Achievements and Directions in Research on Intellectual Skills

A summary, with emphasis on Australian contributions, is given of 20 years of research on the learning of intellectual skills. The historical development of the field is outlined, beginning with studies of the validity of learning hierarchies, then moving to issues concerning the understanding of intellectual skills. Shifts in the experimental paradigm are identified for investigations of the effects of methods of instruction on the learning of intellectual skills, and methods of probing and depicting cognitive structure are described. Suggestions for future research are presented throughout.