The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between a student's stated preference for solving a problem and his/her actual problem solving methodology. Approximately 116 science students between the ages of 15 and 22 were given an 18 item abstract preference survey. Each student was interviewed and given the opportunity to solve…

A commentary on the sense of isolation and estrangement which commonly accompanies the relativism ushered in by formal operational thought, and a detailing of several regressive strategies frequently employed by adolescents in their efforts to accomodate to this plurality of solitudes. (JMB)

This study examined the development of three schemes for the attribution of psychological events to multiple causes in children of 5, 9, and 13 years of age. Stories were read to the children and each child was asked to infer possible causes of events. Multiple sufficient and multiple necessary and inhibitory causes were found only in the older…

Analysis of primary process thinking of the same children at kindergarten level and at grade four revealed that amount of primary process thinking was relatively constant with development, contrary to predictions based on psychoanalytic theory. However, drive related ideation increased and formal deviations of thought decreased in quality and type…

The comprehension of big, little, and same number and the production of relational terminology was assessed in 168 preschool children. (Author/BD)

Study of children's retention of training in class inclusion reasoning skills. Sixty-four kindergarten-age children who showed no evidence of class inclusion skills were assigned to one of three groups: training, training with corrective feedback, and control. Posttests were administered immediately after training and 3 months later. (Author/BN)

Educators must provide conditions which encourage the practice and demonstration of intelligent behaviors. Twelve characteristics of intelligent behavior are discussed, such as persistence, decreasing impulsivity, listening to others, metacognition, questioning and problem posing, etc. A summary of the school conditions in which intelligent…

Three experiments test object permanenece in 3 1/2- and 4 1/2-month-old infants, and use an impossible-possible-habituation event format. The 4 1/2-month-olds, and the 3 1/2-month-olds who were fast habituators, look reliably longer at the impossible than at the possible event. Results seriously question Piaget's (1954) claims regarding the age at…

The author presents evidence that supports the argument for the validity of right brain-left brain theories. Discusses the brain's "sense of the future," what the brain does with new information, and altering the brain's ability to process change. A bibliography of further readings is included. (CT)

The introductory article to the special issue on facilitating cognitive development considers individual and social roles in cognitive development, the role of the human mediator, development as an increasingly self regulated process, and types of programs which provide instruction in cognitive strategies. (DB)

The Cognitive Curriculum for Young Children, based on theories of R. Feuerstein, J. Piaget, and L. Vygotsky, uses a mediational teaching style with high risk children. The curriculum is teacher directed and emphasizes planning, small group cognitive instruction, large group cognitive experience, and summation of major activities. Evaluation…

Concludes that strategies are not responsible for memory span development in children 7 through 13 years old. Running and fixed memory span tasks and a running probe task were administered to 38 children. The probe task showed age differences as great as with the fixed span task. Span was reduced by approximately half an item over all ages.…

This article links recent research on human cognitive functioning with developing conceptions of human competence and applies these major developments to the place of home economics in the secondary school. This research focuses on thinking and learning processes and factors that influence these processes and their outcomes. (CT)

Reviewed research with the Twenty Questions Task aimed at investigating problem solving across the life span. Research indicates use of an efficient problem-solving strategy increases during childhood and then decreases again during the later adult years. Elderly adults' performance was facilitated when the necessity of using an efficient strategy…

The cognitive approach to education is briefly summarized, and its implications for learning disabilities considered. The approach, which includes the genetic epistemology espoused by J. Piaget and information processing theory, proposes the importance of active involvement and control processes. (CL)