Social-matching problems were verbally presented to children either with or without concrete models. In each condition, information was provided which was sufficient, superfluous, or irrelevant. Problems containing only irrelevant information were the most difficult, although models enhanced the performance of younger children but depressed the…

Examined whether and when children use information about others' mental states to invent or select persuasive strategies in three studies. Found older children, but not preschoolers, used belief information in stories to select arguments; and kindergartners' and first-graders' reasoning on false belief tasks suggested the failure to consider…

Presents a model of instruction in which media specialists, in cooperation with teachers, go beyond teaching library skills and work with students to develop critical thinking and information use skills. (CLB)