3: Trait-Treatment Interaction and Learning

Abstract

Interactions of independent variables in their effects on dependent variables are present whenever an effect holds for one kind of subject under one set of conditions but does not hold in the same way for other types of subjects or other sets of conditions. When interaction hypotheses guide research on instruction, the research enterprise is altered. The search for instructional techniques, teaching styles, or media to provide the overall results in teaching-learning situations is abandoned because it is an inadequate guide for the design of instructional theory. What we know about individual differences leads us to believe that for certain subgroups of individuals, and under certain conditions, reports of overall results misrepresent the true effects. A wide range of instructional alternatives or treatments needs to be incorporated into research designs in order to determine those treatments that are particularly beneficial for particular subgroups of learners. Such research would be responsive to the question: Given this set of learner characteristics, what is the best way to tailor instruc-

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