JP2006301666A - Automatic learning and ability evaluating method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a learning device that enables a user to efficiently learn by himself or herself. <P>SOLUTION: Provided are a method and a device for automatic learning of groups of items and ability evaluation by the user. This device which can be replaced with a digital computer has one input for receiving a user's answer, a display for presenting subjects to be learnt, and logic for classifying items. The method which can be implemented on the digital computer includes steps of asking the user about whether the user believes that an item is known or unknown, classifying the item into a perceptively known (44) or unknown (48) item, and generating a sequence (54) of items (58) to be displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates generally to educational training teaching tools, and more particularly to automatic learning and ability evaluation methods and apparatus.

  There are many factors that contribute to the way people learn. These factors include how information or material is given (ie teachers), how individuals process and recover information, genetic trends towards information processing, multiple forms of intelligence, and the repetition rate at which information is given Personal learning styles, including learning time, and the base of information already known by the individual, and perhaps most importantly, the role of emotion in learning and ability It includes acceptability to go.

  Considering this, designing an automatic learning system is difficult even at best. This problem becomes important when these systems are applied to the general public with various background and cultural differences. This problem is not only related to the “classroom” situation, but also to electronic games, military and corporate training, improvement education, guidance, and countless other teaching, sales, public education, learning and treatment situations. ing.

  Thus, an automatic teaching system and learning that adapts to learning speed, learning style, cultural differences and previously learned material, and that allows students to be receptive to material that should be studied over time. There is a need in the art for a method.

  Also, there is a need to take any material to be learned and give it to the student or user in an order or manner tailored to the student's or user's learning receptivity and in a pattern that is easily absorbed by the student. Exists in this technical field.

  Furthermore, there is a need for an ability method that provides a special quantitative measure of a student's confidence level and self-respect for a particular learned subject regardless of the student's knowledge of the subject matter.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for teaching a group of items to a user or evaluating a user's ability is provided. The apparatus includes means for displaying each of the items to the user. The apparatus further comprises means for receiving a response from the user and logic means for responding to the user's response to classify these items into two groups of known and unknown subjective items. The apparatus further comprises means for generating a sequence of subjective items including at least one of each of known and unknown subjective items and supplying the sequence to the display means.

  A technical advantage of the device of the present invention is that a group of items can be held better and learned faster and more fully. Another technical advantage is that boredom is advantageously used in the learning process. Another technical advantage is that user acceptability is improved by increasing the repetition rate for newly learned facts.

  Yet another technical advantage of the present invention is that an apparatus is provided for creating patterns of known and unknown material and adjusting the patterns to suit individual users. Yet another technical advantage of the present invention is to provide a customized device for an individual student or user that can personalize the procedure from a single set of material and allow the student to teach in the best way to learn this material. It is to be.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for evaluating a user's ability or teaching a user a group of items where each item is paired with a special response.

  The method includes the following steps performed in this order or in a different order. First, the user is queried as to whether each item in the group is known or unknown. Second, the group of items is classified into a first group of known subjective items and a second group of unknown subjective items. Third, a sequence of subjective items is generated that includes at least one of each known and unknown subjective item. Fourth, the sequence of subjective items is displayed in the following way. If this item is an unknown subjective item, then this item and the paired response are displayed together. If this item is a known subjective item, then this item is displayed at the first time and a paired response is displayed at a later time.

  One technical advantage of the present invention is that a method is provided for teaching a user a group of items where each item is paired with a particular response.

  Another technical advantage of the method of the present invention is that the items and their paired responses are classified into groups of known and unknown material based on the user's subjective response.

  Yet another technical advantage of the method according to the present invention is that unknown items are given in their paired responses at the same time, while known items are displayed first and the paired responses are later in time. This material is displayed to the user in such a manner as to be displayed on the screen.

(Embodiment of the Invention)
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The use of repetition for educational purposes is well known in the prior art. Such methods are used to learn related terms such as words, foreign languages, names and numbers. Each item to be learned has an associated paired response. In the prior art, the subject matter is in the form of selected items and paired responses, all of the questions and answers (facts and definitions) printed, or electronically like a set of flash cards or visual display screens. Can be given either.

