The study involving 54 learning disabled (LD) students (7 to 11 years old) and 54 regular class students (3 to 7 years old) investigated the developmental patterns for the comprehension of complex temporal references. Three types of stimulus sentences were designed to test the comprehension of temporal references employing the temporal…

The study examined the cartoon humor comprehension of 30 learning disabled and 30 non-handicapped boys in two age groups, eight- and twelve-year-olds. Significant main effects were found indicating a developmental lag in the cognitive structure necessary for understanding humor in the learning disabled subjects. (Author/DB)

Indicates that object relative (O) clauses are learned after subject relative (S) clauses. Shows that children did not reliably comprehend O-clauses until nine years of age, two years after S-clauses. Suggests the need to attain a level of operational thought before O-clauses can be understood. (RL)

Boys, ages 6, 8, and 10, were classified with regard to conceptual tempo and were presented with cartoon stimuli varying in cognitive complexity and level of affectivity. The results indicate that reflective subjects generally displayed the highest comprehension scores while impulsive subjects displayed the greatest spontaneous mirth. (JMB)

A total of 96 binary statements were administered to 120 children randomly selected from 3 academic levels. The Constituent Comparison Model accounts for the results obtained in this study. (HS)

Reveals that during the elementary school years, children acquire a firm understanding of the brain as the primary locus of psychological attributes and identity. The early school years, when children are five to seven years old, appear to be a transitional phase, when performance is variable and subject to task conditions. (RH)

Explored the relationships between the cognitive developmental level of preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational children (N=10) and their success in interpreting and explaining each of eight commonly described mechanisms of psychological defense. (JMB)

Open-ended interviews were conducted with 224 boys from first, third, and fifth grades to gauge their cognitive understanding of the structure and purpose of TV commercials and selectiveness of attitudinal response to them. Multiple measures also taken for maturational development, socialization, and television exposure as predictor sets.…

This study examined language ability in children of the same mental age who differed in their level of cognitive development. Subjects were 68 first-graders, 33 male, 35 female, from a predominantly middle-class elementary school. (Author/SB)

Five studies investigated preschoolers' understanding of the biological germ theory of illness compared to that of 6- or 10- to 11-year-olds. Found that the younger the child, the less likely he or she was to judge germs as causes of illness. Studies undermined claim that preschoolers understand germs to be uniquely biological causal agents. (JPB)

Examined the relationship of ability to conserve and comprehend of logical riddles in 33 first-, third- and fifth-grade boys of average intelligence. Although both riddle comprehension and cognitive maturity as assessed by Piagetian tasks increased with grade, the relation between them was not clearly demonstrated. (Author/JMB)

Results suggest that children can use the rules of conversational sequencing to evaluate the need for an inference to the speaker's intent when speakers deliberately violate a rule. This ability is acquired by six or seven years of age, but children do not correctly infer the speaker's intent until they are eight or nine years old. (Author/RH)

Discusses the connections between cultural literacy and schema based on Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know." Investigates the idea that schemata for cultural literacy can be taught. Asserts that teachers must assess and enlarge vocabulary and determine whether pupils' background knowledge is adequate for…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not children in grades two, four, and six make consistent use of Haviland and Clark's Given-New Strategy in visually and aurally comprehending presuppositive negatives. (HOD)

Experimenters analyzed a prose passage into 350 idea units, then interspersed throughout the text pictures depicting main ideas, or both main ideas and nonessential details. For fourth- and sixth-grade subjects, pictures did facilitate both immediate and delayed recall, but only of main ideas. (Author/JEG)