Remaking the Concept of Aptitude: Extending the Legacy of Richard E. Snow

by Sinatra, Gale M.; Cronbach, Lee J.; Kupermintz, Haggai; Lohman, David F.

• ISBN13: 9780805835328
• ISBN10: 0805835326
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

The unique perspective of Richard E. Snow, in recent years one of the most distinguished educational psychologists, integrates psychology of individual differences, cognitive psychology, and motivational psychology. This capstone book pulls together the findings of his own 35 years of research on aptitudes and those from (especially) European scholars, of which he had exceptional knowledge. A panel of experts and former associates completed this book after his death in 1997, expanding his notes on implications of the theory for instructional design and teaching practice. The panel developed Snow's ideas on where the field should go next, emphasizing promising research strategies. Viewing intelligence as education's most important product, as well as its most important raw material, Snow stressed the need to consider both cognitive skills and affective-motivational characteristics. In this book, previously unconnected research and scattered theoretical ideas are integrated into a dynamic model of aptitude. Understanding the transaction between person and situation was Snow's primary concern. This volume draws from diverse resources to construct a theoretical model of aptitude as a complex process of unfolding person-situation dynamics. Remaking the Concept of Aptitude: Extending the Legacy of Richard E. Snow: *presents historical and contemporary discussion of aptitude theory, illuminating recent ideas by pointing to their historic antecedents; *provides evidence of how sound research can have practical ramifications in classroom settings; *discusses the strengths and weaknesses of prominent research programs, including Gardner's "multiple intelligence," meta-analysis, ATI experiments, and information processing; *describes in detail specific research that has developed important concepts--for example, Czikszentmihalyi on "flow"; Lambrechts on success in stressful training; Sternberg on componential analysis; and Gibson on tailoring affordances to match motivations; and *keeps statistical complexities to a minimum, and includes a simply written Appendix that explains the interpretation of key technical concepts. By characterizing sound research in the field, this volume is useful for psychologists and educational researchers. It will also be instructive for teachers seeking to deepen their knowledge of the whole child and for parents of children facing standardized testing.

