Previous studies show that following disorientation children use the geometry of an enclosed space to locate an object hidden in one of the corners [e.g. (Harmer, L., & Spelke, E. (1996). Modularity and development: A case of spatial reorientation. "Cognition, 61," 195-232)]. These studies have used a disorientation procedure that involves…

Four papers on perceptual processes, by (1) W. Ahlbrand; (2) E. Elenbogen, S. Sperry and G. A. Thompson; (3) B. Randhawa; and (4) T. Sticht and D. Glasnapp, which were presented at the 55th annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, are critiqued here. Emphasis is upon the relevance of the papers to issues in perceptual…

Examined the ability of 1-year olds to remember the location of nonvisible targets. Found that infants were able to associate a nonvisible target with a direct landmark and to code its distance and direction with respect to themselves or the larger framework. Difficulty of coding with indirect landmarks was associated with cognitive complexity and…

Witkin's concepts of field dependence-independence and restructing are discussed with reference to studies in Russia and in the Netherlands. These concepts are related to differences in style of perception and to success on both cognitive tasks and social tasks. It is suggested that restructing abilities may be trained and restructing ability may…

This study compiled a comprehensive early auditory processing skills assessment battery and evaluated the battery to toddlers with (n=8) and without (n=9) early recurrent otitis media. The assessment battery successfully distinguished between normal and deficient early auditory processing development in the subjects. The study also found parents…

An experimental test battery designed to measure several perceptual abilities was administered to 1,368 (51.8% male) paying clients of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation (JOCRF) in an effort to identify and measure three perceptual abilities: (1) flexibility of closure; (2) speed of closure; and (3) spatial scanning. Subjects, who ranged in…

A study comparing Chicano and Anglo children in spatial and language abilities showed that Chicanos were better in spatial ability and poorer in language comprehension. The findings were interpretated as demonstrating ethnic group differences in information processing strategies and the polarity of verbal and spatial skills in some children. (JB)

Examines perceptions of adults compared with preschool children in assuming object permanence or discontinuity of existence when an object is removed from their immediate perceptual field. Results showed that a belief in the possibility of the discontinuity of material objects is not unique to the minds of preschool children but can also be…

Although numerous studies have indicated that older persons process visual information more slowly than younger persons, the precise nature of age-associated changes in the processing of visually presented information remains unclear. Older adults (N=18) and college students (N=18) performed a visual search task in which lists of words and…

Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was used to measure the changes with age in field dependence and problem-solving ability. Qualitative data concerning problem-solving strategies and quantitative data were collected. EFT was administered to 12 females in each of the following decades: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. All subjects were moderately…

Morse code signals were presented dichotically to Morse code operators and to naive subjects with no knowledge of Morse code. The operators showed right ear superiority, indicating left hemisphere dominance for the perception of dichotically presented Morse code letters. Naive subjects showed the same right ear superiority when presented with a…

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PROFESSOR BRUNER, THE CENTER FOR COGNITIVE STUDIES AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY HAS CARRIED OUT A SERIES OF STUDIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITION. THERE HAVE BEEN OVER 30 EXPERIMENTS ON THE GROWTH OF PERCEPTION, PROBLEM-SOLVING, AND REASONING BETWEEN THE AGES OF 3 AND 10, IN PURSUIT OF A THEORY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE CHANGES IN…

A training program was devised to develop automaticity of one subcomponent of reading--locating and disembedding multiletter units within words. The system involved the use of a training task that was implemented in a microcomputer-based game that required students to detect whether a target unit was presented within words that were shown in rapid…

Examined perception of object unity in partial occlusion in 72 infants. Recorded how long subjects looked at a display of complete and incomplete rods. In test and control conditions, infants looked longer at broken rods than at complete rods, suggesting that infants' cognitive, visual, or attentional skills may be insufficient to support…

THIS IS A REPORT OF THE RESPONSES OF 480 PROFESSIONALS TO A QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT EDUCATION AS RELATED TO NEWER GOALS IN EDUCATION. IT INDICATES A STRONG COMMITMENT TO THE NEWER GOALS. (DD)