Figurative language, such as metaphor and metonymy are common in our daily communication. This is one of the first studies to investigate metaphor and metonymy comprehension using a developmental approach. Forty-five typically developing individuals participated in a metaphor-metonymy verbal comprehension task incorporating 20 short…

In "The Foundations of Mind," Jean Mandler describes how perceptual analysis provides a mechanism that allows infants to begin their journey into conceptual life, and subsequently to enter the advanced worlds of conceptual systems, memory, language, and consciousness. This review provides an overview of Mandler's theoretical position, celebrates…

A dimension of sexuality is defined as a form of knowledge and is situated in Piaget's existing theory of cognitive development. Investigates whether sexual egocentrism is comparable to cognitive egocentrism at each stage of sexual development. Uses D. Elkind's (1967) explication of egocentrism and how it is overcome throughout the sexual stages.…

This document describes the Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) model of concept formation. According to the CLD analysis, a single concept is learned in the following successive levels of attainment: concrete, identity, classification, and formal. The four levels are considered applicable to concepts that are defined (or could be defined)…

Reviews "The Mind's Staircase: Exploring the Conceptual Underpinnings of Children's Thought and Knowledge," edited by Robbie Case. A main thesis of the book, which discusses theoretical issues and presents empirical evidence, is that children's cognitive development is guided by central conceptual structures, or networks of concepts that…

Issues of meaning have become central concerns of research on language development. There are at least four reasons for the neglect of meaning by earlier researchers. First, Chomsky's original theory assumed that syntax could be described and explained independently of meaning. Second, linguists had long assumed that semantics was too messy and…

Theories and practices concerned with cognitive functioning and development and its possible relationship to reading and reading instruction are reviewed. The nature of the strategies involved in reading and thinking are similar. Increase in task complexity for reading most likely involves cognitive functioning that ranges in complexity similar to…

The present study was designed to explore the relationship between the theoretical models of cognitive development proposed by L. S. Vygotsky and J. Piaget. One hundred and four subjects aged four to sixteen years were selected. All subjects were in the average range of intelligence, were in the usual school grade for their age, and had no history…

Purpose of the study is to test Piaget's hypothesis of a parallel relationship between moral concepts and logical structures in human development. (Author)

Examines the development of metaphor by using structure-mapping theory to make distinctions among kinds of metaphors. Proposes that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before those based on shared relational structure. Results indicate a developmental shift toward focus on relational structure in metaphor…

A study used structure mapping theory to examine the claim that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before understanding those based on shared relational structure. The three kinds of metaphor used in the study varied in whether the shared information forming the basis for the interpretation was attributional,…

This paper describes an attempt to incorporate the social psychological phenomenon of trait inference into existing developmental theory - principally the developmental system of Piaget. This goal is accomplished by examining the trait of inferences of children developmentally to establish the structural requirements of the process in terms of…

Several aspects of gender concept development were investigated in 60 children of mixed socioeconomic background ranging in age from three to six years. Tasks were designed to assess gender constancy, knowledge of sex-stereotypes, differential memory and preference for sex-typed material, and gender categorization. Cognitive maturity was assessed…

This paper is a critical examination of Piaget's formulations on cognitive development based on recent social learning research. It is suggested that learning to conserve does not seem immutably dependent on the child's attaining some maturational age-related cognitive stage and that Piaget's theorizations do not sufficiently consider social…