The authors explore how children's play can support the development of the foundations of mathematics learning and how adults can support children's representation of--and thus the "mathematization" of--their play. The authors review research about the amount and nature of mathematics found in the free play of children. They briefly…

Recent research has shown that 2-year-olds fail at a task that ostensibly only requires the ability to understand that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects. Two experiments were conducted in which 2- and 3-year-olds judged the stopping point of an object as it moved at varying speeds along a path and behind an occluder, stopping…

The fact that the autistic children were so impaired in language even with fairly good sensorimotor skills suggests that these skills, particularly object permanence, play a minor role in their language acquisition. (Author)

Development of object permanence skills was examined longitudinally in 20 visually impaired infants (ages 4-25 months). Order of skill acquisition and span of time required to master skills paralleled that of sighted infants, but the visually impaired subjects were 8-12 months older than sighted counterparts when similar skills were acquired.…

Recent research has established closer links between language, cognition, and social life than Piaget or Vygotsky imagined. Connections have been established between object permanence development and acquisition of disappearance words and the quantity and quality of child-adult joint attentional social interactions and children's early word…

The purpose of this study was to attempt to train the horizontality concept in a group of first graders who were non-operational on the horizontality concept but transitional on what Piaget has termed the precursor concepts of distance and length conservation. There were two groups of subjects (training and control), all of whom had failed a…

Findings from relevant research applying Piaget's theory to mental retardation, psychosis, and autism are reviewed. Many autistic individuals show an arrest in operative functions at the sensorimotor functions. The early arrest interferes with subsequent development of higher-level conceptual, symbolic, and social skills. (Author)

This bibliography lists all entries from the Jean Piaget Archives Catalogues dealing with mental retardation. The list, including almost 200 entries, encompasses four works by Piaget himself, one collaboration, and 189 works by other authors. Entries are arranged in order by their publication in one of the 12 catalogues of the archives, providing…

Intended for parents and teachers of multiply handicapped preschool children, the booklet provides lesson plans in three major areas--basic concepts, motor activities, and language activities. Each lesson plan is broken down into four parts: purpose (a descriptive statement of what the lesson hopes to accomplish), materials (list of materials…

Perceptual-motor activities are being recognized as possible contributors to the general readiness of children for learning through the development of perceptual-motor abilities. The contribution of perceptual-motor activities to specific perceptual readiness skills is being reexamined. Readiness programs are generally designed to help children to…

IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SENSORIMOTOR EXPERIENCE AND THE FORMATION OF CONCEPTS IN CHILDHOOD, 2 GROUPS OF CHILDREN--1 MOTORICALLY NORMAL, THE OTHER COMPOSED OF CEREBRAL PALSIED CHILDREN--WERE COMPARED FOR ACQUISITION OF SIMPLE ACTION AND OBJECT CONCEPTS. THREE HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED. IT WAS PREDICTED (1) THAT CEREBRAL…

Examined perception of object unity in partial occlusion in 72 infants. Recorded how long subjects looked at a display of complete and incomplete rods. In test and control conditions, infants looked longer at broken rods than at complete rods, suggesting that infants' cognitive, visual, or attentional skills may be insufficient to support…

Chemistry can be described on three levels: sensory, molecular, and symbolic. Proposes a particle approach to teaching chemistry that uses magnets to aid students construct molecular models and solve particle problems. Includes examples of Johnstone's model of chemistry phenomena, a problem worksheet, and a student concept mastery sheet. (MDH)

INTENDED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS, REMEDIAL SPECIALISTS, AND PSYCHOLOGISTS, THE HANDBOOK PRESENTS A SERIES OF CONCRETE ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISES FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES. FIFTY-THREE BASIC LEARNING ABILITIES OR RESOURCE PROGRAMS ARE GROUPED UNDER SIX MAJOR AREAS--GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT, SENSORY MOTOR INTEGRATION, PERCEPTUAL…