The effects of age, task, and egocentric responding on visual-spatial perspective taking were studied among 41 preschool children between 3.0 and 5.9 years of age. Children were individually administered three perspective-taking measures: the upside-down/right-side-up task, a block task, and a picture box task, all previously described in the…

The unified theory described in this paper characterizes human reasoning as an information processing system with a hierarchical sequence of components and subtheories that account for performance on successively narrower tasks. Both deductive and inductive theories are subsumed in the unified componential theory, including transitive chain theory…

Two variables involved in attitude change provided the basis for this study, the cognitive complexity of the subject and the dimensions of stimulus materials. After a pretest, 165 interpersonal communication students were divided into two groups according to their cognitive complexity levels. The dimensions of the stimulus were presented on two…

This study examines the effects of three levels of visual complexity upon the learning of an instructional slide tape program about the functions of a human heart. The three levels of complexity were a simple line drawing in color, an illustration in color, and a realistic color photograph. The effects of visual stimulus complexity upon…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of age differences and differences in memory load on concept identification (CI) tasks of varying levels of complexity. Previous studies with young children found increasingly better performance on CI tasks with increasing age. This was in part due to the fact that older subjects categorize…

To determine to what extent children of preschool age comprehend the meaning of logical connectives, 64 5- and 6-year-olds were told to hand differently colored and shaped wooden blocks to an experimenter. The commands involved various English idioms used for conjunction (e.g. both black and round), disjunction (either black or round), and…

Mean response times and slope of response times were correlated with intelligence and achievement for 94 sixth-graders. Mean response time reliability was greater than that of slope, and correlated significantly with IQ and achievement. Speed of processing information generalized across experimental tasks and reliably indicated intellectual…

High-level behavioral objectives did not produce greater learning than low-level, contrary to previous findings using study questions interspersed through written prose. Overt use of objectives at both levels produced greater learning, supporting the idea that procedures requiring semantic encoding are instructionally superior to those requiring…

Emphasis on the systems approach in economic and social studies education demands attention to hierarchical analysis and sequencing of desired skills and instruction according to valid learning hierarchies. Learning hierarchies are arrangements of intellectual skill objectives in a pattern of prerequisite relationships among simple and complex…

Evidence is provided for gradual age (and, seemingly, cognitive developmental) changes in the acquisition of complex problem solving strategies. Differential performance as a function of exposure to a child-model exhibiting the best strategy also suggests the role of learning in strategy acquisition. (Author/MV)

Significant differences were found between teacher emphasis of the memory and application levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and pupil achievement at those levels. At the memory level, differences in achievement were probably not due to differences in ability. At the application level, differences in pupil achievement may be due to ability, not teacher…

Three experimental tasks were devised to assess the nature of memory processing limitations in fourth-graders' oral reading comprehension. (Author/MP)

Characteristics of 11 Repgrid indices of cognitive structure, particularly Smith and Leach's hierarchical complexity index, are investigated among boys and girls, aged 9-15. The Smith & Leach index is shown to be significantly reliable; but in common with seven indices of cognitive differentiation, it is of dubious validity. (Author/GDC)

Instructions involving high-level questions and answers either were or were not given to fifth and sixth graders in three learning environments: cooperative, competitive, or independent. Students who received the instructions showed greater gains in recognizing and generating high-level questions. (GDC)