In the field of human cognition, language plays a special role that is connected directly to thinking and mental development (e.g., Vygotsky, "1938"). Thanks to "verbal thought", language allows humans to go beyond the limits of immediately perceived information, to form concepts and solve complex problems (Luria, "1975"). So, it appears language…

Presents a framework for differentiating between five levels of extension of knowledge: basic features, forms, rules, application, and elaboration. Comparison of the extent of knowledge use exhibited by (n=14) Year-11 Australian students on a range of plane geometry problems found that high-achieving students exhibited greater extension of…

Contains an analysis of the activities of 12-year-old students solving problems of polygonal tilings and presents two categories of the thinking processes of these students: instantaneous thinking resulting in perceptions of simple structures and discursive thinking appearing in drawing activities and arguments of proofs. (13 references)…