The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of three cognitive models, one developed by content experts and two generated from student verbal reports for explaining examinee performance on a grade 3 diagnostic mathematics test. For this study, the items were developed to directly measure the attributes in the cognitive model. The…

Background: Students' prior knowledge plays an important role in learning new knowledge. In physical education (PE) and physical activity settings, studies have confirmed the role of students' prior knowledge. According to Placek and Griffin, these studies demonstrate that: "our students are not empty balls waiting to be filled with knowledge…

We conducted a meta-analysis of 28 studies comprising 39 samples to ask the question, "What is the magnitude of the association between various baseline child cognitive characteristics and response to reading intervention?" Studies were located via literature searches, contact with researchers in the field, and review of references from…

This research project aimed to identify and analyze Mexican primary school students' ideas about the components of the solar system. In particular, this study focused on conceptions of the solar system and representations of the dynamics of the solar system based on the functional and structural models that students make in school. Using a…

The purpose of the present study was to reveal the developmental pathway from third grade cognitive competencies to sixth grade conceptual and procedural fraction knowledge through the intervening whole numerical skills at fifth grade. The study used empirical data that come from 536 students in nine schools across two Delaware public school…

Studies of children's knowledge of the Earth have led to very different conclusions: some appear to show that children construct their own, non-scientific "theories" (mental models) of the flat, hollow or dual Earth. Others indicate that many young children have some understanding of the spherical (scientific) Earth, and that their…

This study explores the spontaneous explanatory models children construct, critique, and revise in the context of tasks in which children need to predict, observe, and explain phenomena involving magnetism. It further investigates what conceptual resources students use, and in what ways they use them, to construct explanatory models, and the…

Recent intervention studies directed to improve problem solving accuracy in children with math difficulties (MD) have found support for teaching cognitive strategies. This study addresses the question: What role does working memory capacity (WMC) play in strategy outcomes for children with MD? Four prediction models can be applied to strategy…

This article used two studies to investigate sign and symbol mediation in children aged 8-11 years. In role play, children exist at one at the same time in objective reality and their representation of reality. We cannot observe their mental representation directly, but the issue of whether signs or symbols mediate early role play is an important…

Early aggression is a problem in its own right and a risk factor for further developmental problems. Although both effortful control and social information processing (SIP) skills are negatively associated with aggression and are targeted by aggression prevention programs, little is known about the relation between them or about their joint…

In this study, we explored whether the contribution of working memory (WM) to children's (N = 471) 2nd language (L2) reading and language acquisition was best accounted for by processing efficiency at a phonological level and/or by executive processes independent of phonological processing. Elementary school children (Grades 1, 2, & 3) whose…

This study determined the working memory (WM) components (executive, phonological loop, and visual-spatial sketchpad) that best predicted mathematical word problem-solving accuracy of elementary school children in Grades 2, 3, and 4 (N = 310). A battery of tests was administered to assess problem-solving accuracy, problem-solving processes, WM,…

This study investigated the structure and development of processes involved in "g." One hundred and forty children, about equally drawn among primary school grades 1-6 were examined by four types of Stroop-like speeded tasks addressed to processes of increasing complexity (i.e., speed of processing, perceptual discrimination, perceptual control,…

There are a large number of studies demonstrating that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) involves different subcomponents, but there is no agreement on the identity of these dimensions. The present study attempts to combine different theoretical accounts by measuring VSWM. A battery composed of 13 tests was used to assess working memory and, in…

Children (n = 122) and adults (n = 200) with dyslexia completed rapid automatic naming (RAN) letters, rapid automatic switching (RAS) letters and numbers, executive function (inhibition, verbal fluency), and phonological working memory tasks. Typically developing 3rd (n = 117) and 5th (n = 103) graders completed the RAS task. Instead of analyzing…