Table of Contents

List of Exhibits	xi
List of Figures	xiii
List of Tables	xv
Foreword	xvii
Preface	xxiii
R. E. Snow
Aptitude: The Once and Future Concept	1	(34)
The aim of this book and some of its features	1	(2)
What characteristics constitute aptitudes?	3	(3)
Historical conceptions	6	(5)
The broad view	6	(1)
Ancient origins	6	(2)
Dictionary usages	8	(1)
The vision is narrowed	9	(2)
Evolving themes of research	11	(19)
Measures of general ability and their application	11	(5)
Differential prediction and choice among treatments	16	(1)
Multiple abilities	16	(2)
Classification and placement decisions	18	(2)
Individual differences in response to instruction	20	(1)
Snow's early research at Stanford	20	(4)
Research on processes	24	(5)
Learning in groups	29	(1)
The path ahead, and a vision from Snow in midcareer	30	(5)
The topics of later chapters	30	(2)
Snow's educational vision	32	(3)
Conflicting Themes	35	(21)
The challenge of the participant metaphor	35	(6)
Intellectual growth as a social process	36	(2)
Situated cognition	38	(3)
A preliminary reconciliation	41	(15)
A suggestive theory from the 1970s	42	(1)
The inclusive view of aptitude	43	(3)
Achievements as aptitudes	46	(3)
The repertoire of propensities	49	(1)
The developmental picture and the underlying transactions	50	(6)
Mapping the Terrain	56	(42)
Taxonomies: Development and uses	56	(3)
The form of taxonomies	57	(1)
Use of taxonomies	58	(1)
How taxonomies are developed	59	(1)
Current categories for propensities	59	(1)
Cognitive abilities: Skills and knowledge	60	(22)
Taxonomies based on logical analysis	62	(1)
The procedural declarative contrast	62	(1)
Levels of generality	62	(1)
Process taxonomies based on logical distinctions	63	(2)
Empirical taxonomies	65	(1)
Older factor analyses	65	(2)
Carroll's synthesis	67	(2)
Multidimensional scaling; General ability in the bull's-eye	69	(3)
Analyses of measures of learning rate	72	(1)
Some empirical distinctions in mathematics and science	73	(1)
Issues surrounding G	73	(1)
Are G and Gf distinguishable?	74	(2)
Gardner's challenge to the idea of general ability	76	(2)
Sternberg's triarchic proposals	78	(2)
Competing interpretations of G	80	(2)
Subdivisions of affect and conation	82	(8)
Affective variables	84	(1)
Temperament	84	(2)
Mood	86	(1)
Links to personality	86	(1)
Conative variables	87	(3)
Taxonomy for situations	90	(6)
Ambiguity in treatment labels	91	(1)
The problem as seen in a meta-analysts	91	(2)
Pertinent taxonomic methods	93	(1)
Theory of educational situations: A short history	94	(2)
Snow's challenge, and a new terrain	96	(2)
Antecedents of Success in Learning	98	(30)
Forecasting educational outcomes	99	(11)
Abilities as predictors	99	(1)
Accounting for rate of learning	100	(3)
Predicting school marks	103	(3)
Other predictors	106	(1)
Personality measures	106	(1)
Past history	107	(1)
Attitudes and beliefs	108	(2)
The aptitude requirements of alternative instructional situations	110	(18)
Learning from live and filmed demonstrations in physics	111	(1)
Procedure	112	(1)
Findings	113	(2)
Evaluation of the research	115	(1)
Propensities acting in combination	116	(1)
Joint action of ability and anxiety	117	(1)
Structure and demand for participation as treatment variables	117	(2)
Procedure	119	(2)
Findings	121	(2)
Companion studies	123	(3)
Evaluation	126	(2)
Analyses of Cognitive Process	128	(37)
Artificial intelligence	131	(7)
General problem solving and expert systems	131	(2)
Anderson's ACT system	133	(2)
Simulation of ability tests	135	(1)
Modeling rule induction	135	(1)
A goal monitor as aid to reasoning	136	(2)
Processes within cognitive performance	138	(7)
Speed of processing	139	(1)
The search for mental mechanisms	139	(4)
Working memory	143	(1)
Hypotheses about attention	143	(1)
The capacity hypothesis	144	(1)
Where matters stand	144	(1)
Tests as tasks	145	(17)
Components in a complex performance	145	(1)
What are components?	145	(1)
How are components organized?	145	(1)
The performance pathway	146	(1)
Assembly and control processes	147	(1)
Reasoning processes	148	(1)
Sternberg's procedures	148	(3)
Strategies and strategy shifting	151	(1)
Modeling difficult items	152	(3)
Why do Gf loadings rise with complexity?	155	(1)
Number of components	156	(1)
Speed of processing	157	(1)
Demands upon central components	158	(1)
Attention and working-memory capacity	159	(1)
Adaptive processing	160	(2)
Limitations and future directions	162	(3)
Neglect of affect and conation	162	(1)
Need to include situations and their affordances	163	(1)
A summary hypothesis	163	(2)
The Cognitive-Affective-Conative Triad	165	(24)
Overview of the triad	165	(3)
Parallel pathways for performance and commitment	166	(2)
Affect and cognition	168	(6)
How anxiety influences reaction to difficulty	168	(1)
Mood as an influence in learning	169	(1)
Integrative process models	170	(2)
Relation of reactivity to instructional response	172	(2)
The Rubicon model	174	(12)
The commitment pathway	175	(2)
Volitional processes	177	(1)
Action orientation	177	(1)
Action controls	178	(1)
Mindfulness	179	(2)
Self-regulation in learning	181	(2)
Conative styles	183	(1)
A deep approach to learning	184	(1)
Alternative ways of capturing conative styles	185	(1)
A program for the long term	186	(3)
The Education of Aptitude	189	(22)
Making readiness an aim of instruction	189	(2)
Abilities as products of education	191	(9)
Gains in general ability from schooling	191	(3)
Effects of planned instructional supplements	194	(1)
Direct training in processes	195	(2)
Moving toward mastery of a domain	197	(3)
Developing motivational readiness	200	(11)
Development of affcon propensities	200	(2)
Learning from lessons and living	202	(1)
The role of the educational community	203	(1)
Teaching self-regulation	204	(1)
Socializing motivational orientations	205	(1)
Collaborative learning	206	(2)
Informative feedback	208	(1)
Support for struggling students	209	(2)
Toward a Theory of Aptitude	211	(24)
Placing aptitude theories among other theories	212	(4)
The anchor boxes	212	(2)
Aptitude theories: the central bands	214	(1)
Snow's call for integration	215	(1)
Person-situation transactions	216	(6)
What ``union of person and situation'' means	216	(1)
Perception as the bridging element	217	(1)
Principal processes	218	(1)
Sampling	218	(1)
Assembly and control	219	(1)
Some reflections	220	(1)
Compounds of propensities	221	(1)
Changes in the repertoire	222	(3)
Theory building: Strategic choices	225	(6)
Generalizing over unique events	225	(1)
Perspectives	226	(1)
Questions of grain size	226	(2)
Expanding inquiry on constructs and processes	228	(2)
Theory into action	230	(1)
Theory building: Snow's proposals	231	(4)
Appendix	235	(16)
Terms Used in Describing Research Studies	235	(16)
Psychological constructs	235	(1)
Treatments	236	(1)
Standard deviations and standard-score scales	237	(1)
Correlations and their interpretation	238	(1)
Convergent and discriminant validity	239	(2)
Factor analysts and related methods	241	(1)
Recognizing measurement error	241	(2)
Regression and interaction	243	(1)
Regression lines and planes	243	(1)
Interaction	244	(1)
Nonlinear regressions	245	(1)
Recognizing uncertainty	245	(1)
Confidence intervals	246	(1)
Significance tests	247	(1)
Effect sizes	247	(2)
Uncertainty associated with regressions	249	(2)
References	251	(26)
Index	277