  In one prior art method of using a set of flash cards, the flash cards are separated into separate groups or a set of flash cards to be learned. The information is learned one at a time by simply studying the cards and performing self-tests. Cards that are tested correctly are excluded, while cards that are tested incorrectly are repeated until they are learned. When one group or group is learned, another group is studied until it is learned. This process continues until all cards in all groups are learned.

  In another prior art method, the items to be learned are separated by testing into groups of known and unknown items. The user then concentrates on study and iterative learning, including a self-test process for unknown items. When an unknown item is learned, it is transferred to the known item until all unknown items are learned.

  In another prior art method shown in FIG. 1, two groups of items to be learned are known items 4 and unknown items 6 based on the user's actual knowledge and not the user's knowledge. Separated into groups by initial testing. Once this item is separated into two groups, a sequence of known and unknown items is generated in the sequence generator 8. Each of the items in this sequence is presented on the display 10 and then tested 12.

  The user is then required to be presented with a test item and to provide a response at step 13. This response is evaluated at decision point 14. If the answer is correct, then the method proceeds along path 16 and then this item is stored in the set of known items 4 18 and the next item in the sequence is incremented in step 20. And this process continues.

  If the response evaluated at decision point 14 is incorrect, then the method proceeds along path 22 to step 24, where the user answers, i.e., a paired response is provided for this item. Is done. This process continues and in step 26 this item is stored in the set of unknown items 6. At step 28, the sequence is incremented and the next item in the sequence is displayed.

  Returning to decision point 14, if this item is known, the method determines in step 30 whether this item is the last item to be learned. If so, the process stops at step 32; if not, and if there are remaining items, the process continues along path 34 and the next item in the sequence is Incremented and the process continues.

  In one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, it is based entirely on the user's perception of whether the user knows the item, rather than based on whether the item is actually known or unknown. Three groups are provided with methods for use in isolating items to be learned or measuring ability. It should also be understood that the terms “known” and “unknown” represent multiple levels of knowledge and are not absolute binary knowledge. It should also be understood that any perceptible factor can be used in place of the known and unknown items described in the preferred embodiment.

  For example, the present invention can be used to test for use or non-use. Furthermore, the improvement of the classification process sets a time limit for receiving the user's subjective response. In this method, starting at step 40, the user is provided with an item and given an initial test as to whether the user believes that the user knows the answer.

  There is also an operating clock that times the response that is not seen and known by the user. It should be noted that in this test, the user is asked if he knows this item and is not tested for this item.

  If the user states that he knows the answer, then the process proceeds to pass 42 and the item is stored in the perceived known item category 44. If the user responds that the item is not known, the process continues to pass 46 and the item is stored in the perceptual unknown item category 48. If the user responds that this item is not known or unknown, then the process continues to pass 50 and the item is stored in the perceptual uncertain item category 52.

  It will also be noted that if the user is unable to respond within a predetermined period of time, then this item is treated as an unknown item and stored in the perceptual unknown item category 48.

  Perceived uncertainty items in category 52 are combined with perceived unknown items in category 48 and are referred to as subjective unknown items. Subjective unknown items, along with perceptual subjective known items, are directed to a sequence generator 54 that creates a sequence or list of unknown and known subjective items.

  In a preferred embodiment, the sequence includes at least one unknown item and a plurality of randomly selected known items. Subjective unknown items can be considered to be arranged in an order of 1 to N, where N is the total number of subjective unknown items.

  The sequence generator 54 selects a first subjectively unknown item and combines it with a randomly selected subjectively known item to generate a sequence. Once this sequence occurs, the process continues along path 56 and the first item in the sequence is displayed to the user by display 58. This method continues to display each item in this sequence until such time as a user interruption occurs.

  This item can be displayed visually or audio in a variety of ways including animation, color adaptation, repetition, position, dimension, sound and rhythm. In this way, iterative presentation of subjectively unknown items is continued along with randomly selected subjectively known items.

  Now proceeding along path 59 to user interrupt 60, the method determines whether the user has selected interrupt. If not, the process proceeds along path 62 and returns to display 58 where the next item in the sequence is presented.

  If there is a user interrupt detected at user interrupt 60, the process proceeds along decision path 66 to decision block 66, where the method continues with the current sequence or other Determine whether to convert to activity. If the method continues the current sequence, the process proceeds on path 68 to decision block 70. At decision block 70, the user is asked about this item and asked whether this item is perceived as known or unknown. Again, this is a subjective test only. If this item is perceived as known, the method follows path 72 and the item is stored in step 74 within perceived known item 44.

