European YournaI of Psychology of Education 1987, Vol. I I , n. ~ 1, 3-16 �9 1987, I.S.P.A.

Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Programme: Important Issues in Research and Evaluation

Robert Burden Exeter University, England

The key elements underlying Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Programme are described together with the pro, gramme's aims. Suggestions are made as to appropriate ways of evaluating the programme's e[r and a summary of most of the avctitable large and small scale research prior to 1986 is given. This research is itsetf evaluated in the light of previous suggestions and found to be deficient on a number of counts. Nevertheless, a degree of cautious optimista avith regard to the potential effects of FIE is considered warranted. Suggestions are made as to how [uture research might over- come the pit[alls of earlier studies by the application of alterna- tire evaluation strategies.

Introduction

The work of Reuven Feuerstein and his colleagues (Feuerstein et al, 1979, 1980) has aroused considerable interest amongst psychologist's aŸ educators in recent years, particularly with regard to the curriculum programme known as Instrumental Enrichment. This programme, which is essentially geared towards helping slow-learning a~nd low achieving adol, escents become effective learners and problem solvers, has received acclaim from such well known speeial edu- cators as Hobbs (1980), Haywood (1981) and Passow (1980) and has been singled out by the cogn~tive psychologist Sternberg (1984) as an exemplary programme for improving intellectual functioning.

Ir is difficult to ascertaŸ where Instrumenta/ Enrichment (often referred to as FIE) i.s currently being carried out, but there is evidence to suggest that its use has long been prevalent in Israel, subsequently spread to Canada and the United States and is currently practised in at least ,fifteen countries across the worId and more than twenty local Educa, tion Authorities in the United Kingdom.

Instrumental Enrichrnent is described as ,,a ,strategy �91 the redevelopment of cognitive structure in the retarded performer.., designed as a direct and focused attack on those processes that.., are responsŸ for poor intellectual performance.,, (Feuerstein et al., 1980, p. 1). Underlying this definition ate a belief system about the possibility of lifelong cognitive change and development, a unique, interactionist theory of learning and ah analysis of deficient r processes that ate presumed to lead to poor academic performance. Of additional

4 R. BURDEN

signif icance are the prec ise use of te rms such as , , re tarded performer,~, , ,cognitive modifiability~~, ,~cultural deprivat ion~ and , , learning potential , , which p lay an i m p o r t a n t pa r t in both the tmder lying theory and prac t ice of FIE .

The ma in componen t s of the bel ief sys tem a re tha t anyone can be he lped to become a more effect ive 1.earner a t any age, no m a t t e r wha t the cause o r degree of the i r r e ta rda t ion . An al l ied a s sumpt ion is tha t few p e o p l e - - e v e n appa ren t ly ,,gifted,,--ever real ise thei r full learning potent ia l . By helping people to real ise this potent ia l , Feuers te in also considers tha t ac tua l s t ruc tu ra l changes to the b r a i n can be b rough t about .

This not ion of , , s t ructural cognit ive modifiability,, is based upon ah inter- ac t ionis t theory of learn ing re fe r red to as med ia t ed learn ing exper ience (MLE) which focusses upon the role of adul ts in shaping chi ldren 's ab i l i ty to learn.

,,By med ia t ed l ea rn ing experience (MLE) we refer to the way in which s t imul i emŸ by the env i ronment a re t r a n s f o r m e d by a 'mediating' agent, usual ly a paren t , s ibl ing o r o the r caregiver . This media t ing agent, guided by bis in tent ions , cul ture and emot iona l inves tment , selects and organises the wor ld of s t imul i for the child. The m e d i a t o r selects s t imul i tha t a re mos t a p p r o p r i a t e and then f rames , f i l ters , and schedules them; he de te rmines the appea rance o r d i sappea rance of cer ta i~ s ' t imuli and ignores others . Through this p rocess of media t ion , the cognit ive s t ruc ture of the child is affected. The child acquires behav iour pa t t e rn s and learn ing sets. which in tu rn become i m p o r t a n t ingredients of bis capac i ty to become modff ied th rough d i rec t exposure to stimuli., , (Feuers te in et al., 1980, p. 16)

A grea t dea l of the I s rae l i t eam 's work has been geared towards an expl ica t ion of the nccessa ry and ,sufficie~t condi t ions tmder wh~ch med ia t ed learn ing occurs. A l is t of a t leas t f i f ty d i f ferent aspects of media t ion has been p roduced at the t ime of wri t ing. At the same t ime, a n u m b e r of i m p o r t a n t de t e rminan t s of a lack of med ia t ed learn ing exper ience have also been ident i~ed .

Absence of, o r kiadequate mediated l ea rn ing exper ience is al leged to g i re r ise to any one o r combina t ion of a n u m b e r of def ic ient cognit ive �91 These def ic ient ,functions are ca tegor ised wi th in the ,,phase,, aspec t of a so cal led ,,cognitive mapa,. (Feuers te in et al., 1980, pp. 71-113). The l a t t e r is essent ia l ly a hypothe t ica l model consis t ing of seven p a r a m e t e r s by which any menta l act can be analysed, ca tegor i sed and ordered. I t forros the bas is for bo th the dynamic a p p r o a c h to assessing r e t a r d e d learners known as the Learning Potent ia l Assess- ment Device (LPAD) (Feuers te in e t al., 1979)~ and the cognit ive deve lopment p r o g r a m m e known as I n s t r u m e n t a l EnrŸ

Thus ir can be ,seen tha t the work of Feuers te in and his col leagues encom- passes at leas t five d i f ferent bu t in ter locking a r e a s : - - a bel ief sys tem abou t lffelong poss ibi l i t ies for cognit ive deve lopment and change in r e t a r d e d learners , ah in te rac t ion i s t theory of learning, a mode l of cognit ion, a dynamic app roach to assessment and an in tervent ion p r o g r a m m e designed to r emed ia t e def ic ient cogBitive functions.

The Instrumental Enrichment Programme

The p r o g r a m m e i tself con,sists of m o r e than 500 pages of paper-and-penci l exercises, d iv ided into 14 dif ferent ~dnstruments~~. This t e rm is used de l ibera te ly as they a re in tended to serve as content- l imi ted means by which the process of effect ive learning and p rob l em solving can be made explicit . As such, F I E can be viewed as ah example of a ,,metacognitive,, approach to lea rn ing (Brown, e t al., 1983).

EVALUATION OF FEUERSTEIN'S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 5

Each in strumcnt addresses itsel.f to a particular aspect of cognition that is considered to be essential within the learning-to-learn process (e. g. spatial relations, analytic perception, comparisons), but i,s also designed to tackle di, fferent aspects of the eognitive map in a unique way. The instruments themselves ave broken down into a carefully ,selected series of small steps which ate designed to le'ad the participant from a simple introductory level to complex higher-order thinking. Thus, there is a progression both within and between instruments over the two to three years of one hour lessons (i. e. 400 to 500 hours) that ir takes to complete the fuli programme.

