This paper describes the theoretical underpinnings and architecture of a new type of learning environment that incorporates features of microworlds and of intelligent tutoring systems. The environment is based on a progression of increasingly sophisticated causal models that simulate domain phenomena, generate explanations, and serve as student…

A group of American and Japanese psychologists, anthropologists, linguists, and computer scientists gathered at the University of California, San Diego, to exchange ideas on models of joint problem solving and their special relevance to the design and implementation of computer-based systems of instruction. Much of the discussion focused on…

Drawn from several comprehensive bibliographies and computer searches of volumes by speakers at the Conference on Thinking, this brief bibliography presents resources for researchers and practitioners interested in the areas of cognitive and critical thinking skills. The materials are divided into the following topic areas: (1) general, (2)…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of scientific inquiry concerned with designing machine systems that can simulate human mental processes. The field draws upon theoretical constructs from a wide variety of disciplines, including mathematics, psychology, linguistics, neurophysiology, computer science, and electronic engineering. Some of the…

Recent developments in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence have shown that various types of prior knowledge play important roles in understanding during text processing and have resulted in a new kind of model for conceptual processing, "procedural semantics." This paper discusses two types of units, or schemata, which,…

Opening with a discussion of the role of computer simulation in cognitive psychology, this paper proceeds to examine the major perspectives on computer simulation as a tool for theoretical research on cognitive processes. The claim that computer simulation enforces rigor in theory specification is analyzed; the use of simulation as a method for…

This paper studies the relationship of artificial intelligence (AI) to the study of language and the representation of the underlying knowledge that supports the comprehension process. It develops the view that intelligence is based on the ability to use large amounts of diverse kinds of knowledge in procedural ways, rather than on the possession…

An information-processing assessment of the construct validity of aptitude tests is presented. It is stated that aptitude tests have been rather successful because they possess high construct validity, although the constructs in terms of which the tests may be most profitably understood are information-processing rather than psychometric ones. It…

A UNIT ON EFFECTIVE THINKING, WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL FOCUS ON INFLUENTIAL THINKING, WAS PREPARED AND TESTED. A TEXT, "EFFECTIVE THINKING," WAS PREPARED. AN INEXPERIENCED TEACHER USED THE TEXT IN A NINE WEEK COURSE WITH SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS. ONLY A POST-TEST CONTROL GROUP DESIGN WAS USED. THE TWO FACTORS STUDIED WERE TREATMENT AND SEX.…

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CERTAIN INTELLECTUAL PROCESSES AND ACHIEVEMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES FOR SELECTED MATHEMATICS TOPICS TAUGHT IN THE HIGHER ELEMENTARY GRADES WERE EXAMINED. INSTRUMENTS WERE CHOSEN TO ASSESS MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT AND INTELLECTUAL PROCESSES. THESE WERE ADMINISTERED BY CLASSROOM TEACHERS TO 765 STUDENTS IN THE FOURTH,…

This study attempted to prove a dichotomy between cognitive processes as measured by Piagetian reasoning tasks and those measured by traditional intelligence tests. A battery of tests (Slosson Intelligence Test, Durrell's Silent Reading and Listening Comprehension Test, Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, and the Piagetian Measure of Cognitive…

This report collects together three presentations given by the author at scientific and professional meetings during the Spring of 1977. The first discusses present views of the variety and complexity of individual differences among human beings in the context of current research on cognitive processing in learning and instruction. The second…

Since the 1950's there has been a tremendous shift in the way language and language behavior is viewed. The shift is characterized as a general movement away from surface observation and analysis to attempts at the description and analysis of underlying linguistic forms. The interest in underlying linguistic forms has, in a rather natural way, led…