Piaget's theory of stage structure is synonymous with discussions involving cognitive development. As with any theoretical model, researchers inevitably and rightly seek to affirm and/or contest the elements of the model presented. In this comparative study, students' performance across three hands-on engineering tasks for two distinct student…

Cognitive development of eighth-grade students, as identified by Jean Piaget, occurs during a time when many of them are transitioning between concrete operations and formal operations where the ability to think in abstract concepts becomes possible. Because of this period of transition, many eighth-grade students find difficulty in demonstrating…

When proportional information is pit against whole number numerical information, children often attend to the whole number information at the expense of proportional information (e.g., indicating 4/9 is greater than 3/5 because 4 > 3). In the current study, we presented younger (3- to 4-year-olds) and older (5- to 6-year-olds) children a task…

Learning must be constrained for it to lead to productive generalizations. Although biology is undoubtedly an important source of constraints, prior experience may be another, leading learners to represent input in ways that are more conducive to some generalizations than others, and/or to up- and down-weight features when entertaining…

This study investigated the emergence of combinatorial competence in early adolescence and the effectiveness of a programmed discovery training procedure. Significant increases in combinatorial skill with age were shown; it was found that the expression of this skill was significantly facilitated if problems involved concrete material of low…

Reports results of two experiments to test recognition decisions of increasing difficulty among preschool children. Increasing levels of difficulty were perceptual identity, common object-class, and either taxonomic category or complementary pair formation. (Author/DB)

The Domain of Cognition is a taxonomy for planning, sequencing, and implementing instruction, which covers the entire range of cognitive and cognitive-affective learning and behavior. Students acquire, learn, and use information on eight hierarchically and sequentially arranged levels of complexity. The levels and their corresponding abilities…

The purpose of this study is to show that there is a gradual and measurable development in the drawing of space representation concepts. A further purpose is to show that children's drawings of a village (which represent relations among concepts) may be a better measure of their conceptual maturity than their drawings of a man (which represent a…

Interview data on the learning experiences and techniques of 90 Swedish teenagers and adults were further analyzed to explore changes in views on learning reported by the subjects themselves, and differences between subjects with respect to age (range 15-73) and formal education (range 6-17 years). Some subjects equated knowledge with discrete…

This document accompanies the Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series III: Tree, a test constructed to chart the conceptual development of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and statistical data for…

This document accompanies the Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series IV: Noun, a test constructed to chart the conceptual development of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and statistical data for…

The purpose of this publication is to help teachers identify the levels which children have attained in their thinking as they express their attitudes, values, and behaviors through oral language. Provided are (1) sample questions applicable to various maturity levels to enable teachers to gauge the level of difficulty of their classroom…

This document accompanies the Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series I: Equilateral Triangle, a test constructed to chart the conceptual developemnt of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and…

This document accompanies Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series II: Cutting Tool, a test constructed to chart the conceptual development of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and statistical data…