One major goal and six subgoais of FIE ate presented in the 1980 text. ,,The major goal of Instrumental Enrichment is to increase the capacity

of the human organi,sm to become modified through direct exposure to stimuli and experiences provided by the encounters with life events and with formal and informal leaIning opportunities~. (Feuerstein et al., 1980, p. 115)

The six subgoals can be summarised as ,follows:

1. To correc~ weaknesses and deficiencies in cognitive functions. 2. To teach the basic concepts, labeis, vocabulary, operations, and relat-

ionships which function as prerequisites for representational, relational and operational thinking.

3. To produce intrinsic motivation to learn through the forrn~tion of appropriate habits.

4. To produce reflective and insight, ful thought processes. 5. To provide task, s that are in themselvcs intrinsically motivating such that

they provide both enjoyment a n d a feeling of success in their completion. 6. To transform poor learners f-com passive recipients and reproducers of

irfformation into active generators of new information.

Some Ÿ concep tua l issues in the evaluation process

As yet ]ittle published cvidence exi, sts with regard to attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of FIE. This is not to say that attempts have not been made, rather that thcir results havc not becn widely available. Apart fTOm the data providcd by the IsraelŸ team (Rand et al., 1979; Feucrstein et al., 1980, 1981), a few articles hace appearcd in the USA (Arbitman-Smith & I-Iaywood, 1980; Narrol, Silverman & Waksman, 1982), Australasia (Howie et al., 1985) and England (Weller & Craft, 1983). Most of the rcsearch in this arca has othcrwi'se been rcportcd at confcrences and in highcr dcgrcc theses.

It is clear from the introduction that for FIE to be effective certain essential conditions must be mvt. The programme must be delivercd by spccially trained teachcrs with a thorough grotmding in the tmderlying thcory to carcfuily selccted groups of adolescents tmder optimum cond~tions. These conditions would mininaally involvc a positive introduction of the programme into the school curriculum a n d a supportive milieu which provided maximum opportunity for ~,bridging~~ (i.c. transfcrring acquircd stratcgics) Luto other subject arcas. Vcry few of the available rescarch studies spend any time at all in considcring these conditions. Wc aro informed in the 1980 text that Fcucvstein and his colleagues did so, but most othcr studies tcnd to s a traditional research design where the rcported emphasis is upon product variablcs only rathcr than upon aspccts of proccdure. Moreovcr, in many instanccs littlc cons~deration sectas to hace been givcn to formative aspccts of evaluation to the extcnt that the rcviewcr is oftcn lcft in the position of questioning the appropriatencss of outcome measures employed.

6 R. BURDEN

If we cons ider the goals of FIE, app rop r i a t e c r i t e r ia for successful ou tcomes might take the following form:

1. A measu re or measures of whe the r 'the recipients had become b e t t e r learners in a general sense than they had been p r io r to the in t roduc t ion of the p rog ramme.

2. Clear indicatŸ of posi t ive cognit ive funct ioning in previous ly d iagnosed areas of weakness .

3. Appropr i a t e use of concepts, vocabulary and general th inking and problem- solving s t ra tegies where these had previously been lacking o r absent .

4. Ah indica t ion of high level of mot iva t ion to succeed on cognit ive tasks where previously th is had been low.

5. Evidence of ref lect ive and insightful thought processes. 6. An indica t ion that the s tudents had enjoyed pa r t i c ' pa t i ng in the p r o g r a m m e

and had been mot iva t ed to succeed on the tasks presented . 7. A more posi t ive p resen ta t ion of themselves by the s tuden ts which migh t

be ref lec ted in enhanced self-esteem.

Some of these c r i t e r ia a t e obviously more diff icult to opera t iona l i se than others . Within the research l i t e ra tu re (1) has tended to be tack led by the appli- cat ion of a t t a inmen t tes ts of var ious kinds and (2) by the app l ica t ion of IO tests . (3), (4) a n d (5) have largely been ignored whi ls t (6) has been r epor t ed on in one or two studies. There has been a t endency to a p p r o a c h (7) by means of self-esteem inventor ies and observat ions of c l a s s room behaviour . Almost all of the more widely r epo r t ed research has dwel t upon such outcome measures . Only in higher degree theses is ir poss ib le to ~ind adequate descr ipf ion ancl cons idera t ion of proces,s var iables , but even here the connect ion be tween the two is r a re ly drawn. This poin t will be discussed in g rea te r dep th la te r in the art icle.

Initial ev~luation

The f i rs t eva lua t ion .study of a two yea r F I E p r o g r a m m e was p roduced by Feuers te in and his associa tes in 1979 and e l abora ted in g rea te r depth in the i r 1980 text. This descr ibed a ma tched pairs ,experiment involving 114 low achieving pupi l s (average IQ = 80) f rom culturaUy and economical ly depr ived backgrounds , aged be tween twelve and ,fifteen. The expe r imen t was m a d e more complex b y the in t roduc t ion of day care vs res ident ia l ,settings as ah addi t iona l var iable , bu t ,as this appea r s not to have any s ignif icant effeet i t will not be ment ioned fur ther . In tens ive p re l imina ry and ongoing t ra in ing was p rov ided for the teachers involved.

Although very posi~ive c la ims a te mad~ by the researchers in ,suppor~ of the ef, fects of F IE , the resul ts of this s tudy need to be t r ea ted wi th caut ion. Despi te a previotts d i smissa l of convent ional IQ tes ts (Feuers te in et al., 1979), the ma in r measure used in the pre-post exper imenta l design wi th the m a t c h e d groups was the Thurs tone Sr of P r imary Mental A b i l i t i e s n a convent ional group IQ test . I t is dit~ficult to in te rpre t the tables in the or iginal text (Feuers te in et al., 1980, pp. 358-364) bu t a reana[ysis of the d a t a by Shayer a n d Beasley (Beasley, 1984) conf i rms tha t the exper imenta l group showed s ta t i s t i ca l ly signi- f icant improvemen t over the cont ro l group on the average overal l PMA score (p < . 01) and ,four of the e ight subtests . However , out of twelve a t t a inmen t tests , s ta t i s t ica l ly s ignif icant improvemen t (p < . 0 5 ) was shown on only t w o - - B i b l e s tudies and geometry . Signif icant di,fferences in favour of the exper imenta l group were also found on Witk in ' s E m b e d d e d Figures Test (i. e. more Field

EVALUATION OF FEUERSTEIN 'S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 7

Independent ) and on measures of posi t ive c lass room par t ic ipa t ion . However , no signif icant improvemen t in self-concept was evident in e i ther of the groups.

