Suggests that students who reason with only concrete thinking patterns may become formal thinkers through the use of the following instructional pattern: (1) the introduction of an undifferentiated whole, (2) differentiation of the whole through concrete experiences, (3) invention of symbolic notation, (4) application of concepts which lead to…

The influence of perceptual factors and language comprehension on quantity judgments (number conservation) was assessed in children, aged 2-5. (ST)

In reviewing the research of experimental psychology, genetic psychology, and psychopathology, the author finds the data show: (1) the extreme importance of the period between the third and sixth year when the Oedipus situation of the child is resolved and when he takes the first step in the use of reason; (2) the importantce of the latency period…

For this followup study an attempt was made to retest all 136 children evaluated in the Austin, Texas Day Care Program nine months earlier but only 95 children were available. Subjects were Negro and Mexican-American. The original study indicated that significantly higher scores were earned on tests of intellectual performance as a function of…

Tested was the hypothesis that science instruction based on task analysis will lead to the acquisition of the ability to perform certain Piaget volume tasks which have been characterized as requiring formal operations for their solutions. A Test on Formal Operations and a Learning Hierarchies Test were given to fourth- and sixth-grade students in…

Discusses the theories of Piaget, Bruner, Lifschitz and Langford, Vygotsky and others. (SB)

Discusses the use and stimulation of lateral, or divergent, thinking to promote creativity. (SL)

In an attempt to make Vygotsky's theories more accessible, Wertsch in "Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind" takes significant liberties with the original works. That leads to serious errors and moves the focus away from the author's own psychological theories. (PS)

The dependence of immediate, short-term and long-term reproductive memory on operative understanding was studied in elementary school students. Results are interpreted in terms of Piaget's theory. (ST)

Prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944-45 had no detectable effects on the adult mental performance of surviving male offspring; birth weight was not related to mental performance; and the association of social class with mental performance was strong. (AL)

Although there was an increase in the proportion of students using the logical principle of exclusion" from grades 7 to 9 to 12, there was little relationship with IQ and socio-economic measures. (AL)

The Cognitive Levels Matching Project trains teachers to guide students' skill acquisition and problem-solving processes by assessing students' cognitive levels and adapting their teaching materials accordingly. (MLF)

A case is made for broader intellectual education in the undergraduate years of college. (JD)