The authors caution that in neglecting to focus on cognitive training, special education may be denying the very ideology on which it is built. (Author)

Piagetian based curricular attempts in special education may have to begin with a system for representing the individual's current level of behavioral organization and designing environmental interactions that expand the constructions of the individual into reorganized, more complex forms. (Author)

The development of formal operations in normal adolescents is briefly examined, and a discussion of the development of exceptional adolescents focuses on the following exceptionalities: retardation, blindness, deafness, and giftedness. Some directions for future research are considered. (DLS)