Reassessing aptitude: Introduction to a special issue in honor of richard E. Snow

Abstract

Richard Snow's research influenced many students and colleagues, both directly through his findings and indirectly by inspiring others to carry on the work. Richard Snow made many direct contributions to the fields of cognitive, differential, instructional, educational, and what he liked to call "cognitive differential" psychology. A primary theme is the importance of the role of aptitude in instruction, with aptitude broadly defined to accommodate cognitive, affective, and conative characteristics. Most aptitude research concerns cognitive abilities, of course, such as reasoning, verbal ability, spatial ability, and the like. Snow was a tireless advocate of empiricism and quantification, showing appreciation for qualitative approaches, but as subordinate to quantitative ones. He believed in real-world applications, ever combining laboratory experiments with classroom studies. And he made it clear that the focus should be on the big issues—that one large, multivariate study could often be more beneficial to science and to practice than scores of little, univariate ones.