Examines the development of metaphor by using structure-mapping theory to make distinctions among kinds of metaphors. Proposes that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before those based on shared relational structure. Results indicate a developmental shift toward focus on relational structure in metaphor…

A study used structure mapping theory to examine the claim that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before understanding those based on shared relational structure. The three kinds of metaphor used in the study varied in whether the shared information forming the basis for the interpretation was attributional,…

Examines a general developmental hypothesis concerned with children's understanding of perceptual experience, memory, intentions, and emotions. It is hypothesized that young children view the mind as passive in relation to the external world and regard external events as determining subjective experience, whereas older children know many ways that…

Presents descriptions of play reflecting recent theories, including the psychoanalytic works of Freud, Erikson, and Peller; Piaget's developmental theory (with discussion of Sutton-Smith); and the views of Smilansky and Parten. (AS)

Examines whether young children make explicit references to beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and intentions. Relates that three-year-old children correctly distinguish between real and mental items and that they think and dream about things that are not real. Concludes that conceptual development theories portraying early development as concrete and…

An analysis of children's narrative composition and art revealed concurrent development at both a general structural level and at a fine-grained detail level. A three-part study investigated whether this general cognitive pattern would be maintained across a different range of tasks: literary composition, scientific reasoning, and working memory.…

Provides a framework for observing and supporting the development of students as constructivist teachers, especially during their field placements as student teachers. The instructional shift to a constructivist approach is described, and guiding principles and possible indicators of the constructivist model are presented. (SLD)