An often over looked but impor t an t descr ip t ion of the process of this exper iment is also provided in the 1980 text (pp. 343-352). A n u m b e r of p rob lems incur red in implement ing the p r o g r a m m e were ident i f ied a n d a descr ip t ion is given of how these were tackled. A qual i ta t ive evaluat ion of the process of implemen ta t ion was also ob ta ined by means of week]y and month ly teacher repor ts , dai ly annota ted logs of teachers and observers , ' t ranscr ipts of s taf f meet ings and quest ionnaires and interviews w i th s tudents and teachers . F r o m ah ini t ial pos i t ion of ambivalence on the pa r t of both teachers and s tudents , several shifts in a t t i tude were r epor t ed over the two year period. In the f inal analysis all F I E teachers r epor t ed ,,great satisfaction>, in thei r work, expressed a wil l ingness to contintm teachin` F I E in non-research set t ings and ,felt t ha t the i r s tudents had benef i ted f rom the p rog ramme. They repor*ed increased s tudent mot ivat ion, a ler tness and inte l lectual curiosi ty, a readiness to work independent ly and an increased sense of persona l responsabi l i ty . At the same t ime, i t is c lear t ha t s tudent a t t i tudes and mot iva t ion f luctuated and d~ffered bo th be tween s tudents and wit'hin the same s tudent a s a ,funcion of insight, pa r t i cu l a r ins t rument , per iod in the research p r o g r a m m e and teaching approach.

A devas ta t ing cri t ical appra i sa l of this ear ly s tudy has been presen ted by Bradley (1983) who compares F I E wi th the now discred i ted ab i l i ty t ra in ing movement of th~ 1970s (Ysseldyke & Salvia, 1974; Hammi l l & Larsen, 1974; Newcomer et al, 1975). Although expressing a good deal of suppor t for the airas and approach of Feuers te in and his colleagues, Brad ley points to ,a n u m b e r of weaknesses in the s ta t i s t ica l analysis of the or iginal research da ta even to the extent of quest icning the meaningfulness of the sign~ficant differences in the final PMA scores. He also quest ions the value of t he achievement tes ts employed and suggests tha t the l ike l ihood of a chance fac tor p laying a p a r t in a t least one of the two signif icant f indings here mus t be great. Fur the rmore , he qui te appropr i a t e ly dismisses the reasons offered by Feuers te in et al. for the lack of more s ignif icant results .

Bradley goes on to make twenty suggestions to researchers involved in developing and evaluat ing educa t iona l in tervent ions in the cognit ive domain, which he considers necessary in o rde r to provide wor thwhi le da ta of a k ind <dikely to convi~ace us sceptics,, (Bradley, 1983, p. 89),. Of pa r t i cu l a r re levance to the evaluation of F I E are the following:

1. Fu r the r evidenoe is needed that cognit ive processes can be taught. 2. The select ion of app rop r i a t e dependent var iables is essential . 3. Considera t ion needs to be given to the measu remen t of menta l processes

r a the r than, o r a s well as, p roduc ts of learning. 4. Be t te r ways of measur ing mot iva t ion and a t t i tudes and s ta t i s t ica l analysis

are s t rongly recommended . 5. Al ternat ive explanat ions for research f indings should be cons idered and

repor ted . 6. Detai led analysis of research outcomes whieh goes beyond the mere

repor t ing of group means and tests of s ta t i s t ica l s ignificance is essential . 7. Any differences ,found should be psychological ly as well as s ta t i s t ica l ly

meaningful . 8. Evaluat ion ,studies mus t include measures of improved cognit ive capa-

bi l i t ies in school ,subject a reas and dai ly living skills. 9. Provis ion should be made ,for eva lua t ing long t e r r n a s weU as shor t

telaaa effects.

8 R. BURDEN

We shall consider next how far these recommend~.tions have been met by subsequent research on the effects of FIE.

Results of reported studies

By lar the largest body of data on the effects of FIE has been collected on the North American c o n t i n e n t from five main centres by two researchers, Haywood and Arbitman-Smith. Unfortunately, the results of this research have tended largely to be reported at conferences rather than in widely available journals. As lar as it is possible to tell, at least 1000 students have been involved since the late 70's to whom a variety of different test batteries have been admini,stered.

The most accessible data has been colected in Louisville and Nashville o~er a number of years since 1977 (Haywood et al., 1981, 1982; Arbitman-Smith, 1980). At least four different types of students were involved; Educable Mentally Retarded (EMR), Learning Disabled (LD), Behaviourally Disordered (BD) and an undiagnosed group of poor learners referred to as Varying Exceptionalities (VE). Al1 carne from low socio-economic status background and the greater proportion were black. Similar aspects of cognitive development to the Israeli study were investigated, though s o m e di.fferent tests were used.

It can readily be seen that the results of this researeh are inevitably highly complex in that they provide data gathered over several years in different settings on at least eight different types of measure on pupils grouped in four different categories. The interested reader is referred to Beasley (1984) ~or a detailed analysis of this data. Only a sumrnary of the major findings will be attempted here.

Ir transpires that significant di,fferences emerged in the results obtained with different cohorts of pupils tested at different times in di,fferent centres. Whilst this is perhaps hardly surprising, it does make both description and inter- pretation exoeedingly difficult. One consistent finding, however, is that on at least four different measures of intelligence (Thurstone PMA, Lorge-Thorndike, Woodcock-Johnson, Raven's Matrices) pupils who had received FIE r varying degrees of time produced signi~icantly higher IQ scores than matc•ed controls. Of particular interest is the findings (Haywood et al, 1982) that such effects were most dramatic in two centres (Phoenix and Louisville) w•ere small samples (nine and twelve children respectively) were employed. For these two samples, average gains of 15 IQ points vr reported and, in the case of the Phoenix sample, more than 30 points improvemer)t on Raven's MatHces compared with the control group's gain of ah average five correct items. Against this, it must be noted, however, that in at least orbe instance (Nashville, 1981-82) no significant improvements in favour of the IE group were ~ound on any of the criterion measures employed.

The outcome has not been nearly as positive with regard to measures of acadernic achievement. In the earlier cohorts no signi~icant gains were fotmd on achievement test measures, though in a later report (Haywood et al., 1982) absolute gains were shown on all subtests of the California Test of Basic Skills which proved statistically significant in two areas (language and social studies).

Dissatisfaction with the 'crudeness' of existing assessment techniques of classroom functioning led Arbitman-Smith in particular to explore ways of providŸ a more ,fine-grained analysis of possible changes in the kinds of areas of cognitive development predicted by the theory upon which IE is based. These include criterion referenced tests and domain specific and ind.ependent measures of transfer (,,bridging>, in IE terminology) (Arbitman-Smith, 1980; Arbitman-Smith

EVALUATION OF FEUERSTEIN 'S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 9

et al., 1982). Evidence in suppor t of ' t r ans fe rab i l i ty ' effect appears to have been found (Haywood et al., 1982).

