a way as to increase his chances of goal attainment, he increases the chances that the other members with whom he is linked will also achieve their goals . . . The psychological consequences of such a state of affairs are: (l) suitability-the actions of members in a cooperative relationship are interchangeable. . .(2) positive cathexis-if the actions of one member move the individuals toward their goal, his actions . . . will be favorably evaluated...and (3) inducibility-if the actions of a person in a cooperative relationship move the others toward their goal, the others will be receptive to his attempts to induce them to engage in behavior that will facilitate his actions (p. 215).
A more specific picture of the learning dynamics involved in cooperative learning has been provided by Johnson and Johnson (1985). In an extensive review of cooperative learning studies, the authors used findings to generate models of the internal processes in students in cooperative learning situations. In this regard, the authors noted that several factors appear to promote the facilitation of learning observed in cooperative learning situations.
Specifically, Johnson and Johnson stated that the cooperative process lends itself to the promotion of high-quality reasoning strategies, the constructive management of conflict regarding ideas, increased focus and time spent on task, more elaborative information processing, greater encouragement and more frequent supportive interaction among students. The positive interactive qualities obtained by students then feed into the positive cognitive gains they have made and operate to still further increase learning.
A more thorough understanding of the theoretical model of cooperative learning has been provided by Johnson and Johnson (1989) in their delineation of the conceptual underpinnings of the cooperative strategies. In this regard, they note that:
(l) The basic elements of cooperative learnin...