The paper describes the implementation of a 3-year cognitive skills development curriculum, Instrucmental Enrichment (IE), at the North Carolina School for the Deaf in a question/answer format. The following questions are addressed: What are the goals? Who is it for? How is it taught? What is the IE classroom climate like? What is the theory? What…

A meta-analysis of 268 studies suggested a deficit in subjects with mental retardation (compared to controls without mental retardation) across 12 categories of learning tasks, a relative deficit which remained, after training, across 7 categories of strategies. When strategy training was evaluated, the effect size was 0.701, which compares…

This article introduces a series of papers on cognitive process-based instruction for students with learning disabilities. Cognitive process-based instruction is defined and differentiated from the process training advocated by S. Kirk in the 1970s. The method's basis of sound theory and academic tasks is stressed. (DB)

This paper argues for the role of an applied cognitive science perspective in education. It discusses the relevance and inadequacy of the brains metaphor and the computing metaphor, the parallel distributed processing nature of learning, and the importance of situational variables. Contributions of applied cognitive science to mathematics,…

The article points out that the label "cognitive" has been used to designate five substantially different approaches to learning disabilities: information processing, metacognition, genetic epistemology, cognitive behavior modification, and the specific-abilities model. Despite the similar label, the instructional interventions of these approaches…

Literature concerning "idiots savants" is reviewed, and various theories and possible explanations are discussed, as are common areas of expertise and cognitive traits. Several case studies are used to illustrate the possible relationship between autism and idiots savants. Educational implications of these findings are considered.…

Described are procedures used to assess reasoning in congenitally blind students. It is explained that the Piagetian Battery of Reasoning Assessments for concrete and formal or abstract thought measures the following basic abilities: reversability of thought, classifacatory thought, spatial orientation, and mental imagery. (CL)

This article addresses the close relationship between reasoning skills and literacy, especially in the context of the education of students with deafness. The importance of providing deaf learners with cognitive strategy instruction applied to various aspects of literacy is stressed. (DB)

Educators, concerned with disturbing trends in school failure, are arguing for more learner-centered models of schooling. Such a reform effort requires set principles that emphasize the active and reflective nature of learning and learners; 14 such principles are reported here. The immediate goal of this report is to provide a framework that can…

The time has come to seriously consider thinking as a major goal for teaching and learning at all levels of education. This calls for educational restructuring in which higher order cognitive processes are defined, and a better understanding for how to develop them in all youngsters and adults is built. Youngsters need to become constructors of…

The article describes four general kinds of instruction that can foster independent learning by helping special needs students learn to think. They are metacognitive explanation; scaffolded instruction; cognitive coaching; and cooperative learning. Teachers can adapt and combine these methods to teach students how to think as they read, write, and…

The paper offers a broad-based behavioral approach to language generalization which is affected by basic cognitive processes, behavioral learning strategies, environmental variables, and the child's present knowledge base. Implications of this approach for application of a systems approach to intervention are discussed. (Author/DB)

This article considers mathematics instruction for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have learning disabilities. Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive influences on students' abilities to learn mathematics are discussed. Potential learning problems and ways to address these problems are identified. (DB)

This paper looks at the ideas of R. Skemp which emphasize fostering "intelligent learning" in the teaching of mathematics. Skemp posits that schematic learning takes place when new concepts are constructed by the learner. Three modes of building such internal schema are proposed. Teachers are urged to ensure that at every stage the new…

Twenty-one research articles originally published in the "Australasian Journal of Gifted Education" over the past decade are collected in this book and address aspects of gifted education including pedagogy and curriculum, policy and practice, social and emotional needs, school and family, neuropsychology and cognition, and special…