  After this item is stored at step 74, the method checks at decision block 82 to determine if this unknown item is the last unknown item. If this item is not the last unknown item, the method proceeds along path 84 to the next unknown item selector 80, which selects the next unknown item and generates a new sequence. Control proceeds to the sequence generator 54 of FIG.

  Returning to decision point 82, if the unknown item was the last unknown item, then the process proceeds to pass 86 and stops at point 88.

  Returning to decision point 70, if this item is perceived as unknown, ie if the item is known or the user is unsure whether it is unknown, the process proceeds to path 76, and This item is stored in step 78 within the perceptual unknown item 48. After this item is stored, the next unknown item is selected by the next unknown item selector 80 and a new sequence is generated by the sequence generator 54.

  Referring now to FIG. 3, another embodiment of the method according to the present invention is shown. In this method, each item in the group of items to be learned has an associated paired response.

  In an initial step 90, the user is asked if he believes he knows this item and its paired response. The user is not asked to give a paired response at this time. Also, this response is timed, and if the response is not given within a predetermined time T, then this item and its paired response are treated as perceptual unknown items.

  If the user responds that they know this item and its paired response, the process proceeds on path 92, and the item is associated with its perceived known item along with its associated paired response. Stored in a labeled array 94. If the user cannot respond within time T or responds that this item is unknown, then the process proceeds to pass 96 and the item is in the array 98 as a perceptual unknown item. Remembered. If the user responds that this item is known or unknown, the process proceeds to pass 100 and this item is stored in the array 102 as a perceptual uncertainty item. The items in arrays 98 and 102 are combined in a single table of unknown items.

  When all items in the group of items to be learned are classified in the various arrays, the process proceeds to generate a sequence of subjective items. The sequence generator 104 generates a sequence or list of perceptually known items and perceptually unknown items. In the preferred embodiment, this sequence consists entirely of a single perceptual unknown item and a plurality of randomly selected perceptual known items. Once this sequence is generated by the sequence generator 104, the first subjective item in this sequence is selected by the item selector 106.

  At any time after this item is selected, the user is allowed to interrupt as indicated at step. If there is no user interruption, the process proceeds to pass 110 and a determination is made at step 112 as to whether the selected subjective item is a perceived or unknown perceptual item.

  If this item is a perceptual unknown item, then the process proceeds to pass 114 and both this item and its paired response are simultaneously displayed to the user on display 116. After this item and its paired response are displayed at step 116, the list of sequence items is incremented and the next item is incremented at step 118. If the item selected in step 106 is a perceptually known item, then the process proceeds to path 120. The perceived item is displayed in the item display step 122 at the first time.

  Then, at a later time, the associated paired response is displayed to the user in the paired response display step 124. After the associated paired response is displayed at step 124, the list of sequence items is incremented by the next item at step 118. After the sequence is incremented, the process determines whether the sequence is complete at step 126, and if not, then the process proceeds to path 128 and the next item is Presented. If this item is the last item in this sequence, then the process proceeds to path 130 and a new sequence of subjective items is generated by the sequence generator 104.

  One unique feature of the method of the present invention resides in a novel method that allows the user to interrupt the learning process at any time. Still referring to FIG. 3, if a user interrupt is detected at step 108, the method branches along path 132 to FIG.

  Now, with reference to FIG. 4, the unique interrupt feature of the present invention will be described. Decision box 140 is activated in the process of FIG. If the system determines that the user has actually activated the interrupt, the process proceeds to path 142 and the user is asked at decision block 144 as to whether he wants to begin a new sequence. If the user chooses to start a new sequence, the process branches through path 146 to sequence generator 104 (FIG. 3).

  The sequence generator 104 is activated to select a new unknown item and generates a new sequence to continue the method. If the user does not select a new sequence and decides to respond NO, the process proceeds to pass 148 and the user asks at game step 150 as to whether he wants to change his intention. It is done.

  If yes, this process will help resolve some of the boredom, increase the user's time to focus, or teach other aspects of paired associations such as accurate spelling Branch into a set of games that are specifically configured for. Also, a normal game such as Hangman can be made. If the user decides not to select the game, the process proceeds to pass 152 and whether the user is like a different test or different learning scheme such as the ability evaluation shown in FIG. At step 154. If the user's answer is yes, the process branches to a new test. If the user response is NO, then the method stops.

