This study aimed to determine whether taking a chronological approach (CA) or topical approach (TA) to teaching developmental psychology resulted in different learning outcomes. Across two semesters, in four classes, 354 students participated (M[subscript age] = 19.76, SD[subscript age] = 2.93 years), 66% identifying as female. One instructor…

The developmental psychology of mathematical thinking and the clinical interview method can make major contributions to education by transforming the process of formative assessment--the attempt to use information concerning student performance, knowledge, learning potential, and motivation to inform instruction. The clinical interview is a…

This paper examines the nature of concepts and conceptual processes and the manner of their formation. It argues that a process of successive abstraction and systematization is central to the evolution of conceptual structures. Classificatory processes are discussed and three levels of abstraction outlined. (Author/SJL)

Recently, "Developmental Psychology" published 2 articles on the shape bias; both rejected the authors' previous proposals about the role of attentional learning in the development of a shape bias in object name learning. A. Cimpian and E. Markman (2005; see record EJ733667) did so by arguing that the shape bias does not exist but is an…

Research supported by National Science Foundation grant GE-3 to the University of Minnesota.

This document describes the Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) model of concept formation. According to the CLD analysis, a single concept is learned in the following successive levels of attainment: concrete, identity, classification, and formal. The four levels are considered applicable to concepts that are defined (or could be defined)…

Reviews "The Mind's Staircase: Exploring the Conceptual Underpinnings of Children's Thought and Knowledge," edited by Robbie Case. A main thesis of the book, which discusses theoretical issues and presents empirical evidence, is that children's cognitive development is guided by central conceptual structures, or networks of concepts that…

Presents a study which assessed preschool children's understanding of "front,""back," and "side" through a variety of tasks. A developmental sequence is defined. (ED)

To learn how children acquire "metalinguistic competence," the development of the concept of "the word" was experimentally studied in four- to ten-year-olds. (Author/SDH)

Theories and practices concerned with cognitive functioning and development and its possible relationship to reading and reading instruction are reviewed. The nature of the strategies involved in reading and thinking are similar. Increase in task complexity for reading most likely involves cognitive functioning that ranges in complexity similar to…

The present study was designed to explore the relationship between the theoretical models of cognitive development proposed by L. S. Vygotsky and J. Piaget. One hundred and four subjects aged four to sixteen years were selected. All subjects were in the average range of intelligence, were in the usual school grade for their age, and had no history…

Summarizes recent research which attempted to discover what children of different ages know about the appearance-reality distinction and related phenomena. Findings show that what helps children grasp the distinction is an increased cognizance of the fact that people are sentient subjects who have mental representations of objects and events. (PS)

Examines development of representational thought from the perspective of Jean Mandler's image-schema theory and an action-theoretical approach derived from Piaget's theory. Concludes that empirical findings fail to support hypotheses of early onset, and that representational development is more adequately interpreted within the context of an…

Examines the development of metaphor by using structure-mapping theory to make distinctions among kinds of metaphors. Proposes that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before those based on shared relational structure. Results indicate a developmental shift toward focus on relational structure in metaphor…