Children in grades 1, 3, and 5 and college students were given a variety of judgment tasks contrasting the comparison of quantity with the comparison of proportions to determine whether the understanding of proportions develops before formal operations. Results indicated that the comprehension of abstract relations requires formal operations.…

THE MOST DISABLING HANDICAP OF YOUNG CHILDREN FROM DEPRIVED SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS IS THEIR DIFFICULTY IN USING LANGUAGE ABSTRACTLY. IN THIS STUDY, THEREFORE, IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT IF AN EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION PROGRAM WAS LIMITED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ABSTRACT LANGUAGE, THEN NOT ONLY LANGUAGE, BUT MANY OTHER ASPECTS OF THINKING WOULD BE…

The designs, results, and conclusions of several related research studies which examine the role of student preferences in problem-solving strategies are summarized. Emphasis is upon the relationship between an individual's stated preference and his or her ability to implement this preference and successfully solve a related science task. Students…

Described are procedures used to assess reasoning in congenitally blind students. It is explained that the Piagetian Battery of Reasoning Assessments for concrete and formal or abstract thought measures the following basic abilities: reversability of thought, classifacatory thought, spatial orientation, and mental imagery. (CL)

These forty conference papers deal with a wide variety of new approaches to the application of developmental theory. The papers represent a cross-section of current research methodology and techniques used to evaluate such traditional Piagetian topics as concrete and formal operations, conservation, classification skills, language development,…

This paper reports further on the study described in SE 019 717. Correlational data relating success on proportionality tasks to understanding of related concepts and processes are presented. The five correlative tests involve (1) reducing fractions, (2) multiplying fractions, (3) facility with fractions, (4) inverse relations, and (5) more…

This study compares the effects of Montessori methods of instruction and methods of direct verbal instruction. Montessori methods rely on the ability of the child to learn through physical interaction with inanimate objects and minimize verbal behavior by teacher and student, while the direct verbal method works mainly through language use, both…

The multiordinal use of terms requires the ability to distinguish essential relationships and attributes from incidental ones. Until the child reaches adolescence, his tendency to confuse incidental and affective factors with those crucial to word meaning hinders his use of terms at all levels of abstraction. Korzybski's theory of multiordinality…

The existence of a time lag discovered in the cross-cultural application of Piagetian tests may result from a socio-economic bias in Piaget's theory. Abstract, formal cognition may reflect a particular social structure, embodying the principles of exchange value, reification, and alienation which govern production and exchange in the…

Argues against the claim that Piaget's theory of formal thought is invalid when used in learning high school chemistry, and suggests a way to test its validity. (GA)

Discusses the importance of developing students' understanding of certain spatial aspects of important concepts. Piaget's contributions to the development of spatial conceptualization are included. Some examples for applying spatial techniques in earth sciences, physics, and chemistry are also presented. (HM)

Children and undergraduate students were studied to expose "structure-neutral" interpretations of logical propositions involving universal affirmatives. Successes with true and false questions and with four different syllogistic forms having three content types were compared. Age-related differences in performance were discussed with…

Beilin examines the previous three papers. In explaining cognitive development, social learning theory fails to account for rule invariance in the face of capricious and informationally impoverished experience, does not explain the acquisition of abstract rule systems, and offers less flexibility than Piaget's explanations based on operations and…

Mathematically gifted boys (N=77) and girls (N=62) completed a mathematics reasoning test, a verbal reasoning test, a measure of spatial ability, and a personality test. Findings indicated that boys not only have higher mathematical reasoning ability than girls, but also that this ability is the single best predictor of their mathematical…

Data from 60 observations of 10 teachers and 10 each of their students showed that type/quality of teaching strategy predicted 37 percent of variance in engagement and that the more indirect the teaching strategy, the greater the students' involvement in learning tasks. Implications of these and other findings are discussed. (Author/JN)