Behavioral studies on bilingual learning have revealed cognitive costs (lower accuracy and/or higher processing time) when the language of application differs from the language of learning. The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to provide insights into the cognitive underpinnings of these costs (so-called…

Individual differences in need for cognition (NFC) have been found to correspond with differences in information processing. Individuals with lower NFC process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences may effect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that…

In this paper, Simon describes contemporary information processing approaches to the study of learning and thinking, and discusses the relevance of these studies to the distinction between rote and meaningful learning. Before defining the basic terminology of information processing research, he provides a brief literature review, describing some…

Human information processing is analyzed in terms of eight fundamental concepts: procedures, operations on procedures, frames, planning language or meta-language, heuristics, knowledge in other forms, critics, and pointers. Examples of this processing are given. (MK)

The research reported in this paper was designed to analyze the incidence of use of higher-order rules by students solving geometric construction problems. A carefully selected set of construction problems was subjected to rigorous a priori analysis by mathematics educators to determine what basic and second-order rules might be used by able high…

In the pair of experiments reported here the authors investigated the relationship between meaningfulness of problem statements and subjects' use of these statements in problem-solving tasks. Subjects (96 university students) were required to memorize meaningful formulae such as "volume = area x height" or corresponding symbolic formulae such as…

This set of papers was originally developed for a conference on Issues and Directions in Mathematics Problem Solving Research held at Indiana University in May 1981. The purpose is to contribute to the clear formulation of the key issues in mathematical problem-solving research by presenting the ideas of actively involved researchers. An…

The learning of mathematics is presented as a cognitive process rather than as a behavioristic one. A generative model of mathematics learning is described. Learning with understanding can occur with discovery or reception treatments. Relevant empirical research is discussed and implications for teaching mathematics as a generative process are…

Five papers discuss the current and potential contributions of information-processing theory to our understanding of mathematical thinking as those contributions affect the practice of mathematics education. It is concluded that information-processing theories need to be supplemented in various ways to more adequately reflect the complexity of…

Since the mid-1960s a new approach has dominated American research in the area of mathematics education -- information-processing theory. The author examines several examples of research in this new tradition and sketches the general features of an emerging information-processing psychology of teaching. Information-processing studies that employ…

Reviews research that has led to new ways of understanding mathematical development in young children. Covers research on information processing theory and cognitive science. (BB)

The papers contained in this document were originally presented at the May 1978 conference on Modeling Mathematical Cognitive Development sponsored by the Models of Learning Mathematics Working Group of the Georgia Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Mathematics. Most have been revised to reflect comments and suggestions made at the…

Future research initiatives on learning and instruction are considered to be of most worth if grounded in general systems theory and if multiple research methods are used. Discussed are an information processing theory and a theory for the structure and structuring of stored information. (MNS)

Summarized is the research focused on the relationship between children's increasing capacity to process information and the levels at which they should be capable of recognizing mathematical concepts. Implications for mathematics curricula and teachers are discussed. Lists three references. (YP)

Presents a constructivist view of mathematics, mathematics teaching, and mathematics achievement, and differentiates this view as an alternative to the typical traditional perspective of these terms. Discusses the roots of this approach in contemporary information-processing psychology. (TW)