Describes and discusses the rule-assessment approach, a new research strategy for studying developmental sequences in children's acquisition of knowledge. Four experiments were conducted to illustrate the utility of this approach across a variety of concepts and a wide range of ages (three-year-olds to college students). (Author/CM)

This study investigated young children's ability to solve probability problems and studied the cognitive processes proposed by Piaget and Inhelder as necessary to solve probability problems. The effects of tutorial and self-discovery training were measured and discussed. Results from 168 first-graders in five training conditions indicated that:…

This research deals with the development and relative importance of both the conceptual-cognitive and the aesthetic-affective aspect of the perceptual process at various age levels of children. Three tasks were chosen: (1) sorting drawings of human figures--a task that represents a more conceptual function; (2) expressing preferences for those…

Research is described concerning a factor analytic view of adolescent thought in Piagetian context. Included are a description of Piagetian tasks used for determining stage of mental development, studies concerning Piagetian task factor analysis, and the current factorial structure of adolescent thought. (DS)

Two experiments which investigated the young child's ability to deal with multiplicative classes and relations (considered behavioral indices of concrete operations thought) in double series and cross class matrices are described and discussed. In the initial study, 160 children from preschool through grade 2 received six matrix subtasks…

Analysis of 65 children over a 4-year period on tests of operational and causal thinking offers support for Piaget's notion of stage progression. In kindergarten and grade one, the majority of children in this longitudinal study were between preoperational and the achievement stage of operational thought. By grade two, the majority had attained…

Two experiments investigated developmental aspects of the two components of scientific reasoning: induction and deduction. In the first experiment, 98 subjects, ages 5 through 11, inductively identified four silhouetted pictures by removing, one at a time and in any sequence, as few covering pieces as possible. Results indicated that: (a) the…

Noting that children's play activities, particularly the development of dramatic scenarios, have been a central focus of developmental-interaction thinking over many decades, this paper explores the emphasis on play and the specific meanings accorded to it within this developmental-interaction tradition. The first part of the paper considers the…

Two studies demonstrated dissociation between preschoolers' understanding of pictorial and mental representations. Results showed that false picture tasks were significantly easier than false belief tasks. There was no correlation between performance on the two. Children were trained on false belief, false picture, or number conservation tasks;…

The reasoning ability of 20 ninth grade, 20 eleventh grade, and 15 college freshman boys was explored. Three tasks in reasoning were given each student. In the "turtles task" the student was asked to test a hypothesis; from his responses the investigator determined whether the student tested the hypothesis by trying to find confirming instance or,…

The role of language in conservation tasks and the development of the concept of conservation of quantity in young children are investigated in this study. A total of 50 children, aged 3.0 to 4.7 years, were divided into three groups according to age with a large number clustered around age 4.0 years. Children were randomly assigned to one of two…

Discusses the value of tool-use activities to help toddlers develop emerging skills, experience creative expression, and understand means-end relationships. Provides examples of opportunities for using objects as tools, including language acquisition, self-help activities, dramatic play, sensory experiences, and object manipulation. (DST)

A 1-year lag was found between the effect of an intervention intended to promote formal operational thinking in students initially 11 or 12 years of age and the appearance of substantial science achievement in the experimental groups. A one-year lag on cognitive development and an age/gender interaction were also reported. (Author/KR)

Attempts to integrate recent models of social systems based on age and cognitive personality research with research on adolescence. Presents a conceptual model of how adolescents set personal goals, construct cognitive strategies, and evaluate their success in an age-graded sociocultural context. Discusses future directions for research based on…

Reports a series of studies conducted to investigate possible differences in the exploratory manipulation and play behavior of human infants 7-1/2- 11-1/2 months of age as a function of the attributes of the stimulus, the familiarity of the subject with the stimuli, the age and sex of the infants, and individual differences. (Author/CS)