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Abstract

This chapter is a broad review of the learning set (LS) paradigm as a research tool in comparative, developmental, and clinical psychology. Its principal purpose is to place in context the contributions to this area of research by George J. Wischner, his students, and his associates at the University of Pittsburgh. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Wischner and his group were among the most active researchers using this learning paradigm with human subjects, including normal children, familial and brain-damaged mentally retarded children, aphasic and nonaphasic brain-damaged adults, and schizophrenic patients. Considered together, these studies have uncovered some new phenomena related to LS, have reported on the effects of several important procedural variations, and have established the sensitivity of LS measures to cognitive development in children, to neuropsychological impairment, and to psychopathology. A number of these studies now exist, however, only in the form of M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations or as unpublished manuscripts. Thus, a somewhat detailed review of their nature and content may serve the useful purpose of making them accessible to the scientific community.

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© 1982 Plenum Press, New York

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Routh, D.K. (1982). Learning Sets. In: Routh, D.K. (eds) Learning, Speech, and the Complex Effects of Punishment. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4196-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4196-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4198-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4196-3

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