The ontological problem is "what exists?" The answer regarding the part of consciousness which is related to left hemisphere is that only individual discrete objects exist; objects are regarded one at a time. The answer regarding the part of consciousness which is related to right hemisphere is only comprehensive entities exist; each…

Discusses five- and six-year-old children's conceptions of life and death. Children were questioned about animals, plants, and inanimate objects. The most errors occurred when children judged inanimate objects; the fewest when they judged animals. The order of questions about either life or death significantly influenced children's responses. (NH)

Acquisition of sentient-nonsentient distinction in 48 children between four- and seven-years-of-age occurred later than animate-inanimate distinction. The children's use of naturalistic or nonnaturalistic explanations depended on the logical nature of events in which objects were involved rather than familiarity with objects themselves. Ability to…

Concepts important to cognitive development in children can be classified according to several levels. At level 1, concepts are equivalent in structural complexity to binary relations and univariate functions. At level 2, concepts are equivalent to compositions of binary relations, binary operations, and bivariate functions. At level 3, concepts…

Examined whether representational changes in digit memory are functions of children's expertise in mental abacus operation when abacus operators reproduced series of digits forward or backward. Found skilled operators equally facile with forward and backward reproduction, but novices slower going backward. Suggests advanced operators apply their…

The study, with 57 children (ages 3-6) enrolled in 3 Head Start classes, demonstrated that short-term, large-group basic concept instruction combining direct instruction with interactive and incidental teaching techniques resulted in significantly improved scores on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised. (Author/DB)

The results of a study of the meiosis models utilized by individuals at varying levels of expertise while reasoning about the process of meiosis are presented. Based on these results, the issues of sources of misconceptions/difficulties and the construction of a sound understanding of meiosis are discussed. Five individuals from each of three…

Tests the distinction between inferring new categories on the basis of property information (predicted to be difficult) and inferring new properties on the basis of category information (predicted to be easier) among 57 preschool children. (HOD)

The relationship between early language and cognition was studied in 20 children between 1 and 2 years of age. Four cognitive areas were tested: object permanence, means-end, play, and imitation. Results indicated that specific cognitive skills seem temporarily associated with some linguistic abilities, although attainment of skills can be…

The science learning cycle developed by Robert Karplus and others in the 1960's has been a useful model for many science teachers and researchers. This model stresses the use of structured inquiry to organize knowledge acquisition and problem solving. Recent research in the cognitive science tradition, however, has shown that learning and problem…

The terms and concepts children used to explain their beliefs about computers before and after classroom exposure to microcomputers were studied to identify misconceptions about computers that could interfere with computer-based learning. Children in each of two classrooms at the Bank Street School for Children were interviewed individually on…

Examines developmental change in 4- 7- and 10-month-old infants' perceptions of correlations among attributes to determine whether relational information plays a role in abilities ranging from the perception and recognition of a simple pattern to the formation of a category. (HOD)

Examines kindergartners' and second graders' knowledge of concept attribute importance and the children's use of this knowledge to categorize. (HOD)

Describes four experiments that examined the ability of second- and fifth-grade children and college adults to use "extra-list" cues to retrieve episodic information from memory. Shows that effective cue use varied with both the "match" of cue and event classification, and with the associative structure of permanent memory.…

Approximately 500 nonscience major university chemistry students were surveyed to record their interpretations of specific chemical symbolism before presenting modern concepts of atomic and molecular structure, in an attempt to understand the thought processes entering students use as they interpret symbolism. Results are reported and discussed.…