  Now, returning to user interrupt 140, if it is determined that it was not the user that interrupted the method, the process proceeds to pass 156 and timer 158 determines if this timer has timed out.

  In one embodiment, the method includes a timer that measures user response time. When used in conjunction with a program storage digital computer and display, it also functions to automatically time out and shut down when the user is no longer operating the device.

  In another embodiment, timer 158 can be a counter used to measure the cycle by counting the time that an unknown item was repeated. If the user cycles too fast, the method can automatically start a new sequence 144 or a different test 154. If the user cycles too slowly, the method can branch to an example game 150 or other activity. If timer 158 has timed out, then the process proceeds to path 160, returns to decision point 144, and can ask whether the user wishes to select a new sequence. If it is determined that the timer has not stopped, the process continues to pass 162 and the sequence is restarted at step 164 and the process continues.

  Now, with reference to FIG. 5, another embodiment of the method according to the present invention that is directly related to capacity evaluation will be described. Beginning at step 180, a sequence of items is generated and one item is presented to the user at a test perception step 182 at a time. In step 182, the user is asked if the user knows this item, if he does not know the item, or if he is not sure if this item is known or unknown. Again, the present invention is not required to determine whether this item is actually known or unknown, but whether the user believes that this item is known or unknown. It must be stressed.

  If the user responds at step 182 that he does not know this item, the process proceeds to path 184. At step 186, the perceptual flag is set to “U” for unknown in this case. If the user responds that they know this item, the process proceeds to path 188 and the perceptual flag is set to “K” for known at step 190. If the user responds that he is not sure whether this item is known or unknown, the process proceeds to path 192 and the perception flag is set to “U” for unknown at step 194. .

  After the perception flag is set, this item is presented to the user, and he is asked regarding his actual knowledge of this item. This occurs at the reality test step 196 where the user is required to provide an appropriate response. If this response is incorrect, the process proceeds to path 198 where the perceptual flag is tested at step 200. If this flag is set to U, the process proceeds to path 202 and the UU counter is incremented by 1 at 204. If the perceptual flag is set to “K”, the process proceeds to pass 206 and the “KU” counter is incremented by 1 at step 208.

  Returning to test block 196, if the user provides a correct response, the process proceeds to pass 210 and the perceptual flag is tested at step 212. If this perceptual flag was previously set to “K” relative to known, the process proceeds to path 214 and the “KK” register is incremented by 1 at step 216. If the perceptual flag is set to “U”, the process proceeds to pass 218 and the “UK” register is incremented by 1 in step 220.

  After the appropriate register is incremented at steps 204, 208, 216, and 220, the process determines whether this item is the last item in the sequence at counter 222. If it is the last item in this sequence, the process proceeds along the path 224 to the capability assessment step 226. If this item is not the last item, the process proceeds to pass 228 and at step 230 the item sequence is incremented by 1 and returns to test perception block 182 along path 232.

  One way to evaluate ability is to divide the sum of registers 204 and 216 by the sum of registers 204, 208, 216, and 220 and express the result as a percentage referenced as the current measure of knowledge. is there. Another capability rating is expressed as a percentage referred to as a measure of capability, calculated by subtracting from 1 the sum of registers 208 and 220 divided by the sum of registers 204, 208, 216 and 220. Other capability evaluation calculations are well known to those skilled in the art.

  Referring now to FIG. 6, an apparatus for practicing the present invention is shown as an arm-mounted computer with a visual display. The display can also be either an audio notification device or a combination of visual and audio display.

  Referring to FIG. 6, an improved learning device is indicated generally at 300 and includes a housing 302, a display 304, a port 306 that interfaces an external general purpose computer with an internal computer or microprocessor (not shown). And 308. A function switch 310 is used to control device functions such as on / off. An input device that can be a standard pressure sensing switch labeled “Unknown” 314, “Uncertain” 316, and “Known” 318 is indicated generally at 312.

