Three articles compare the development and achievement of Russian elementary students in an experimental program with those in a conventional program. Results show an intensive inner motivation toward cognitive activity on the part of pupils in the experimental classes that was lacking in pupils in the conventional classes. (Author/RM)

This overview of Soviet developmental psychology and its influence on special education focuses on dialectical materialistic interpretations of behavior, socio-historical determinism, zones of proximal development, realization and enhancement of children's cognitive potential, influence of Jean Piaget's work, linking of mental retardation with…