Two experiments examined the ability of preschool children to reason about the numerical relations greater than and less than. Results showed that children as young as 21/2 years of age could make number-based relational judgments and compare two number pairs on the basis of a common ordering relation. (Author/JMB)

Four experiments examined children's ability to reason about the causal significance of the order in which 2 events occurred (the pressing of buttons on a mechanically operated box). In Study 1, 4-year-olds were unable to make the relevant inferences, whereas 5-year-olds were successful on one version of the task. In Study 2, 3-year-olds were…

The role of reversibility in children's comprehension and memory for sequences of pictures was investigated for children in preschool, kindergarten, and first and second grades. Bidirectionality in the ability to remember and infer antecedents and consequences was assessed. (JMB)

Shows that the construction of mental representations that capture a situation based on the comprehension of a diagram are mediated by the possession of appropriate background knowledge. Indicates that background knowledge deficiencies may make it difficult for beginning students of a domain to construct suitable mental representations from…

Language as an identifiable cognitive behavior must be studied in relation to identity and memory, all of whose structures undergo progressive changes as the child develops. The organization of the development of the organism depends upon relatively ordered structures of growth, following foreseeable pathways or creodes. The processes occurring…

This study examines problems related to (1) the development of children's understanding of temporal cycles, and (2) the relationship between cyclic concepts and cognitive development. Piagetian tests of classification and seriation and a variety of specially designed cyclic tasks were administered to 62 children, ranging in age from 4 to 10 years.…

Four types of proportionality problems were administered to: (1) secondary school students who were enrolled in Project Physics, and (2) students not enrolled in physics. Both samples were randomly selected. Groups were not found to differ significantly in problem solving ability but both revealed that the ability to solve certain problems was…

Well-known questioning strategies, built on question classification systems, are examined. Types of question classification systems are identified as: "hierarchical," which are sequential and cumulative; "non-hierarchical," which are based on elements which should not be rank ordered; systems which are "context-bound" to specifics; and…

A study was designed to develop an instrument and methodological procedure to assess transitive relations within seriation problems in elementary school children using three criteria: explanations, judgments, and strategies. A secondary analysis to assess transitivity used the three criteria according to whether the children were conservers, in…

To investigate the underlying factors of visual discrimination, memory, rule abstraction, language, and serial ordering in reading success, 79 poor and 65 good deaf readers were administered a battery of tests. Poor readers were deficient in lower-order visual discrimination and memory abilities; higher-order visual discrimination skills were…

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…

In order to choose among several strategies of cross-cultural training, a standard experimental paradigm is needed to inexpensively generate reliable and valid data. The research presented in this document provides what appears to be such a paradigm. It involves the presentation of intercultural conflict to subjects, under standardized conditions.…