The main goal of this study was to validate the strategy for the assessment of the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items. The strategy included three steps: 1) assessment of the difficulty of concepts, 2) assessment of distractor value, and 3) assessment of concepts' interactivity. One of the tasks was to determine whether there…

Metacognition refers to a set of processes an individual uses in monitoring ongoing cognition so as to effectively control his or her own behavior. In this article, I discuss key frameworks for characterizing metacognition and describe approaches to measuring metacognition. Modern research in metacognition assumes that monitoring of cognition…

Cognitive scientists investigate mental models (how humans organize and structure knowledge in their minds) so as to understand human understanding of and interactions with the world. Cognitive and mental model research is concerned with internal conceptual systems that are not easily or directly observable. The goal of this research was to…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an operational definition of college readiness that differs in scope from current representations of this concept. This paper suggests that, although much has been learned about this phenomenon, particularly during the past 20 years, few systematic attempts have been made to integrate the various aspects or…

The period from adolescence through young adulthood is one of great promise and vulnerability. As teenagers approach maturity, they must develop and apply the skills and habits necessary to navigate adulthood and compete in an ever more technological and globalized world. But as parents and researchers have long known, there is a crucial dichotomy…

Considers methodological issues surrounding the Piaget-Huang controversy. A probability model, based on the difference between the expected and observed animistic and deanimistic responses is applied as an improved technique for the assessment of animism. (DP)

Children were asked to judge the life qualities of a stimulus, justify their judgment, and judge again, after being given an anomalous probe. Analysis indicated younger children were unable to adhere to an original judgment when probed, while older children were. Results may reconcile previous empirical discrepancies in Piagetian research.…

Students' own preconceptions are often resistant to change. According to researchers, conceptual conflict is an important factor in conceptual change; however, there is not enough evidence showing any relationship between cognitive conflict and conceptual change in the literature. This study aims to develop and validate the Cognitive Conflict…

This paper confronts two interrelated problems, that problem dealing with the psychological concept of attitudes and the problem of attitude measurement. (Author)

Article supports a duoprocess theory of concept identification which assumes semi-independent and sequential dimension selection and paired-associate learning. (Author)

This article reports on a research effort that investigated whether the use of Microcomputer-Based Labs (MBLs), implemented within an inquiry-based activity sequence on phase transformations (melting and freezing), contributes to the development of fourth grade (9-10 year-old) students' conceptual understanding and ability to construct and…

Research which is relevant to the study of creativity over the last century is reviewed and reasons are suggested for the upsurge and recession of interest in creativity. (Author)

This study is aimed at trying to discover the isolable characteristics of intelligence, of the kind of mental processes which result from it, and of the relationship between intelligence and the formation of concepts. (Author)

Suggests three procedures for assessing children's concepts of reading and their understanding of the special language that teachers use during reading instruction: shared book experience, checking the conceptual outcomes of shared book experience, and using a story chart and cloze procedure to extend the conceptual framework of reading language.…