Whilst nothing like the same magni tude of .study has been r epor t ed else- where, there have been several smal le r scale invest igat ions which •ave p roduced in some respects more in teres t ing results . One b ig advantage of smaller-scale studies is tha t they a l low for much closer scrut iny to be given to process var iables and to an assessment of the ef, fects on individual par t ic ipants .

One of the most impressive, small-scale, in-depth s tudies was r epor t ed by Brainin (1982). This s tudy is notable for both its t ight exper imenta l design and its deser ip t ion of the processes involved in sett ing up and evaluat ing a shor t - term, intensive IE project . 49 Canadian sixth graders (average age 11.5 yrs), two years or more r e t a rded in reading, were r andomly assigned to four remedia l classes. The ~eachers of two of the classes were given special ins t ruc t ion in IE and were then requ i red to teach Chis for up to one hour pe r day over nine rnonths. In all, 59 hours of IE ins t ruct ion were given, covering the 4 f i rs t yea r Ins t ruments . The two control groups (n = 22 compared wi th the exper imenta l groups n = 27) received convent ional remedia l ins t ruc t ion dur ing this t ime.

Brainin descr ibes how careful considera t ion was f i rs t given to the airas of IE and how special a t ten t ion was pa id to (a) selecting app rop r i a t e assessment p rocedures re la ted to those airas and (b) , f inding ways of ,,bridging,, (i. e. t rans- ferring) wha t was learned in IE lessons to o ther aspec ts of the curr iculum. The s tudy provides a model ,for the way in which evaluat ive research has taken into account the under lying theory upon which this in tervent ion p r o g r a m m e is based.

Pre and pos1 test ing was car r ied out wi th both groups on the non-verbal intell igence ,;cale of the Thorndike and C.A.T., a special ly designed cr i te r ion referenced test, a compre•ensive reading test and the Devreux E lemen ta ry School Behavioural Rating Scale. The teachers were 'also reques ted to keep a regula r log of any changes that occurred in the i r classes th roughout the pe r iod of the project .

The resll l ts showed no s ta t i s t ica l ly signif icant ~ifferences between the p re and pos t CAT scores of the combined exper imenta l g reups compared with the controls . However, a s ignif icant improvement was shown wit•in the exper imenta l group over the t ime of in tervent ion ( p < .005). Moreover, a s ignif icant im- p rovement in favour of the IE group was ,found on the cr i te r ion referenced test. (The 10 point difference in favour of the exper imen ta l group was s ignif icant a t p . < . 005). Cont ra ry to the f indings of most o ther studies, the reading achieve- men t of the IE group improved signif icant ly (p < .05) m o r e than tha t of the controls , althougl-, they had begun the p ro jec t a t a sl ightly lower level. Differences on the behavioura l ra t ing scale scores d id not a p p e a r to be attributable to the IE p rogramme, bu t t eacher comments were very posi t ive in the i r e s t ima t ion of its value for s tudent learning and thei r own profess ional growth.

A comparab le Br i t i sh s tudy is that of Beasley (1984), who worked for two or three l E lessons pe r week over eighteen months wi th six 12 to 13 yea r old r e t a rded adolescents a t tending a day school for educat ional ly subnormal children. A randomly assigned control group of six pupi ls ,from the same class worked intensively with the i r teacher on the la t te r ' s own cognit ive t ra in ing p r o g r a m m e for the same period. Pre and pos t test ing was ca r r i ed out by means of a Piaget ian ba t t e ry of tests, the P r ima ry Mental Abili t ies test used in the or iginal I s rae lŸ and Arnerican studies. Raven's Progress ive Matr ices a n d a var ie ty of achievement tes ts (Neale, NFER Maths, Richmond). Ah addi t ional p rocedure of g rea t in te res t and poten t ia l s ignificance was the use of Feuers te in ' s Learning Potent ia l Assess- men t Device (LPAD)~ as pa r t of the assessment .

10 R. BURDEN

Beasley took the innovative step of dividing her assessment p rocedures into those that measu red aspects of ,,fluid,, intel l igence (Matrices, Piaget ian ba t te ry) as compared with those that measured more ,crys ta l l i sed, , intell igence (Thur- s tone 's PMA). Whilst the two groups had pe r fo rmed a t a very s imi la r level on al l tes ts p r io r to intervent ion, at the p ro jec t ' s conclusion the IE group p e r f o r m e d significantly bet te r on the Piaget ian tests (p < . OO1), Raven's Matr ices (p < . 01) and PMA word reasoning (p . < .001) . No signif icant differences were found on mos t of the tes ts of c rys ta l l i sed ~ntelligence o r on the achievement measures . When t rans la ted into menta l age scores, the Piaget ian test resul ts represen t ah average increase of 20 months ~for the IE group c o m p a r e d wi th less than 2 months for the cont ro l group. The Matr ices scores of the exper imenta l group increased by an average of 23 months c o m p a r e d wi th 11 months for the control group.

The LPAD was found to be ex t remely diff icult to admin~st.er, .score and in terpre t . Nevertheless , Beasley seems to have ,found its inclusion ,to have been of bo th in teres t and benef i t as pa r t of her assessment procedure . There appea r s to have been evidence of g rea te r modi f ica t ion occurr ing within the exper imen ta l group and ah appl ica t ion of the f indings to the ,phase, , p a r a m e t e r of Feuers le in ' s , ,cognitive map,, ind ica ted posi t ive change in all bu t one ins tance in ,favour of tha t group. However , these ,findings cannot be taken as h a r d evidence of any k ind a n d a s yet mus t be r ega rded as l i t t le more than speculat ive.

A n u m b e r of o the r smal l scale studi.es have produoed in teres t ing and re levant findings, but some caut ion needs to be taken in accept ing tbe i r resul ts uncri t i - cal ly since mos t a t e not iceably lacking in impor t an t aspects of k,ey background a n d / o r process data . They will be r epo r t ed here in s u m m a r y forro, bu t no t ana lysed in detai!.

Howie et al (1985) worked with eight mi ld ly r e t a r d e d chi ldren a t tending special classes in two inner ci ty schools in New Zealand. Five f irst yea r ins t ruments were taught for a to ta l of 158 hours at the end of which a mean gain of 10 poin ts on the WISC-R was found. Posit ive chang.es were a]so evident on teachers ' ra t ings on a c lass room participation questionnaire and ,four of the chi ldren showed grea ter than expected gains in word recogni t ion af ter the I.E. p r o g r a m m e had ~inished.

