Argues that the questioning and answering interaction provides a setting whereby adults can socialize naive children into communal views of reality. It is suggested, however, that this tradition acts both as a brake and as a springboard to the acquisition of new knowledge. (MS)

Discusses the development of thinking from a sociocultural perspective, focusing on how Super and Harkness' (1986) concept of "developmental niche" may be used as a framework for organizing cognitive developmental research in relation to culture. Argues for the utility of this approach in furthering understanding of the precise linkages between…

Notes contemporary models of human development have expanded to address a wider set of issues underlying personal change. Discusses the social cognitive model of self-regulatory development. Emphasizes the crucial development of self-regulatory competence: the point at which the processes of development become fully and reciprocally interactive…

Reviews Karmiloff-Smith's "Beyond Modularity," suggesting that her work highlights phenomena that seem counter intuitive when regarded from current developmental frameworks, and advocates that understanding them requires more complex perspectives than can be supported by either extreme nativist or domain-general models of cognitive…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Discusses the overall conveyed message: The human cognitive system is a thematically organized knowledge base with agentive causality as the main mechanism for explain phenomena and analogy as the main mechanism for promoting conceptual…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Suggests that different approaches to knowledge acquisition and conceptual change should be carefully examined in light of their implications for the teaching of science. Discusses critically the issues advanced from the Japanese…

Notes that Halford's book does not really address children's own understanding but rather the psychologist's attempt to understand children from the outside. Discusses the five major sets of ideas at the core of Halford's explanations of capacity, complexity/dimensionality, development, and learning. Examines two arguments against Halford's…

Comments on Gauvain's discussion, in this issue, of the development of thinking from a sociocultural perspective, expanding her analysis by comparing research on apes who have developed in natural habitats with apes raised by humans in something resembling a human culture. Argues that the study of nonhuman primates can contribute to the emerging…

Delineates the continuing controversy between development and learning, and notes the evidence accumulating for some type of continuum in the processes. Introduces 10 research papers on reconceptualizing the intersection of the two processes and states the arguments for debate and presentation. (ET)

Suggests that the study of microdevelopment offers a potentially powerful way to relate learning and development where similar changes occur but in differing time frames. Microdevelopment analyzes short-term changes as developmental functions. Individuals and groups function at widely different developmental levels and grow in diverse nonlinear…

Nonuniversal theory can be used to reframe the learning-development dichotomy into a spectrum of important changes, ranging from small-scale learning events to large-scale developmental shifts. Using the universal-to-unique continuum as an organizing framework, several change mechanisms can be identified as necessary for movement through…

Draws on recent work leading to new conceptions of learning, induction, transfer, and strategy acquisition. Contends learning is no longer simply the acquisition of behaviors, but also includes storing knowledge about relations in the world, and acquiring structural representations and mental models. Sees learning and the growth of processing…

Argues that what matters is not the difference between learning and development, but the dynamic relationships that form the key to understanding. Examined two models of these relationships: (1) a semantic approach, distinguishing five dimensions along which learning and development can be compared; and (2) a mathematical nonlinear growth model…

Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…

Pragmatic and semantic problem solving are examined as processes that enhance acquisition of mathematical knowledge. It is suggested that development of mathematical cognition involves restructuring and that math teachers can help restructure children's knowledge systems by providing them with situations in which semantic and pragmatic problem…