
out this fact, that in such consecutive learning there are
certain parts that are mastered more quickly than 9th.
ers and that it is advantageous to first go over the whole
material consecutively until the more easily acquired
material is mastered and then to spend some time in
learning those parts that are more difficult and to finally
relearn the whole consecutively.
Now, in attempting to answer the fourth question,
rather clearly that the most advantageous way to pre-
sion. The reason for this, in part at least, ia because
Simultaneous presentation and that the word when seen,
especially If it is difficult, can be better comprehended
than If 1t Is merely heard.
The foregoing account gives a statement of some Of
the most typical and important experimental investiga.
tions now in progress in the psychological laboratory at
the University of Illinois. AS has already been said, the
main emphasis is being placed upon the psychology OF
learning, more specifically on technique and economy In
our processes of acquisition. AT the same time ample
scope is given for the theoretical aspects Of the sub.
ject so that the field in a general way may be covered
and that those who wish to obtain higher degrees In the
subject may find ample opportunity for research in tina
direction which interests them most.