For students to advance beyond arithmetic, they must learn how to attend to the structure of math notation. This process can be challenging due to students' left-to-right computing tendencies. Brackets are used in mathematics to indicate precedence but can also be used as superfluous cues and perceptual grouping mechanisms in instructional…

Age and condition (either constancy-relevant or variability-relevant) interact, with the youngest group in the constancy-relevant condition performing most poorly on concept identification tasks. (MH)

Examines children's understanding of what variables and relations are important in problem structures, and their use of these variables and relations in problem solving. (HOD)

Studies the effects of perceptual salience on performance in problems requiring the coordination of information. Subjects were groups of children, younger adults, and older adults. For each of the age groups, those problems containing the most salient information were solved faster and more accurately than problems containing the least salient…

All contemporary learning theorists agree on the advantages of involving students in authentic problem-solving activities in both in-school and out-of-school contexts. Approaches which use real-world problems as learning tools fit well with: (1) the strategy-based, performance model advanced by information processors; (2) the impasse or…

Recent studies have shown perceptual instability to be related to visual creativity as reflected in career choice. In general, those who display greater perceptual instability perceive themselves to be more creative and tend to choose careers related to visual creativity, regardless of their gender. To test the hypothesis that field independents…

It was shown that hierarchies change with development and that relative salience of a dimension is negatively associated with both reaction time of choice and number of errors on the identity task. (Authors)

Children's Television Workshop (CTW) is an experiment in the instruction of preschool children through the medium of broadcast television. This document, which incorporates, extends, and supersedes an earlier report of a meeting to establish priorities among goals for CTW, serves six related purposes: (1) it attempts to reflect the suggestions of…

Two Masters' theses, by Andrea Weiss and Melinda Welles, pursuing related questions were synthesized into a final report, "Field Independence-Dependence, Reflection-Impulsivity, and Problem-Solving Styles of Preschool Children," of which this interim report is a summary. The major purposes of both investigations were to determine: (1)…

Extensive research has proven that the functions of the two hemispheres of the brain tend to be qualitatively different. The left hemisphere, which for most people is dominant, is the major controller of speech, reading, and writing; it is the hemisphere toward which education traditionally has been directed. The right hemisphere excels in…

This article presents a rationale for emphasizing discovery instruction over guided instruction in teaching cane travel skills to people with severe visual impairments. Discovery instruction is seen to facilitate the use of intrinsic feedback in developing perceptual-cognitive skills as well as promoting problem solving, retention, and transfer of…

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…

Two techniques were used to modify an impulsive conceptual tempo on a visual discrimination task. The subjects were 42 first grade white children who had previously been classified as impulsive or near-impulsive on the Matching Familiar Figures Test given to 82 children. These subjects, who had scored above the median on errors and below the…

A series of three experiments was conducted for the purposes of (1) clarifying problems of previous research on the relationship between working memory capacity and performance on figural analogy tasks, and (2) exploring developmental issues concerning executive strategies, working memory capacity, and perceptual processing. Directly manipulating…