This paper is a summary of research on the perceptual and memory processes related to reading, their developmental progress in children, and the reading abilities in adults. Reported among the results of the various studies are the following: (1) developmental changes in reading after second grade primarily improve speed of coding, (2) reading…

The impact of age effects on nonverbal memory for auditory or tactual patterns has been largely neglected in research studies. The effects of age on nonverbal memory were investigated by comparing subjects (N=120), divided by age decades into six groups (N=20), through tests using visual, auditory, and tactual items which were resistant to verbal…

Research on the use of eye movement indices (such as number of fixations, the average fixation duration, and saccadic movements) as a measure of cognitive processing is reviewed in this paper. Information is provided on the physiology of the eye, computer applications to eye movement study, the influence of stimulus materials and intelligence on…

The issue of specialized teacher education and certification for the middle school grades is discussed. The general background on teacher preparation for the middle school grades is covered, and findings of studies concerning teacher education and certification for the middle school are presented. The history of the growth of the middle school is…

The conference from which the papers in this book are derived addressed the following questions: How is knowledge organized? How does knowledge develop? How is knowledge retrieved and used? What instructional techniques promise to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge? Separate chapters address types of knowledge and purposes of education;…

This study was conducted to determine if fifth-grade students can significantly improve their use of logical analysis through a suitable instructional unit taught under ordinary classroom conditions. Concrete teaching materials were developed to familiarize students with the distinction between the valid inference patters--Modus Ponendo Ponens and…

This study was designed to determine whether adults' memory for pictorial and word stimuli might be differentially affected by age. Twenty female secretaries, median age 22.1, and 20 female members of a senior citizens' center, median age 69.4, were asked to learn lists of pictorial and word stimuli under free recall conditions. Eight trials were…

Individual differences in the ordered recall of list of digits are examined experimentally. The resulting evidence argues that neither differences in rehearsal strategies nor differences in the tendency to group and chunk the digits are major determinants of differences in digit span size. Further experiments attempt to pinpoint the source of…

This summary of a program of research in children's learning describes the effects of pictures and visual imagery on children's cognitive performance. The role of individual differences is highlighted throughout the paper, as are variables which potentially limit the effects discussed. Some of the conclusions were that in a large number of…

Three aspects of concept teaching might be guided by the conceptual learning and development model. First, by assessing the characteristics of cognitive style, classificatory skills, and logical reasoning ability, the student's readiness to attain concepts under various circumstances can be determined. Secondly, the model points to optimal methods…

An introduction to the theory of algorithms reviews the theoretical issues of teaching algorithms, the logical and psychological problems of devising algorithms of identification, and the selection of efficient algorithms; and then relates all of these to the classroom teaching process. It also descirbes some major research on the effectiveness of…

The central question of this report concerned the role of formal similarity in free recall of lists of trigrams and lists of three-letter word triads. Similarity was manipulated among trigrams by duplicating words. An initial study showed that lists of 16 letters were learned more rapidly than a list of 16 three-letter words. Therefore, in the…

Two groups of kindergarten children had activities involving the transitive property of matching relations and length relations, respectively. Both groups had activities involving transitivity of weight relations. A control group had instruction only on relations. Pretests of Matching Relations, Length Relations, Matching Relations Conservation,…

Four to five-year-old children were asked questions on length involving single or double comparatives in a transitive inference task. The number of comparatives varied within or across pairs. The pairs of sticks were color-coded. Initial pair-wise discrimination training on four adjacent pairs from a five stick array with only verbal feedback was…

This report reviews evidence concerned with age-related aspects of social perception processes and their effects on overt behavior. Focus is on the variability among children in comprehension and evaluation of action, motives, and consequences of modeled behavior. Findings indicated that comprehension of acts in terms of motives and correctness of…