Raziel (1981) ( summary only in English) inves t iga ted the effects of F IE on cognit ive achievement (as measuved by Raven's Matrices) , Iocus of cont ro l and self-esteem in 80 seven th and eighth grade Is rae l i pupi ls def ined as .d i sadvan taged , wi th low learning achievemems, , . Ah in te res t ing aspect of this well cont ro l led s tudy was the var iable lenght of t i m e - - f r o m 3 hrs. to 3 m o n t h s - tha t F I E was adminis te red . An increase in cognit ive ach ievement was found but this was not rela~ed to lenght .of involvement in IE. However , a g rea te r signi, f icant posi t ive relation.ships was shown be tween the t ime spent on IE lessons and growing in te rna l i ty o f locus of cont ro l and of increased self-esteem. G r a h a m (1981) ca r r i ed out a control led, exper imenta l s tudy las t ing seven a n d a ha l l months wi th in which one remedia l and two regula r classes of n in th g raders (n = 78) were provided wi th 3 • 45 minu te per iods of IE pe r week, toge ther wi th two per iods of an English course. The f i rs t six of the four teen ins t ruments were completed . A same-aged control group (n = 72) were taught Engl ish for ,five per iods pe r week over the s ame period. At the end of the exper imen ta l period, the IE group d isp layed s ta t i s t ica l ly s ignif icant improvemen t (p < . 05) on a non-verbal IQ tes t (Lorge-Thorndike) and on a c r i te r ion referenced test of wr i t ing (p.< 001). The control group did not d isp lay any more advanced language o r read ing skills, despi te having received three more perŸ of English pe r week. No signi,ficant di fferences in self-concept were found be tween the two groups at the end of the

EVALUATION OF F E U E R S T E I N ' S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 11

in te rvent ion bu t there was agreement be tween the teachers , the consul tan t and v is i tors to the. school tha t the c l imate of the F IE c lass rooms and the a tmosphere c rea ted by the teachers employing the p r o g r a m m e was far super io r to tha t of the average c lass room in the school.

The work of Mar tŸ (1982, 1984) is also wor th br ie f m,ention, despi te the fact tha t i t seems only to be avai lable in the forro of in terna l repor ts . This work is of pa r t i cu l a r in te res t because it descr ibes the implemen ta t ion of In s t rumen ta l En r i chmen t wi th (a) deaf adolescents a t t e n d i n g a special school and (b) hearing- - impai red teachers in t raining. In bo th instances smal l exper imenta l groups (n = 12; n -- 24) were c o m p a r e d wi th controls and bo th quant i ta t ive and qual i ta t ive assessment p rocedures were employed. As far as can be judged, l i t t le s ignif icant evidence was p roduoed f rom ei ther s tudy to reveal cognit ive deve lopment in the exper imenta l groups. However, a good deal of qual i ta t ive evidence was forth- coming in suppor t of the effects of IE o n motivat ion, approaches to p rob lem situati, ons, impulsivi ty , vocabula ry usage and posi t ive response to cr i t ic ism.

An ear ly Br i t i sh s tudy on the appl ica t ion of I E was car r ied out by Royal- -Dawson in a school for mode ra t e ly educa t iona l ly-subnormal pupils . The s tudy is ser iously f lawed on a number of counts, bu t does highlight several fascinat ing issues. The unavai lab i l i ty of commerc ia l ly p roduced mate r i a l s ted to Royal-Dawson producing his own lesson plans wi th the 1980 text as a guide. A class of 15 pupils , aged betw.een 13 and 14, wi th average reading ages of 8.2 years, were taught according to the pr incip les of F I E and in line wi th the general content areas of the f i r s t three In s t rumen t s (Dots, Orientat ion in Space and Compar isons) for 45 minutes every school day over a ten week period. In all, 33 IE lessons were presented , adding up to 29 out of 166 c lass room hours. A compar i son was made wi th the before and a f te r scores on Raven's Progressive Matr ices of a pa ra l l e l class of s imi l a r age, sex ra t io and reading abil i ty.

Whils t the exper imenta l group improved the i r RPM scores by an average of 10 mon ths (and cons iderab ly more in one of two instances), the cont ro l group improved no more than 1 month on average over the 10 week period. S t r ik ing improvemen t on p red ic t ed subtes ts of the Thornd ike and Hagen Cognitive Abil i t ies Test was also c la imed for the experimelatal group, though it mus t be said tha t fl~e s ta t i s t ica l t r ea tmen t of resul ts here is open to cr i t ic ism. One fu r the r f inding of in teres t was tha t not all of the experimen~tal group improved the i r cognit ive abil i t ies; some improved r e m a r k a b l y whils t o thers fe11 even fu r the r behind.

One of the very ,few good qual i ta t ive studies is p rovided by the Schools Council publ ica t ion , ,Making Up Our Minds,, (Weller & Craft, 1983) which descr ibes the in t roduc t ion of F I E into schools in five Engl ish local au thor i t ies following the f i rs t Englisb t ra in ing course involving 30 teachers in 1981. This r epor t is l i t t le more than a descr ip t ion of a series of exp lo ra to ry studies, despi te the appo in tmen t of a n u m b e r of local evaluators . No wor thwhi le ' h a r d ' d a t a t ransp i red , main ly because o~ the inappropr i a t e selection of cogni t ive assessment t.echniques. However , a s a descr ip t ion of the process of set t ing up and a t t e mp t i ng to evaluate an IE p rogramme, this document is invaluable.

I t shows, for example , tha t few of the o ¡ teachers had been in teres ted o r involved in work on chi ldren 's cognit ive deve lopment p r io r to a t t end ing the f i rs t I E t ra in ing course, Whils t more than two th i rds went on to ,find IE work en joyable and profess ional ly rewarding, they were fa r 1.ess sure abou t the benefi ts to taheir pupils. Less than hal, f were s u r e that the pupi l s en joyed I E work and only a qual~er were reasonably convinced of any carry-over effects into o ther subjec ts . Comments f rom the pupi ls themselves (n = 217) were genera l ly favour- able, however. About 70 % found the work interes t ing, useful and wi thin thei r

12 R. BURDEN

capabil i t ies , but only half considered that i t had he lped t hem wi th the i r o ther lessons.

Weller and Craft were able to d raw together cornrnents f rom teachers, pupi ls and evalua tors f rom all five centres , thereby provid ing a g rea t deal of i l luminat ive da ta about bo th the costs and benefits, of in t roducing IE into re la t ively unpre- pa red norma l and special schools. Despite a n u m b e r of negat ive comment s about the ~,evangelical~ na tu re of the in t roduc to ry t ra in ing course, the expense, appa ren t unattractiveness and inconvenicnce of the rnater ials , the inadequacy of the ins t ruc t iona l rnanual and the lack o f any ha rd evidence of cognit ive change in the pupils , the m a j o r i t y of teachers, pupi l s and evalua tors r emained r e m a r k a b l y en thus ias t ic about the poten t ia l benefi ts of IE af te r two years .

