Self-Instruction Interventions With Non-Self-Controlled Children: Effects of Discovery Versus Faded Rehearsal

This research evaluated self-instructional interventions in an attempt to improve the generalization of training effects with non-self-controlled children. A directed discovery procedure was compared with task-specific faded rehearsal self-instructions, general problem-solving faded rehearsal self-instructions, and a didactic control group. Dependent measures included teachers' ratings of self-control, the Matching Familiar Figures Test, a math quiz, and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test. Although children in the specific self-instruction group demonstrated significant gains on the task used during training (math problems), neither these children nor those in the didactic control group showed significant generalization of training effects. The broadest range of generalization was shown by children in the discovery training group. These results suggest the importance for generalization of teaching children a systematic method for generating and applying a problem-solving strategy.