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How the smart get smarter

1980; Routledge; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00461528009529214

1532-6985

William D. Rohwer,

Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology

This article introduces and examines a speculative hypothesis formulated to explain the increased range of individual differences that often results from instruction. The hypothesis is that initially more proficient students enhance their proficiency at a relatively faster rate than the less proficient because they receive comparatively little instruction. Prescriptive instruction, it is argued, often impedes the progress of students because it is rooted in erroneous assumptions, or myths, about the processes that underlie successful performance. To counteract the effects of such myths, educational psychologists are urged to engage in effective criticism of them, even those that stem from contemporary psychological theory.