Long-term effects

The long-terrn effects of any adolescent in te rvent ion p rogramrne l ike Ins t ru- menta l E n ¡ a t e no tor ious ly di ff icult to measure once the ' capt ive ' school popu la t ion has rnoved on. There is jus t one r epo r t ed instance, however, where this has been possible. In two separa te papers , Feuers te in and his co-workers r e p o r t wha t m a y be one of the rnost s ignif icant and impress ive f indings of any I E evaluat ive s tudy (Feuers te in et al., 1981; Rand et al., 1981). Quite for tui tously, the Is rae l i r e sea rch tearn were offered the oppor tun i ty of reassess ing a cornpa- ra t ively large n u m b e r of the i r fo rmer subjec t s two yea r s aŸ the comple t ion of IE t ra in ing on thei r e n t r y into the army. As pa r t of thei r a r m y induet ion process 97 IE t ra ined subjec ts and 90 or iginal cont ro l s were admin i s t e r ed ma intel l igence tes t known as DAPAR (s imilar to the Amer ican Army Alpha test). Highly s ignif icant di f ferences (p < . 001) were found in favour of the IE group, d isp laying curnulat ive gains over t ime, in con t ras t wi th the r epor t ed long-terrn effects of rnost in tervent ion studies. I t must be noted that the s ta t i s t ica l t rea t rnent of the da t a ob ta ined is open to criticisrn. However , if it could be repeated , this k ind of inforrnat ion would of fer s t rong suppor t for Feuers te in ' s c la im tha t IE effects s t ruc tu ra l cognit ive changes, thereby enabl ing the rec ip ient to cont inue to l ea rn and become rnodif ied by direct exposure to the environrnent .

Discussion

Two m a j o r issues need to be considered before any conclusions can be d rawn about the cur ren t s t a tus of F I E a s a resul t of evaluat ive s tudies ca r r i ed ou t thus la r . Fi rs t ly , how l a r do the avai lable research s tudies go towards Bradley ' s (op. cit,) suggestions. Secondly, and more specifically, how well do the rneasures ernployed by var ious resea rchers assess the s ta ted a ims of F I E as out l ined ear l ie r in this paper .

I r is c lear tha t mul t iva r i a te research designs and s ta t i s t ica l analysis have not as ye t been employed in may study. I t would need a large-scale s tudy wi th subs tan t ia l f inancial backing to make this possible, a condi t ion which is di, ff icult to envisage in the cur ren t wor ld econornic cl imate. However , there is evidence frorn the s tudies ci ted to show tha t rnost of Bradley ' s o the r pe r t inen t suggest ions have been t aken into account in one way o f another .

Of more imrnedia te concern is the issue of a p p r o p r i a t e ou tcome rneasures also one of Bradley ' s key points , The tendency for resea rchers to assess i rnproved learning ab i l i ty by r e fe ren te to a t t a inmen t tes t scores has not, on the wholr p roduced much in the way of posi t ive resul ts . Apar t f rom Bra in in ' s unpubl i shed

EVALUATION OF F E U E R S T E I N ' S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 13

resul ts and one or two o thers of quest ionable val idi ty, groups receiving F I E show no evidence of improving the i r academic skil ls by the end of the in tervent ion pe r iod any more than do comparab le control groups. However , the ques t ion needs to be asked whe the r this is an appropr i a t e way of measur ing (a) the key dependent variable, o r (b) the process of learning. A muc• ,fairer measure of the effect of IE of. learning-to-learn would be to assess the compara t ive responses of IE t ra ined and control group s tudents to novel learnilag tasks in t roduced a f te r the comple t ion of IE training. Alternat ively, .lar m o r e a t ten t ion need.s to be given to the 'b r idg ing ' aspects of media t ion in schools, as was the case in Brainin 's s tudy (1982).

A substant ia l number of bo th large and small-scale s tudies have shown tha t pe r fo rmance on a wide var ie ty of norm-referenced intel l igence tests can be s ignif icant ly improved a s a resul t of t ra in ing in FIE. There would appea r to be some evidence also tha t such effects are ma in ta ined for a t least two years a f te r the cessatJon of the p rogramme. However, F I E has been cri t icised by Campione el: al. (1982) for being too close to a teach-to-test p r o g r a m m e even though Feuers te in and his colleagues have consis tent ly decr ied the cont inuing use of IQ tests . There would now seem to be l i t t le poin t or value in includŸ IQ tes t measures as dependent var iables in future IE evaluat ion studies. Of g rea te r value is l ikely to be the cr i ter ion-referenced type of app roach p ioneered by Arbit- man-Smi th (1980 1982), Haywood et al. (1982) and Bra.~nin (1982). At the same t ime, Beasley's (1985) use of the LPAD and Piaget ian measures , and her c la im tha t measures of ,,fluid,, intell igence a te more l ikely to be a, ffected by F IE than ,,crystallised,, intel l igence cer ta in ly wa r r an t fu r the r invest igat ion.

Studies incorporating measures of self-concept have shown li t t le, i.f any, pos i t ive effects of FIE. I t may be, as Graham (1981) has suggested, tha t such measures as the Piers-Harr is Self-Concept Scale a re too global and insensi t ive to pick up changes in motiva t ion and academic self-esteem. Alternat ively, it might be more reasonable to cons ider improved self-esteem a s a long-term airo of F I E which is l ikely to folIow on ,from the shor t - te rm effects of improved learning-to-kmrn s trategies . This hypothesis would appea r to f i t in wi th the avai lable qual i ta t ive in.formation on the response to the F I E p r o g r a m m e of bo th teachers and s tudents which clear ly indicates that the fo rmer f ind ir s t imula t ing bu t diff icult to implement whi ls t the la t te r f ind ir in t r ins ical ly mot ivat ing bu t need the full two year p r o g r a m m e in o rde r to ful ly apprec ia te i ts wider Ÿ

The is.,;ue of ' o p t i m u m engaged t ime ' is not one which has received much a t ten t ion f rom researchers despi te the fact tha t i t is obviously unrealŸ to expect to br ing about fundamenta l cognit ive changes by shor t - term, p iecemeal intervent ions. A s a resul t of the i r review of the l i t e ra tu re on improving learning abil i ty, Derry and Murphy (1980) conclude tha t the improvemen t of learning abi l i ty is an impor t an t and viable goal. However , ,,a theme tha t emerges repea ted ly in ou r review is tha t executive learning skil ls cannot be t r a ined easi ly o r by d i rec t i lastruction alone, bu t mus t be developed gradua l ly and au toma ted over an extended per iod of t ime.. . (Moreover).. . genuine improvemen t of academic ap t i tude is not l ikely to resul t f rom anything less than a thoughtful , sys temat ic cu r r i cu lum tha t complements d i rec t t ra in ing in learn ing s t ra tegies , and the reby 'engineers ' the g radua l evolut ion of impor t an t executive cont ro l ski l ls , . Der ry and Murphy (1980, p. 1). The r ecommended pe r iod of ins t ruc t ion in F I E is between 400 and 500 hours . Any in tervent ion provid ing less than 400 hour s ins t ruc t ion in the p r o g r a m m e cannot therefore be cons idered to have done it just ice . Studies c la iming highly posi t ive resul ts as a consequence of even one year ' s in t roduct ior , to F IE mus t be t rea ted with a degree of scept ic ism.

