This monograph includes abstracts of three doctoral dissertations on the psychology of learning. In his introduction Professor McConnell refers to Hilgard’s Theories of Learning (reviewed in this Journal, 62, 1949, 453-456), which divides theories of learning “broadly into two main families--association theories, on the one hand, and field theories on the other. “ The point of the three investigations (”Organization and generalization as factors in learning, transfer, and retroactive inhibition” by Swenson; “Quantitative thinking as developed under connectionist and field theories of learning” by Anderson; and “The law of effect in the retained situation with meaningful material” by Stacey) was to test the validity of these two kinds of theory. After careful analysis, the results favor the ‘field’ over the ‘association’ family. -Madison Bentley, Stanford University
- JSTOR: The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan 1950). pp. 120-122