Morgan asked: “Was this a version of the Skinnerian teaching machines?”

I don’t know because I don’t know the details of a Skinnerian system. The best way to look at this system would be as a programmed learning text (which is how I learned boolean algebra, by the way). At the time, my father was interested in unusual education methods and there was a company in Albuquerque called “Teaching Machines Inc” and it was their machine. I came away with an absolutely complete understanding of algebra, but I don’t know if that was my skill at deducing principles or if the system taught them. I think it was both.

I would also, by the way, argue that systems designed simply to instill facts are very useful, and in fact should be used in education – at least for the kids for which it works. My daughter learned all arithmetic while 4 or 5 from a really simple little computer program that ran on an Atari 800. It may have been Skinnerian – it slowly advanced the difficulty, and made it a game. When you hit a milestone, you were rewarded with this cute little fishing game (hmmm… maybe THAT’s why my daughter is such an avid fisherman – a side effect). We gave it to her and then didn’t really interfere at all. She just did it. It did not teach principles, but frankly, a lot of what is taught as principles to kids learning arithmetic should, in my opinion, be taught at a later age – they bounce right off of most of the students – they memorize but don’t internalize the principle. So I am in favor of rote learning of many things, and of using games and other devices to make it fun.