14 R. BURDEN

S u g g e s t i o ~ s f o r f u t u r e r e se~ , r ch

I t may be tha t one of the greates t obstacles to progress in this a rea s t ems not so much f rom the unavai labi l i ty of app rop r i a t e assessment techniques as f rom the inadequacy of t radi t ional , laboratory-based, exper imenta l design metho- dology when appl ied to complex, real-world intervent ions. Within the p resen t context , there is some reason to doubt , for example , whe ther the t rue effec~s of I E have as yet been ful ly invest igated. Feuers te in ' s I n s t r u m e n t a l En r i chmen t is a two-to-three yea r p r o g r a m m e consis t ing of sets of act ivi t ies based upon ah in te rac t ion is t theory of learn ing requir ing a high level of t eacher c om mi t me n t and exper t i se a n d a t leas t reasonable suppor t ,for the school sys tem into whicla i t is in t roduced. I n fo rma t ion is j u s t not avai lable f rom mos t pub l i shed s tudies as to w•ether even these bas ic m i n i m u m cr i te r ia have been m e t - nor would a traditional research design necessarilly take them into account.

Bradley ' s (1983) suggest ion tha t mul t iva r ia te research designs can overcome this k ind of p rob l em offers one poss ible way .forward, a t leas t in so fa r as it gives due recogni t ion to the complexi ty of the issues involved, bu t would requi re large samples and a wide var ie ty of measures . What is needed is a to ta l ly d i f ferent approach to e v a l u a t i o n - - o n e which ref lects a growing t rend in evaluat- ing cur r icu lum innovat ions. The , i l luminative, , , , a p p r o a c h advoca ted by Macdonald (1975), H ami l ton (1976), and o the rs offers one wor thwhi le avenue for explora t ion , bu t ir is pe rhaps wi thin the CIPP model of S tu f f l ebeam (1971) where mos t p romise lies. Emphas is ing , as i t does, the set t ing of objec t ives wi th in a c lear ly de l inea ted context , the p red ic t ion of po ten t ia l obs tac les a t the input phase, a deta i led record ing of the process of in te rvent ion and an examina t ion of how far the product can be d i rec t ly a t t r i bu tab le ,to each of these preceeding 6ets of variabl.es, the CIPP model provides a fa r more su i tab le f r a m e w o r k for examining the complexi t ies of med ia t ed learning t han do more t r ad i t iona l designs. Ea r ly r epor t s f rom the Somerse t I E evaluat ion p ro jec t (Blagg, 1985), which has t aken such an approach, would appea r to re inforce 'this view. The in t roduc t ion of F I E into four Comprehens ive 'schools in one Somerse t town has enabled Blagg to ga the r da t a which should make possible ah ex.amination of the effects of school cen t red and teacher cen t red var iables as well as of pupi l cen t red var iables on the imp lemen ta t ion of I E and vice versa. The use of CIPP as an evalua t ive model has begun to make c lear tha t none of the four schools in ques t ion intro- dueed I E to i ts pupi ls in the same way, nor could the pupi ls themselves be cons idered p a r Ÿ oŸ any homogeneous sample. An i m p o r t a n t ques t ion ra i sed here abou t the meaning tha t ado lescen t pupi ls a t t r i bu t e to the in t roduc t ion of this s t range ly di, f ferent sub jec t in p lace of one of the i r more usual cu r r i cu lum subjects , has ra re ly been examined in the research l i te ra ture , yet it c lear ly has a p ro found effect upon pupi l mot iva t ion and learning. At the same t ime, the choice of teachers to be t ra ined as IE vanguard worke r s and the na tu re of the t ra in ing they receive can also make-or-break a controversia1 p r o g r a m m e of this kind. Moreover, the ki,nd of suppor t on offer f rom both wi thin the school and ah ex te rna l adviser ski l led in the theory and prac t ice of Media ted Learn ing and l E a t e essent ia l factors in main ta in ing en thus iasm and prevent ing ,washout , , effect.

What is h ighl ighted by this k ind or evaluat ive approach is tha t chosen ou tcome variable~ are l ikely to be as a.ffected by the cons t ra in ts opera t ing wi thin any pa r t i cu l a r context as by the in t roduc t ion of any specific p r o g r a m m e .like I E. Unless we can obta in more in format ion about how these v a ¡ in te rac t wi th in the process of implementa t ion and long-term maintenance, we shall not be in a pos i t ion to comment knowledgeably on the effects of this o r any o ther s imi la r p rog ramme.

EVALUATION OF FEUERSTEIN'S INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT 15

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Instrumental Enrich- ment programme arose out of a t tempts to meet the specific needs of individual adolescents , as assessed by a carefully designed dynamic process based upon Feuerstein's notion of a ~~cognifive map~~ (Feuerstein et al., 1980, 13. 105). Encourage- ment and c lose .scrntiny should therefore be given to more intensive, small-scale studies (viz. Beasley, 1984) which examine closely the effects on individuals exposed to s13ecially selected aspects of the I E p r o g r a m m e as a direct result of such prevJously identified needs.

R e f e r e n c e s

Arbitman-Smith, R. (1980). New developments with Instrumental Enrichment: a vehicle for the study of cognitive development. In P. Mittler (Ed.), Proceedings of the 5th lnternational Congress of the International Association of the Seientifique Study of Mental Deficiency. Baltimore: University Park Press.

Arbitman-Smith, R., & Haywood, H. C. (1980). Cognitive education for learning-disabled adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 8, 51-64.

Arbitman-Smith, R., Haywood, H. C., & Bransford, J. D. (1982). Assessing cognitive ehange. In C. M. McCauley, R. Sperber & P. Brooks (Eds.), Learning and Cognition in the Mentally Retar•225 Baltirnore: University Park Press.

Beasley, F. (1984). Ala evalution of Feuerstein's model for the remediation of adolescents' cognitive deficits. PhD. Thesis, Chelsea College, University of London.

