The relations among various spatial and mathematics skills were assessed in a cross-sectional study of 854 children from kindergarten, third, and sixth grades (i.e., 5 to 13 years of age). Children completed a battery of spatial mathematics tests and their scores were submitted to exploratory factor analyses both within and across domains. In the…

An increasing number of studies has investigated the latent factor structure of executive functions. Some studies found a three-factor structure of inhibition, shifting, and updating, but others could not replicate this finding. We assumed that the task choices and scoring methods might be responsible for these contradictory findings. Therefore,…

This study examined the development of executive function (EF) in a typically developing sample from middle childhood to adolescence using a range of tasks varying in affective significance. A total of 102 participants between 8 and 15 years of age completed the Iowa Gambling Task, the Color Word Stroop, a Delay Discounting task, and a Digit Span…

This article used two studies to investigate sign and symbol mediation in children aged 8-11 years. In role play, children exist at one at the same time in objective reality and their representation of reality. We cannot observe their mental representation directly, but the issue of whether signs or symbols mediate early role play is an important…

The generality of ability factor structure in adulthood and old age was investigated. Data were analyzed for 198 young individuals (15-32 years), 156 younger old individuals (53-68 years), and 156 older old individuals (69-91). Variables were nine tests marking three ability factors. (Author/CTM)

Because knowledge of the component subskills of causal reasoning would aid in planning elementary science curricula, this study sought to identify component abilities through the individual administration of a battery of 29 tests to a randomly-selected sample of 84 first-graders, evenly divided by sex. These tests were: (1) verbal tests of…

Maintains that Demetriou and his colleagues' project shows how developmental scientists can assess concepts from multiple frameworks and relate them through explicit modeling and targeted research to build explanations powerfully grounded in data and theory. Presents doubts related to specific conclusions because of issues related to the design of…

Factor analysis of the Swedish version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised on 88 adults with dyslexia showed a three-factor structure: a verbal comprehension (VC) factor, a perceptual organization (PO) factor, and a freedom from distractibility (FD) factor. The PO factor had the highest scores and the FD the lowest. (Contains…

Two experiments tested predictions from a theory in which processing load depends on relational complexity (RC), the number of variables related in a single decision. Tasks from six domains (transitivity, hierarchical classification, class inclusion, cardinality, relative-clause sentence comprehension, and hypothesis testing) were administered to…

The theory of multiple intelligence (MI) propounded by Gardner and Hatch suggests that human beings have seven distinct units of intellectual functioning, and that these units are actually separate intelligences with their own observable and measurable abilities. These intelligences were identified as logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical,…

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)

Relationships among Piagetian reasoning assessments and standard measures of intelligence and achievement were determined in 1972 by Stephens, McLaughlin, Miller, and Glass (EJ 055 112). The data were reanalyzed by Humphreys and Parsons in 1979 (EJ 218 642). In reply, Glass and Stephens note fallacies in Humphreys' and Parsons' reasoning.…

When William G. Perry (1968) developed his scheme of nine stages of cognitive development, most of which are experienced during the college years, he did not attempt to quantify it. Subsequently, T. D. Erwin (1983) constructed a scale that attempted to quantify the Perry scheme. His findings supported the overall conception of student development…

This study investigated (1) three kinds of mental operation in children: divergent production, convergent production, and cognitive thinking manifested in 3- to 4-year-olds and compared the results to results of a study of 4- to 5-year-olds, and (2) the relationship between children's abilities and their parents' level of education, children's sex…

Stephens et al. (EJ 055 112) committed a serious methodological error in holding chronological age constant in their IQ measures and allowing it to vary in their Piagetian developmental measures. This error is unrelated to differences in factor rotation methods used by these authors and was not answered in their reply. (CTM)