A METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING

A brief review of the concept of comprehension in traditional psychology is presented as a basis for discussing the main problems of conceiving it as a mental process. To avoid these problems, we offer some conceptual foundations that may yield a systematic experimental analysis of phenomena related to this notion in its ordinary use. Our methodological approach defines nine conditions of comprehensive learning arising from the different possibilities in which, after a reactive exposure, learning may be assessed in an active mode. A final discussion concerns topics relating comprehensive learning to Behavior Theory, in particular the enabling conditions for its occurrence, the facilitating role of reactive modes in learning, and the achievable levels of competence and its transferability.