In two experiments, the effects of modeling on multiple seriation and multiple classification skills in preschool children were examined. In the first study, children observed models who demonstrated either multidimensional grouping or ordering. In the second, children received only single classification training on the basis of form, color, or…

This study compared the effects of a formal, an open-framework, and a control preschool program on children's intellectual development. The formal program, based on Ausubel's and Piaget's theories, had a daily schedule of short prescriptive teaching sessions followed by related learning activities. The informal program, based on Piaget's theory,…

This study examines the development of children's understanding of temporal cycles and the relationship between cyclic concepts and cognitive development. A sample of 62 children, ranging in age from 4 to 10 years, were administered Piagetian tests of classification and seriation and a variety of specially designed cyclic tasks. (Author/JMB)

A 3-year longitudinal study assessed cognitive changes among rural children 3 to 5 years old and validated the construct validity of the Nebraska Wisconsin Cognitive Assessment Battery (NEWCAB). Multistage area sampling techniques were used with a repeated measures, control group design. Participants in the sample were 40 3-year-olds, 57…

A MAIN PROBLEM ARISING IN THE STUDY OF CATEGORIZING BEHAVIOR IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN BY MEANS OF SORTING PROCEDURES WAS THAT PERFORMANCE APPEARED TO BE VERY MUCH A FUNCTION OF THE CHILD'S COMPREHENSION OF THE PARTICULAR VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS EMPLOYED BY THE EXPERIMENTER IN PRESENTING THE TASK. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE FIRST STUDY WERE TO INVESTIGATE…

Children aged 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 years in three preschool programs were given a test battery consisting of classification, relations, and conservation tasks. One program (Ausubelian) was formal and two programs (Piagetian and Tradition) were informal. Posttest data for the first year of a three-year longitudinal study indicated significantly superior…

This study examined the effect of an innovative teaching activity to improve concrete operational thinking skills with preschoolers in Head Start programs. A "learning set" of classification games and seriation games was used to teach the oddity principle and insertion into a series. These games were played with the children using toy ponies and…

Noticing relationships between similar things and developing rules for treating things the same or differently, based on characteristics like color, size, shape, and texture provides the basis of beginning mathematics learning. Based on the view that teachers and parents of young children should provide children with age-appropriate words,…