This article analyses the way in which Piaget links the analogy between the child and the primitive with a theory of the history of the sciences, that is, it analyses Piaget's version of Haeckel's principle in which ontogenesis recapitulates phylogenesis. From this analysis, we reconstitute the operations through which Piaget forms and expresses…

We have recently demonstrated that pre-training of additivity (the outcome of two causal cues is larger than one causal cue) greatly enhances blocking. This manipulation could work by removing a ceiling effect on the outcome, as proposed by Cheng (1997). Alternatively, it could remove the logical ambiguity associated with blocking under…

The authors present a similarity-based model of induction and categorization in young children (SINC). The model suggests that (a) linguistic labels contribute to the perceived similarity of compared entities and (b) categorization and induction are a function of similarity computed over perceptual information and linguistic labels. The model also…

Research has demonstrated that rats' rates of operant behavior maintained by 1% sucrose reinforcement in the first half of an experimental session are heightened when food-pellet reinforcers, rather than 1% sucrose, will be available in the second half. Experiment 1 showed that rats that had been displaying this positive induction effect acquired…

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on the conditions that may promote understanding and abstraction via structural alignment, that is, through a comparison between two partially understood situations. Structural alignment is a route to analogical reasoning which differs from the typical route where an analogy is made by…

This research examines the relationship between the concept of CAUSE as it is characterized in psychological models of causation and the meaning of causal verbs, such as the verb "cause" itself. According to focal set models of causation ([Cheng (1997]; [Cheng and Novick (1991 and Cheng and Novick (1992]), the concept of CAUSE should be more…

This article emphasizes the need to encourage undergraduate students to develop arguments, which involves enhancing their analytical skills and capacity for critical thinking, across disciplines regardless of level. It argues that these skills, required by the Quality Assurance Agency's (QAA) benchmarks, are developed not by instruction, but by…

The perception of colour in an embedded field is affected by the surround colour. This phenomenon is known as chromatic induction. In the present study we investigated whether the colour perception by infants aged 5-7 months could be affected by the surround colour. In Experiments 1 and 2 each stimulus was composed of an array of six squares in…

This rejoinder is in response to criticism against the African Virtual University (AVU), an internet-based education modality, by Amutabi and Oketch [2003. Experimenting in distance education: the African Virtual University (AVU) and the Paradox of World Bank in Kenya. International Journal of Educational Development 23, 57-73]. By closely…

The study addresses the relational reasoning of different-aged children and how addition reasoning is related to problem-solving skills within addition and to reasoning skills outside addition. Ninety-two 5- to 8-year-olds were asked to solve a series of conceptually related and unrelated addition problems, and the speed and accuracy of all…

In this article, the author shares some of his ideas and tips for using models and analogies. He explains why he uses analogies and models in science teaching and describes the advantages of using models and analogies. He also emphasizes the role of the teacher as the person to introduce the models. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

The basic purpose of shaping college students' and upper-grade school students' critical thinking, as well as that of adults who do not have established skills of thinking creatively, is to expand their thinking competences in order to deal effectively with social, scientific, and practical problems. In the process of teaching uppergrade students,…

This study examined the predictors of belief bias in a formal reasoning paradigm (a syllogistic reasoning task) and myside bias in two informal reasoning paradigms (an argument generation task and an experiment evaluation task). Neither cognitive ability nor thinking dispositions predicted myside bias, but both cognitive ability and thinking…

Since the early 1980s, states have been increasingly active in setting policies that structure the initiation or "induction" of new teachers into teaching. This article uses the Schools and Staffing Survey merged with state-level data collected for "Education Week's" "Quality Counts" reports to examine the impact of…

This eight-week study supports the view that literacy learning is multimodal (Berghoff et al., 2000). It contributes to existing research (Dyson, 1986; Gardner, 1980; Hubbard, 1989; Hubbard & Ernst, 1996; Olshansky, 2007, 2008; Skupa, 1985) on the communicability of drawing and writing as vehicles through which children make and share meaning.…