Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…

A total of 87 children, 3- to 7-years old, were examined in a study of children's play and reasoning in games of mathematical logic and social logic. Children's sophistication in reasoning was positively related for two games, suggesting a common three-level progression from mastery of procedures to a competitive attitude to advanced strategy. (SH)

Children's analogical reasoning has traditionally been measured by classical four-term analogy tasks or problem-solving tasks. Current theories of analogical development and the evidence on which they are based are reviewed. It is concluded that structural views of analogical development are wrong, and knowledge-based accounts of what develops are…

Two studies examined abstract conditional reasoning. Findings indicated an increase in use of formal justifications with grade, and that abstract reasoning was facilitated by realistic context. Findings supported the idea that such reasoning may represent a qualitative change in reasoning abilities and that its development relies on appropriate…

Examinees can correctly answer many Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) reading items when the passages accompanying the items are missing. According to one hypothesis, examinees use information from other reading items (cognates) belonging to the same passage. The purpose of this study was to test that hypothesis for the revised SAT (SAT-I) reading…

This article presents specific instructional approaches and examples to develop the algebraic reasoning skills of middle and secondary students with mild disabilities. Discussion of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards identifies general principles, content standards, and process standards. Discussion of effective instruction…

Undergraduate biology programs are currently undergoing reform to involve students in biomedical research. Engaging students in more active, hands-on experiments allows students to discover scientific principles for themselves, and to develop techniques of critical thinking and problem solving. This models the world of real scientific research,…

The cognitive processes in a widely used, non-verbal test of analytic intelligence--the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (J. C. Raven, 1962)--were analyzed. The analysis determined which processes distinguished between higher-scoring and lower-scoring subjects and which processes were common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis…

This report summarizes research on experienced programmers' comprehension of computer programs that was carried out over a three-year contract period (1982-85). Following an extensive review of the programming skill literature, an analysis of programs based on the multiple abstractions (points-of-view) that characterize program text and design was…

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare kindergarten and first-grade children's performance on addition and subtraction problems presented in two contexts: verbal (in which problem data were linked to physical referents such as objects or people and their actions), and abstract (in which no such links to physical situations…

Tautologies in student essays, arguments that most commonly assume the truth or self-evidence of themselves without relationship to something other than themselves, can be identified whenever an essay contains a series of nonsuccessive, noncumulative discourse units. Three kinds of tautologies in student papers are tautologies of redundancy,…

At the College of Saint Theresa (Minnesota), the efficacy of preparing qualified teachers in four years is supported through three years of activities in conjunction with a Dean's Grant Project. Project PRISE (Preparing Regulars in Special Education) is based on two themes: (1) Teacher education graduates should be able to use reasoning skills to…

This study sought to determine the basis for young children's understanding of fundamental addition and subtraction processes, and to expose any limitations on such arithmetic reasoning. Thirty-six two-year-olds and 36 three-year-olds participated in six experiments which examined children's relational quantity judgments about pairs of arrays in…

About 25 children in each of grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were tested in their ability to solve linear syllogisms, such as: John is taller than Mary. Mary is taller than Pete. Who is tallest--John, Mary, or Pete? Response latencies and error rates decreased across grade levels and sessions. Component latencies also generally decreased with increasing…

Concepts in recursive functional programing form the basis of a course designed to introduce Humanities and Social Science students to computer programing. Unlike many introductory courses, recursion was taught prior to any mention of iteration or assigned operations. LOGO, a non-numeric language originally invented for use by children, was chosen…