In this study 126 high school students were administered the Karplus Island Puzzle and interviewed individually to determine if the puzzle measured Piagetian-type operational thinking. Results indicated that the puzzle did not characterize an individual's cognitive level. (SL)

Clarifies the difference between the Piagetian Conservation of Liquid Quantity task and the Conservation of Volume task and provides an alternative test for the presence of formal operational thought. (JR)

Reported is a study related to the Project on an Information Memory Model and designed to encompass the claims of Piaget and Inhelder on differences of kinds of cognition and recall done on figural sorting task cognition at the Project on an Information Memory Model. The work of Piaget and Inhelder has defined learning information flow and related…

This publication consists of a critique of research related to the work of Piaget. Contents are arranged under five headings: Introduction, Common Misconceptions and Mususes, Common Research Errors: Possible Causes and Cures, Evaluation of Piaget-related Research, and Extension. Eighteen references conclude the report. (PEB)

Reported is a method of investigating thought processes of an 11-year-old girl concerning physical phenomena such as those underlying the operations of scientific apparatus--platform balance, the spring balance, the magnet, and the pendulum. It was discovered during a period of interviews that the subject's thought processes developed in such a…

This paper describes the Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks, summarizes the data on its reliability and validity, comments on its usefulness as a quick, paper-pencil test which introductory chemistry instructors might use for assessing cognitive development, and presents data showing how introductory chemistry students scored on it.…

Discusses the need to teach earth science material at the cognitive level of development of the student and presents examples of earth science related tests of formal and concrete operational competencies. (SL)

Presents preliminary findings of results of tests of Piagetian cognitive development to predict success in introductory undergraduate physics courses. Grades were predicted with good success. (SL)

A sex-related difference, favoring boys, was found on initial performance of two samples (one British, one American) of 10- and 11-year-old children on tasks involving volume and density. After classroom instruction that included opportunities for interaction with appropriate materials, both sexes performed at higher levels but differences…

Many science curriculum development projects have the goal of increasing students' ability to employ scientific or formal reasoning strategies. Argues that longitudinal data of students who acquired formal reasoning strategies as a consequence of specific instruction are needed to provide evidence that these skills will help in other academic…

Reports a study of the correlation between intellectual development and students' understanding of scientific concepts and science processes. Results are reported concerning the reliability and validity of Piagetian or Piagetian-like tasks as measures of students' level of formal reasoning. (Author/SA)

The purpose of this study was to examine possible relationships between moral and cognitive development in second- and fifth-grade children. Sixty children were used in the study. Levels of cognitive development were evaluated using four learning tasks and moral development was assessed by presenting four conflicting situations to each subject for…

Reported is one of a series of investigations of the Project on an Information Memory Model. This study was done to test an information memory model for identifying the unit of information structure involved in task cognitions by humans. Four groups of 30 randomly selected subjects (ages 7, 9, 11 and 15 years) performed a sorting task of 14…

Reported are the results of a study of the Piagetian formal thought range of 3600 students, 13 to 15 years old, in seven countries: Denmark, Sweden, Italy, United States, Austria, Germany, and Great Britain. Cognitive measurement was obtained by group administration of two tasks to assess proportional reasoning and control of variables. Overall…

Describes a study of 708 eleventh and twelfth graders of cognitive development and their ability to learn physics. The theories of Piaget were used as a model to study the teaching and learning of physics. (MDR)