Classrooms for mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, and average students were studied to identify which rules of formal logic teachers and students employ. Results indicated that teachers and students use extralogical reasoning significantly more often than formal logical rules. This was true for three grade levels and all…

Focuses on studies related to Piaget's specifications for secondary student's development from concrete to formal level thinking. Discusses three problem areas in Piagetian analysis: (1) specification of logical formal thought model, (2) underlying assumptions, and (3) empirical findings. Comments on application problems. Assesses Piagetian…

Studied was how high school science and mathematics students approach tasks that require correlational reasoning for successful solution. The results show that a significant number of students did not use correlational reasoning. (MP)

The ADAPT program for freshmen emphasizes building an experiential base in introductory courses before moving to abstract formulations. The goal is to develop thinking processes that are integrated with the student's experiences. Students in the ADAPT program outperformed two comparison groups on a variety of thinking tasks. (Author)

Children and undergraduate students were studied to expose "structure-neutral" interpretations of logical propositions involving universal affirmatives. Successes with true and false questions and with four different syllogistic forms having three content types were compared. Age-related differences in performance were discussed with…

Two types of instruction were emphasized in the solution of insight problems. One study directed subjects to reformulate their initial view of the problem to avoid unnecessary assumptions about it; another required visualization of problem components. Results indicated that reformulation instructions contributed to performance, but visualization…

Contains a debate on research design and methodology considerations of the study. (CP)

In grades 8, 10, and 12, 464 subjects were tested on each of the four basic principles of conditional reasoning with (1) Four Card problem tasks and (2) a paper-and-pencil instrument. It was shown that the two assessment procedures lack concurrent validity. (Author/MN)

Examines the relationship between formal operational reasoning and two language variables--subordinate clauses and tentative statements. Supports Piaget's position of independence between linguistic and cognitive development, showing how subordinate clause use and tentative statement use are not related significantly to performances on reasoning…

The author argues that the emphasis on logic and set theory in the school mathematics program is unnecessary and possibly harmful. He discusses briefly the relationships between semantics and logic. (SD)

Reports the construction and field testing of an electronic device intended to serve as a replacement for Piaget's first chemical task. Validity of the electronic task was established in testing 64 secondary school age students. Results obtained by the chemical and electronic tasks were highly correlated. (CP)

Describes the development of an instrument which is: (1) is capable of administration to students in grades 6-14; (2) requires the examinee to construct a conceptual answer from information provided; (3) requires the examinee to use the seven major logical operations (classification, seriation, logical multiplication, compensation, ratio,…

A colliding spheres type of experiment is used with several hundred 4-12 grade students to test for knowledge of the concept of controlling variables. Results support the contention that the concept is developed gradually during the concept stage but not fully attained until around 14 years of age. (CP)

The author presented young children with reasoning problems. Summaries of performance on diverse problems are presented. (SD)