  A typical computer system or microprocessor with standard processing, memory, and I / O functions is not shown in FIG. 6, but is well known to those skilled in the art. In memory, a list or file of data consisting of items or groups of items to be taught to the user will be stored. In this case, shown on the display 304 are the two names of the drag, the trade name and its generic name (item and its paired response). The display means 304 flushes the item, in this case the word “amoxil”, and the paired response 322 below it, in this case the word “penicillin”.

  After item 320 and its paired response 322 are flashed and presented on display 304, switches 314, 316 and 318 are activated as a means for receiving a response from the user. If he believes that the user knows the association between amoxil and penicillin, he depresses the “known” switch 318. On the other hand, if the user does not know the relationship, he depresses the “Unknown” switch 314. If the user knows or does not know this relationship, he depresses the “Uncertain” switch 316.

  Using standard computer technology, the input from switch 312 is “known” if switch 318 is activated by the user, or if either switch 314 or 316 is activated by the user. Guided to the microprocessor's logic means to label this item as "unknown".

  The system continues displaying various items 320 with their associated paired responses 322 and asking the user about the user's perception until the list of items is complete. Once the list or sequence is complete, the microprocessor generates, through its stored program, a new list or sequence of items to be learned, including at least one of each known and unknown subjective item.

  With further reference to FIG. 6, three separate displays 304A, 304B, and 304C are shown that illustrate how a response 322 paired with an item 320 is presented to the user in one sequence. Beginning at 304A, both the unknown item 320 and its paired response 322 are shown on the display.

  At any time after the first unknown item has been displayed more than once, the user can activate any switch 312 to interrupt this process. Once the unknown item 320 is displayed with its paired response 322, the system presents the known item 326 on the display 304B. After an appropriate time delay, the response 328 paired with item 326 is displayed together and presented to the user on display 304C.

  Referring now to FIG. 7, another embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention is shown generally as computer 400. Similar to the computer shown in FIG. 6, this computer uses a standard microprocessor with general purpose internal arithmetic and logic functions, general purpose I / O handling, and off-chip memory in RAM, ROM or other suitable memory device. use. These are not shown because they are well known to those skilled in the art.

  Referring now to the computer, in the preferred embodiment, there is shown a display 402, which is a liquid crystal display for presenting the item 404 and its associated paired response 406 to the user. In this case, the item 404 is a material that is unknown or believed not to be known to the user, and is referred to as an unknown material.

  In the input pad, various input devices are shown consisting of conventional pressure activated switches 410, 412 and 414 for receiving user responses. Switch 410 indicates that the user perceives that this item is not known. Switch 412 indicates that the user is not sure whether this item is known or unknown, and switch 414 indicates that he perceives that he knows this item. Also shown is a keyboard 416 consisting of a full set of alphanumeric keys along with various control keys. The keyboard 416 greatly expands user input.

  For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, a user can interrupt the learning process at any time to activate a game or another learning module. For example, activating the enter key 418 interrupts the process of displaying this group of items, and the user can continue this sequence, restart it, use a new sequence, play a game or otherwise You will be asked if you want to play any activity.

  In another embodiment of computer 400, the method according to the present invention is contained on an external memory. The external memory can be either a type such as a flexible disk (both 5 · 1/4 ”and 3 · 1/2”), a card such as RAM or ROM, or other chip type memory. Can do. In this embodiment, an apparatus is provided for configuring computer 400 to perform either a method of teaching a user by presenting a group of items or evaluating user capabilities.

  The apparatus has means for configuring the input pad 408 to ask the user whether an item is perceived as known or unknown. The apparatus includes means for configuring the processor of computer 400 to classify each of the items into one group of perceived known items and a second group of perceived unknown items. The apparatus also includes means for configuring the processor of the computer 400 to generate a sequence of subjective items that includes at least one of the first group and one of the second group. . The apparatus comprises means for displaying a sequence of subjective items on the display 402. The above arrangement can be a stored program instruction as is well known to those skilled in the art.

  The computer described in FIGS. 6 and 7 can operate under a set of stored instructions written in accordance with various embodiments of the illustrated method.

  From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that under the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided that focus on the user's perceptual knowledge of the item and do not require the user to actually know the item. I will. In this way, improved automatic learning and ability assessment can be achieved.