Blagg, N. (1985). Introduction of Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Programme into four Bridgwater Secondary Schools. Focus--Somerset Education Magazine (3)

Bradley, T. B. (1983). Remediation of cognitive deficits: a critical appraisal of the Feuerstein model. Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, 27, 79-92.

Brainin, S.S. (1982). The effects of Instrumental Enrichment on the reasoning abilities, reading achievement and task orientation of 6th grade underachievers. Ed. D. thesis. University of Toronto, Ontario.

Bruwn, A. L., Bransford, J. D., Ferrara, R. A., & Carnpione, J. C. (1983). Learuing, rernembering and understanding. In Mussen, P. (Ed.), Handbook of Chil• Psychology, Volume III (pp. 77-166). Chichester: John Wiley.

Campione, J. C., Brown, A. L., & Ferrara, R. A. (1982). Mental retardation and intelligence. In R. J. Sterr/berg (Ed.), Handbook ot Human Intelligence. Cambridge University Press.

Derry, S. J., & Murphy, D. A. (1980). Designing systems that train learning ability: from theory to practiee. Review o[ Educational Research, 50, 275-290.

Feuerstein, R., Rand, Y., & Hoffman M. B. (1979). The Dynamic Assessment of Retarded Perr the Learning Potential Assessment Device, theory, instruments and ter Baltimore: University Park Press.

Feuerstein, R., Rand. Y., Hoffraan, M. B., & Miller, R. (1980). Instrumental Enrichment: ah inter- vention programme Jor cognitive modifiability. Baltimore: University Park Press.

Feuerstein, R., Miller R., Hoffman, M. B., Rand, Y., Mintzker, Y., & Jensen, M. (1981). Cogaitive modifiability in adolescence: cognitive structure and the effects of intervention. Journal o[ Special Education, 15, 269-387.

Graham, E. E. (1981). Feuerstein's Instrumental Enriehment used to ehange cognitive and verbal behaviour in a city-core, multi-etlmic, Toronto Secondary School. Ed. D. Thesis. University of Toronlo, Ontario.

Hamilton, D. (1976). Curriculum Evaluation. London: Open Books.

Hammill, D. D., & Larsen, S. C. (1974). The effectiveness of psycholinguistics training. Exceptional Children, 41, 5-14.

Haywood, H. C., & Arbitman-Smith, R. (1981). Modification of cognitive funetions in slow.learning adolescents. In P. Mittler (Ed.), Frontiers of Knowledge in Mental Retardation. Vol. 1. Baltimore: University Park Press.

Haywood, H. C., Arbitman-Smith, R., Bransford, J. D., De Iclos, V., Towery, J., Hannel, L. I., & Hannel, M. V. (1982). Cognitive education with adolescents: evaluation of Instrumental Enrichme~lt. Paper presented at 6th lnternatinnal Symposium of the lnternational Association Jor the Scientifie Study of Mental Deficiency. Torunto (August),

Howie, R., Thiekpenny. J. P., LeaS, C., & Absoluto, M. (1985). The piloting of Instrumental Enrieh- ment in New Zealand with eight mildly retarded children. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 11, 3-16.

16 R. B U R D E N

Macdonald, B. (1975). In D. Taxxmey (Ed.) Curriculum Evaluation Today: Trends an• Implications. London: Macmillan.

MartŸ S. D. (1983), Cognitive education for the hearing-impaired adolescent. Internal report; School of Education and Human Servir GaUandet College, Washington DC.

MartŸ S. D. (1984). Thinking skiUs for teachers: infusing cognitive strategies into preparation programs, lnternal report; School of Education and Human Services, GaUandet College, Washington DC.

Narrol, H., Silverman, H., & Waksman, M. (1982). Developing cognitive potential in Vocational High School students. Journal o1 Educational Research, 76, 107-112.

Newcomer, P., Larsen, S., & Hammi11, D. (1975). A response. Exceptional Children, 42, 144-148.

Passow, A. H. (1980). Instrumental Enrichment: redeveloping cognitive structure. The Educational Forum, 44, 393-400.

Rand, Y., Mintzker, Y., Miller, R., Hoffman, M. B., & Friedlender, Y. (1981). The Instrumental Enrichment Program: immediate and long-term effects. In P. Mittler (Ed.), Frontiers of Knowledge in Mental Retardation, Vol. 1, (pp. 141-152). Baltimore: University Park Press.

Raziel, S. (1981). EHects of mediated learning experience on cognitive modifiability, locus of control and self-esteem. M. Phil thesis, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.

Royal-Dawson, C. A. (1981). Something happened. Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment in a Bucks E.S.N. ([VI) school. Dissertation for Diploma of Pro]essional Studies, Oxford Polyteclmie, Oxford.

Steruberg, R. (1984). How can we teach intelligence? Educat{onal Leadership (September) 38-47.

Stufflebeam. D. L. (1971). Educational Evaluation and Decision Making. F. E. Peacock, Itasca, Illinois

Weller, K. & Craft, A. (1983) Making Up Our Minds: ah exptoratory stu• of Instrumental Enriehment. London: Schools Council.

L'lnstrumental Enrichment Programme de Feuerstein: recherches et ›

Les concep t ions sous- iacentes & l ' , , lns t rumentaI Enr ich- m e n t Programme , , de Feuers te in et les objec t i [s de ce pro- g r a m m e [ont l 'objet d 'une • qui en d› les ›233 m e n t s cl› L 'au teur [ait des sugges t ions sur les m › les p lus adapt › dl l ' › des el'… du p r o g r a m m e et passe en revue la p lupar t des t ravaux disponibles ant › ?l 1986. Ces t ravaux fon t e u x - m ~ m e s l 'obje t d 'une › cr i t ique ?t la lumi~re des sugges t ions de l 'auteur. II apparai t n › qu'd condi t ion d'dtre prudent , on p e u t accorder une relat ive conf iance aux e f fe t s de FIE . Des sugges t ions son t Ÿ dans la perspec t i ve des recherches fu tures , a[in de s u r m o n t e r les d i f f icu l t › an t › rencontr › par un renouve I l emen t des s trat› d ' ›

K e y words: I n s t r u m e n t a l E n r i c h m e n t , E v a l u a t i o n .

Received: September 1986 Revision received: lanuary 1987

R o b e r t B u r d e n . School of Education, University of Exeter, EX1 2LU Excter, England.

Current theme of research:

The evaluation of the effectiveness of Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Programme in transform- ing low achievers into effective learners.

Most relevant publications in the rlela oŸ Educational Psychology:

Burden, R. L. (1985). Instrumental Enrichment: a new initiative in the eclucation o9 less academie pupils at the Secondary stage. Remedial Education, 20 (2).