This paper focuses on the social constructivist perspective as a theoretical framework that can guide the design and evaluation of instructional research in literacy. Three assumptions are discussed: literacy knowledge is a cultural phenomenon; cognitive processes related to literacy are acquired in holistic, contextualized activity; and literacy…

This paper reviews the recent history of psychoeducational testing, examines attempts to link assessment with instruction within the information processing domain, and presents a model of a general assessment-instruction procedure that classroom and specialist teachers could use in effective remediation and instruction practices. (JDD)

Discusses the concept of writing as a mode of learning and critiques the write-to-learn model of writing theory. Reviews 35 research studies on the topic and concludes that they do not provide empirical proof of writing as a mode of learning. Describes other modes of learning that the model ignores. (HB)

Mental-rotation task response times from 12 studies involving 505 adults--251 males and 254 females--were used to evaluate 5 hypotheses concerning sex differences derived from an X-linked genetic model. The model assumes that task facilitation in speed of mental rotation is mediated by a recessive gene. Four hypotheses derived from the model were…

Examined relationship between anxiety and memory in 160 high- and low-trait-anxious sixth through eighth graders. Found that anxiety predicted memory bias toward negative relative to neutral information during conceptual but not perceptual tasks. Anxiety predicted memory bias toward positive relative to neutral information on procedural tasks and…

Used a variance-partitioning procedure to identify age-related and age-invariant components of verbal and spatial memory span in 6- to 12-year olds. Concluded that verbal and spatial short-term memory appear to rely on similar processes when serial recall is required and that development in span is closely tied to increases in processing speed.…

Describes the mental coding processes involved in the flow of information when the user is interacting with an enabling information-retrieval (IR) system, or a system designed to stimulate the user's grasping towards a higher understanding of the information need/problem/task that brought the user to the system. (Author/AEF)

Discusses hierarchical complexity of tasks as a way of conceptualizing information in terms of the power required to complete a task, and its implications for developmental psychology and information science. Provides an analytic solution to the definition of developmental stages and allows for the possibility within the science of scaling the…

Uses a cognitive motivation approach to view students' learning on Web-based instruction (WBI). Introduces the new CANE Model as a means for diagnosing motivation problems. Presents one WBI class at a teacher education institution in Taiwan as a case study to illustrate the process of how to diagnose motivation problems and find appropriate…

Explores the significance of concept mapping for education and curriculum development. Discusses two main streams in curriculum paradigms and important processes, and the functions which concept mapping can have in education and curriculum development. Examines why students in educational institutions don't yet make systematic use of concept maps,…

Tests the hypothesis that two general developmentally-based levels of hypothesis-testing skills exist. Finds a positive relationship between level of hypothesis-testing skill and performance on a transfer problem involving the test of a hypothesis based on unobservable entities. Also finds a positive relationship between level of…

Presents a two-phase instructional design model that focuses on optimizing step size in whole-task approaches to learning complex, mainly non-recurrent, cognitive skills. Step size in a multiple-step whole-task approach-needed for the process worksheets-is determined on the basis of estimated part-task complexity. A developmental study of the…

Asserts that developmental psychology's assumption that representation has nature of encoding is false; offers alternative model of representation based on the pragmatics of action. Argues that "frame problems" originate in the inherent requirement that encoding representations carry explicit content. Maintains that these problems impact…

Although computer modelling is widely advocated as a way to offer students a deeper understanding of complex phenomena, the process of modelling is rather complex itself and needs scaffolding. In order to offer adequate support, a thorough understanding of the reasoning processes students employ and of difficulties they encounter during a…

Delay of Gratification (DG) and Delay Discounting (DD) represent two indices of impulsive behavior often treated as though they represent equivalent or the same underlying processes. However, there are key differences between DG and DD procedures, and between certain research findings with each procedure, that suggest they are not equivalent. In…