  Since the present invention can be incorporated into a microprocessor based on a program storage computer or a removable storage device, various learning methods can be provided. Although the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various other changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Will be understood.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a prior art system that uses iteration for educational purposes. Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a method according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the method according to the invention. Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of an interrupt sequence used in connection with the method of the present invention. Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of a third embodiment of the method according to the invention. 1 shows a first embodiment of the device of the invention showing different displays of known and unknown items according to the learning method of the invention. Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment for carrying out the method of the invention, which is the device of the invention.

Claims (32)

  A memory means for storing a file of items; a display means for presenting each item to a user; an input means for receiving a response from the user for each item; and responding to the user's response; Processor means for classifying said items into groups of subjectively known items and subjectively unknown items and generating a sequence of one subjectively unknown item and a plurality of subjectively known items And a device for teaching items to users.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display means is a visual display.   The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display means is an audio display.   The input means further comprises three switch means for indicating whether the user knows the item, does not know the item, or is sure about the item being known or unknown. The apparatus according to 1.   The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising timing means.   6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the timing means further measures the time of the user response.   Means for displaying each of the items in the group to a user; means for receiving a response associated with each of the items from the user; and responding to the receiving means, and Generating a list of subjective items in a sequence that includes means for classifying into a group of items and a group of unknown subjective items, and at least one of each of the known and unknown subjective items in a list; And means for providing the list to the display means, and an apparatus for teaching the user a group of items.   The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the list comprises an unknown subjective item and a plurality of known subjective items.   9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the known subjective item is selected randomly.   In an apparatus for teaching a user a group of items, each of which has a paired response, means for displaying each of the items in the group to the user and asking for a response from the user; Means for receiving the response from the user; logic means for responding to the receiving means and classifying the items into two groups of known subjective items and unknown subjective items; and in sequence Means for generating a sequence of the subjective items including at least one unknown subjective item and a plurality of known subjective items, and supplying the sequence of items together with the paired responses to the display means And said device.   The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sequence comprises a predetermined order of the unknown subjective item and the plurality of known subjective items.   The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sequence includes at least one repetition of the unknown subjective item.   11. Apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising means for controlling the presentation of items and paired responses by the display means.   14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control means presents the unknown subjective item along with its paired response.   14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control means presents the known subjective item at an initial time and presents its paired response at a later time.   In a method for teaching a user a group of items, each of which has a paired response, the user is asked whether a single item is perceptually known or unknown, and the first group of perceptually known items And classifying each of the items into a second group of perceived unknown items, generating a sequence of subjective items including at least one of the first group and one of the second group, Said method comprising displaying said sequence of items together with said individually paired responses.   The method of claim 16, wherein the sequence of items and paired responses are displayed differently depending on whether the item is pulled from the first group or the second group.   The method of claim 17, wherein the first group of items is displayed separately from the paired responses.   The method of claim 17, wherein the second group of items is displayed with the paired responses.   The method of claim 16, further comprising determining whether the user desires to continue.   The method of claim 16, wherein the questioning step also asks the user whether the item is known or unknown whether the user is certain.   The method of claim 21, wherein the second group includes items for which the user is not sure whether the item is known or unknown.   A memory means for storing a file of items, a display means for presenting each item to the user, and a response from the user to each item as to whether the item is perceived as known or unknown Input means for receiving, responsive to the user's response, and classifying the item into a group of subjectively known items and subjectively unknown items, and a subjectively unknown item and a plurality of subjectively known items. An apparatus for evaluating a user's ability comprising processor means for generating a sequence.   24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the display means is a visual display.   The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the display means is an audio display.   24. The input means further comprises three switch means for indicating whether the user knows the item, does not know the item, or whether the item is known or unknown. Equipment.   In an apparatus for configuring a digital computer having an input means, a processor, and a display to teach a user by presenting a group of items or to perform a method for evaluating user capabilities, an item is known or unknown Means for configuring the input means to ask the user as to what is perceived; classifying each of the items into a group of perceived known items and a second group of perceived unknown items; and Means for configuring the processor to generate a sequence of subjective items including at least one of a first group and one of the second group; and the display to present the sequence of subjective items Means for configuring the apparatus.   28. The device of claim 27, wherein the device is packaged as a memory card.   28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus is packaged as a flexible disk.   28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus is packaged as a read only memory.   28. The device of claim 27, wherein the device is an optical memory.   28. The device of claim 27, wherein the device is an integrated circuit.

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