The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the jigsaw learning method on children's academic performance and learning attitude.
The jigsaw learning requiring children to work together and mutually teach each other in order to have children depend on each other to accomplish their learning goals, used one of small group learning methods based on coopration and peer teaching. In this learning method, classroom children were divided into several jigsaw groups made of five or six children each. Each counterpart group composed of one child drawn from each jigsaw group was given one segment of the learning materials divided into as many parts as the number of counterpart groups (counterpart session). After learning of the counterpart session, children had to return to each jigsaw group and teach one another what they had learned, and hence they learned the total learning materials (jigsaw session).
Subjects in the experiment were four hundred and fourty-one fourth, fifth and sixth graders. Subjects were divided at random into the four conditions as a unit of a classroom. The conditions used were as follows: At the first, the traditional whole-class learning method (control condition); second, the jigsaw method taken place for six or seven hours per week for six weeks (short condition); third, the jigsaw method for twelve weeks (long condition); and fourth, the jigsaw method for twelve weeks during which half the members of counterpart and jigsaw groups were changed at the beginning of the seven weeks (rotation condition). Jigsaw and counterpart groups were controlled in terms of sex, the relation of sociometric choice and degree of academic performance, respectively. To testify the jigsaw learning method, the subjects of national language and social studies were used.
The results were as follows: (a) As concerns the academic performances of social studies, it was found that the children in short, long and rotation conditions showed significantly more improvement in the performances than did the children in the control one. In particular, the performances of children in rotation condition scored higher than those of children in short and long ones. Further, the performances of children with low performance of the first semester were higher than those of children in middle and high ones. About the academic performances of national language, however, there was no significance between the four conditions.(b) In terms of the frequencies of positive perception responses on the classroom teacher's leadership behavior, classroom children's and self's learning attitude, each positive perception responses about three measures in short, long and rotation conditions were observed more frequently than in the control one. The observed frequencies on each measure in the second session were significantly greater than in the first one. In addition to the above, we divided the positive perception responses on classroom children's and self's learning attitude into the positive learning attitude and the development of socialization responses according to the contents of positive perception responses. At the first and second sessions, the positive learning attitude responses of low performance children were observed more frequently than those of middle and high ones. In terms of the frequencies of development of socialization responses, the observed frequencies of middle performance children at the first session and those of high ones at the second session were significantly greater than those of low ones, respectively.

View full abstract

Two experiments were carried out to make comparisons between attention scores of direct and observational learning. Two methods were used, a) inferring attentional levels from performance scores of tasks (method-1), and b) rating attentional behaviors during learners' performing tasks (method-2).
In the first experiment, using 48 kindergarteners, a 2×2 factorial design was adopted containing types of learning (direct or observational learning) and tasks (component selection or central-incidental task). Geometrical and animal stimuli were used as two components of the central-incidental memory task. Geometrical and animal scores served as measures for central and incidental learning, respectively. The component selection task was made of two components: geometrical and animal pictures. Subjects were to use either pictures as cues for learning in the task. Geometry and animal scores were calculated for component scores. Main results were as follows. 1) Direct learner (=performer) and observational learner (=observer) showed high attention scores by method-2. In a retention test among performers and observers (method-1), 2) the animal scores were higher than the geometrical, and 3) performers achieved higher central learning scores than their incidental scores, but the observers, central learning did not differ from their incidental learning.
In the second experiment, the central-incidental memory task was given to each of 32 pairs of same-sexed kindergarteners. A 2 (performer, observer) × 2 (distractor, non-distractor condition) factorial design was used. The results were as follows. 1) Distractor condition had a significant effects on observers' attention scores by method-2. 2) In nondistractor condition using method-1, performers' central learning scores were higher than their incidental learning ones, and observers' central learning scores did not differ from their incidental learning ones. 3) In distractor condition by method-1, no differences between central and incidental learning scores were found among performers and observers.

View full abstract

In this study, it was assumed that motivational trait of children could be made of two kinds of orientation: social orientation and task-orientation. The social orientation was defined by a willingness to participate in socially visible works, whereeas the task-orientation was defined by an interest in the independent mastery and the challenge to the difficulty. The purpose of this study was to construct a scale to measure the relative intensity of these orientations, and to investigate how these orientations relate to the children's adjustment to various situations.
In the first study, a scale (originally containing 24 items) measuring the two orientations was constructed and administered to 436 boys and girls from 4 th to 9 th grade. The results indicated that in both elementary school and secondary school, two factors were obtained and the factor structure was very similar in both schools. As expected, these factors corresponded to the social and task-orientation. Consequently, the scale was of 16 items (8 items in each orientation).
Next, the developmental trends in each orientation were analysed. The social orientation decreased at the 8 th grade level, and temporally increased in 6th grade boys. As for the task-orientation, a decrease was observed in girls, especially on items measuring challenge.
In the second study, the relationships of the two orientations in children's adjustment were investigated. The measures were sociometric test (choice of playmates and study-mates),“l'épreuve du dynamisme évolutif”, self-esteem scale, and academic achievement. 180 boys and girls in 4 th through 6 th grade were used as subjects, and were classified into four categories according to their relative intensity of the two orientations.
Main results were as follows.
1. In the sociometric status of each group, social orientation was related to the status in the choice of playmates, whereas both social and task-orientation were related to the status in the study-mates. Socially oriented groups showed relatively high rate of mutual choice.
2. In l'épreuve du dynamisme évolutif and the selfesteem scale, the socially oriented groups rated their feeling of social adjustment higher, and preferred their own school age more than the less oriented groups.
3. In the academic achievement, both orientations were related to some extent to their achievement in many school subjects. In general, the task-orientation had stronger relations; still, some characteristics in each subject were found.
Some implications assuming two kinds of orientation (i. e. social and task-orientation) were discussed.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the mother-infant interaction process by the lag sequential analysis.
The examination of the lag sequential relation between mother and infant behaviors was carried out using conditional probability. To compare the magnitude of concurrent mother's and infant's behaviors such as visual, tactile, and vocal behaviors, a new method using conditional frequency percentage as an index of the lag sequential analysis on mother-infant interaction was designed. By this method, the lag sequential relation between mother and infant behaviors for both one pair and several pairs could be examined.
The subjects were 13 pairs of mother-infant aged 3 months, participating in ‘Tokyo Study Projects’. They were classified into two categories according to the degree of interactions, high activity group (7 pairs) and low activity group (6 pairs). One of the pairs belonging to the low activity group was subjected to the lag sequential analysis of mother-infant interaction at the age of 8, 12 months.
The observational data on mother-infant interaction at each month (3, 8, 12 months) were obtained by home visits conducted as a part of ‘Tokyo Study Projects’ in 1977-1979.
The main results were as follows.
1) The lag sequential relations on visual and vocal behaviors between mother and infant were different from that of their tactile behaviors.
2) In high activity pairs, following the initiation, the receptor tends to return and continue the same modal behavior.
3) In the low activity pairs, the receptor tends to return but soon stop the behavior.
4) At 3 months, most of the mother-infant interactions were carried out through tactile behaviors.
5) Although, at 3 months, mother's and infant's vocal behaviors didn't occur as many as their visual and tactile behaviors, active interactions between mother and infant followed their mutual vocal behaviors.
6) The amount of mother-infant vocal interactions gradually increased during the first year of life and patterns of the lag sequential relations of these interactions differed also in each period (3, 8,12 months).

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract