Children's developing competence with symbolic representations was assessed in 3 studies. Study 1 examined the hypothesis that the production of imaginary symbolic objects in pantomime requires the simultaneous coordination of the dual representations of a dynamic action and a symbolic object. We explored this coordination of symbolic…

The author emphasizes the importance of concepts and mathematical form in a discussion of understanding mathematics. (MN)

Children show less evidence of nominal realism (treating the name and its object as the same) after participating in an arbitrary naming task, but older children do not show as much development away from nominal realism as Piaget postulated. (RL)

The structure of cognitive abilities was examined through tests administered to 81 prelingually deaf Yougoslavian children (ages seven to eight). Results suggested the existence of two levels of cognitive organization: (1) automatic (involving highly integrated perceptual skills and short-term memory); and (2) representational (involving symbols…

Describes two studies in which young children were shown pictures that represented sound with postures and contexts, with conventions, and with combinations of information. Shows that the different types of pictorial representation of sound were not equivalent in their ability to evoke a correct interpretation. (HOD)

Discussion about the nature and varieties of mathematical understanding is presented. Symbolic understanding is defined as a mutual assimilation between a symbol system and a conceptual structure, that is dominated by the conceptual structure. (MP)

Infants' understanding of "toy model-real exemplar" relations was assessed through preferential looking and habituation tasks. Results from the preferential looking task suggest that 18-month toddlers are just beginning to demonstrate comprehension of symbolic relations between iconic models and their real object counterparts. Performance of 10-…

This paper examines the interrelationship between children's acquisition and use of symbols and the development of imaginative play. The paper focuses on the use of pretend play as an expression of the child's capacity for symbolic functioning and as an index of intellectual development. The first section of the paper reviews developmental changes…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether familiarity was a significant factor in increased cognitive synthesis scores and to conduct a comparison of the training methods employed on the basis of the test score patterns. Previous studies had revealed that symbolic representation was important, but they had not clarified the ways in which…

Curriculum balance is a conception rooted in an understanding of the nature and scope of cognition. It is not the case that certain cultural forms, such as the arts, to name but one example, are affective and mathematics cognitive. They are all cognitive. (Author/IRT)

Four kinds of understanding of mathematics are suggested: instrumental, relational, intuitive, and formal. Each type of understanding is described and illustrated. (MN)

Presented is a paradigm for science education research. The paradigm advances the reception learning theory, where regularities to be learned are presented explicitly to the learner. A tool for the study of knowledge production in science education, the Gowin "V," is presented. (RE)

Examined whether toddlers would use information presented through video to solve a retrieval problem. Found that 2.5-year-olds were very successful at finding a hidden toy based on viewing a televised hiding event, but 2-year-olds were not. Substantially better performance was achieved by other 2-year-olds who either watched or believed they were…