Mind wandering--mentation unrelated to one's current activity and surroundings--is a ubiquitous phenomenon, but seemingly competing ideas have been proposed regarding its relation to executive cognitive processes. The control-failure hypothesis postulates that executive processes prevent mind wandering, whereas the global availability hypothesis…

Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study sought to understand what influences reading comprehension and how meaning is made from text among high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using a think-aloud procedure, 13 individuals ages 7-13 with ASD read 16 passages at their instructional reading level.…

This article describes an emerging theoretical framework for examining relationships between learning dispositions and learning architecture. Three domains of learning dispositions--resilience, reciprocity and imagination--are discussed in relation to the structures and processes of early childhood education settings and new entrant classrooms.…

Based on the analysis of interviews with children, this article links what we know about the way in which they learn with their views of creativity. Whilst pupils have a crisp view of the nature of creativity, which links them to well-established philosophical views, this contrasts both with the vaguer notions of the term and with their experience…

This paper presents four major features of L. S. Vygotsky's theory of creative imagination. The first feature discussed is that imagination is the internalization of children's play. It is explained that the development of imagination parallels the development of speech which originates in the child's social dialogue with adults, passes through an…

Outdoor education facilitates the use of both cerebral hemispheres. The right side, which is often ignored in traditional education, is the location of intuitive, imaginative, and metaphoric thinking and can be used in conjunction with the left side, the base of logical and analytic thought. (CJ)

Research suggests that when subjects are given a rule as to how to translate auditory or verbal information into images, the images have many common characteristics with cognitive representations derived from visual perceptions. This experiment examined the process of cognitive integration and the similarities and differences between how imagined…

Learning style preferences of 1,554 students (ages 8-17) identified as gifted and nongifted were measured. Gifted students displayed a stronger preference for imaginative styles, while nongifted children displayed a stronger preference for practical styles. Compared with gifted boys, gifted girls were more likely to prefer imaginative styles.…

Suggests ways in which students can elaborate upon activities for improving thinking skills to produce interesting and creative poetry. (JC)

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…