Mothers read stories to their children (N = 41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book…

Electrophysiology is a timely and important tool in the study of early cognitive development. This commentary polishes the definition of event-related potential (ERP) components; often interpreted as expressions of mental processes. Further, attention is drawn to time-frequency analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG) which conveys much more…

The author attempts to analyze and synthesize the literature on the development of conservation (Piaget) in children in order to aid its use as a routine assessment instrument of an important aspect of cognitive development. The nature of conservation, a review of the literature, task variables, and training variables are discussed. The author…

Reviews the literature pertaining to spatial perspective-taking and attempts to account for the inconsistent findings in this area of research by examining the methodological differences between studies. (Author/SS)

This publication consists of a critique of research related to the work of Piaget. Contents are arranged under five headings: Introduction, Common Misconceptions and Mususes, Common Research Errors: Possible Causes and Cures, Evaluation of Piaget-related Research, and Extension. Eighteen references conclude the report. (PEB)

In this study, six children were selected by age and were administered Piagetian tasks designed to measure their level of cognitive development against the hierarchical structuring of age/achievement posited by Jean Piaget. The task administrations are presented in detail with descriptions of the subject and the tasks, a verbatim report, and the…

A reply to a critique of Pascual-Leone's model of children's information processing capacity. (BD)

Describes recent developments in brain science with implications for persons whose research interests are in science education. Discusses new conceptual models, useful methods and techniques, and how neuroscience paradigms and technologies can be applied to teaching and learning. (JM)

Demonstrates the use of Rasch models to assess the dimensionality of an item set across cohorts in longitudinal studies. Presents data from a study on adolescents' deductive reasoning ability showing that the same test items can be measuring qualitatively different latent traits in different subsamples or at different time points. (JPB)

In this study, free play with toys having unambiguous functions was examined to test the hypothesis that a basic cognitive metamorphosis is associated with the new competences displayed in children at about 12 months. Functional play was observed in 64 children at 9 1/2, 11 1/2, 13 1/2, and 15 1/2 months of age. Six sets of toys with 36…

Two statistical indices of distinctness (intensity) were developed to measure patterns of cognitive preference scores. Results indicated a variety of cognitive preferences, and the distinctness variable was shown to be a useful tool in cognitive preference research. (CJ)

The primary goal of this review is to acquaint developmental psychologists who have had little experience in the study of individual differences in cognition with some of the basic rules that govern this type of research. A second goal is to stimulate researchers to consider the potential benefits of studying differences among individuals whose…

Delineates the current consensus regarding the nature and the development of intellectual ability. Examines when one would expect general abilities to moderate the relationship among domain-specific and other processes. Reviews recent studies in which general abilities were used as independent variables or covariates. Suggests that generally,…

The lack of existing research on the cognitive processes in reading is discussed. The definition of cognitive processes, appropriate measuring instruments, concensus concerning the activity to be measured, and problems inherent in the materials and the reader are cited as limitations that are responsible for a shortage of research. Implications…

Searching for an adequate method to investigate human development (especially the development of theoretical thinking) Vygotsky and his collaborators developed the causal genetic method. The basic idea of this method consists in the investigation of psychic functions and structures by their formation under controlled conditions (for instance via a…