Educational Implications of Efforts To Train Intelligence

Abstract

This paper suggests the potential of intelligence theory in guiding the development of educational programs for the mentally retarded. The Campione-Brown model is used to infer skills, states, and processes of trainable mentally retarded and profoundly mentally retarded children that are modifiable and to target objectives for educational interventions. The integration of components in the architectural and executive systems, such as perceptual efficiency, strategies, and knowledge states, represents functional intelligence. Trainable components of intelligence can serve as objectives in educational planning, while the identification of structural limitations leads to programming the environment to meet diminished efficiency or to developing support systems, such as self-instructional routines. In short, a reciprocal relationship is suggested for emerging theories of intelligence and changing educational practices.