Describes experiments in the Soviet Union intended to develop scholastic activities which encourage young children to develop their motivation for cognitive learning. All experiments were based on the problem-solving approach. (DB)

Points out how the theories advanced during the 1930s by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky can provide insights to western educational psychologists as they seek to understand child development and, particularly, as they devise ways of working with socially disadvantaged and mentally retarded children. (DB)