Three experiments examined understanding of scalar implicature, specifically understanding that use of a term (e.g., some) indicates the speaker had reasons not to use a more informative term (e.g., all). Results reveal consistent ordering in which representations of weak scalar terms tend to be treated logically by young competent participants…

Uses data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to determine the extent of Israeli students' ability to give scientific explanations of events in earth, life, and physical science. Finds student explanations to be generally simple, often incomplete, and often consisting only of descriptive or teleological explanations.…

This article demonstrates how a user-friendly evaluation of a federally funded homeless prevention program using an action research approach -- and using a logic model as the analytic framework -- informed multiple stakeholders, including members of Congress, other decision makers, and Family Center practitioners. The program's target population…

Although computer modelling is widely advocated as a way to offer students a deeper understanding of complex phenomena, the process of modelling is rather complex itself and needs scaffolding. In order to offer adequate support, a thorough understanding of the reasoning processes students employ and of difficulties they encounter during a…

In set theory, one comes across the notion of "vacuous truth." A statement is vacuously true if it is true but does not quite say anything. The structure of a vacuously true statement is typically of the form: everything with property A also has property B, with the caveat being that there is nothing in property A. For instance one could…

Norenzayan, Smith, Jun Kim, and Nisbett (2002) investigated cultural differences in the use of intuitive versus formal reasoning in 4 experiments. Our comment concerns the 4th experiment where Norenzayan et al. reported that, although there were no cultural differences in accuracy on abstract logical arguments, Koreans made more errors than U.S.…

Three experiments investigated the contrasting predictions of the evolutionary and decision-theoretic approaches to deontic reasoning. Two experiments embedded a hazard management (HM) rule in a social contract scenario that should lead to competition between innate modules. A 3rd experiment used a pure HM task. Threatening material was also…

In this article, the author focuses on developing scientific reasoning in year 6 children. Having embarked on a series of lessons in which the author hoped to uncover children's ideas about how and why they reason in a particular way, the results were to prove instrumental in developing not only his teaching of scientific enquiry, but also the…

The objective of this study was to apply the sociological model of action logics to investigate the ways in which PE teams function. The chosen framework was a combination of the action logic models of Dubet (1994) and Amblard et al. (1996). The former enabled us to distinguish between integrating, strategic and distinctive logics, the latter…

Two studies compared popular and rejected children's reasoning regarding social interactions involving negative emotions. The first study, with 23 rejected and 23 popular 10- to 11-year-olds, involved hypothetical social scenarios where a classmate "victim" was likely to experience a negative emotion. Although popular and rejected children both…

Preservice teachers studied texts about three fundamentally important science concepts. They read versions with no analogy, versions with a simple analogy, and versions with an elaborate analogy. An elaborate analogy is one that consists of text and pictorial components in which similarities between the analog and the target concept are made…

This study examined the relationship between specific attentional aspects of processing capacity and analogical reasoning in children from low-income families. 77 children aged 48-77 (M = 56.7) months were assessed on an analogical reasoning task (matrices subtest of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test) and on computerized attention tasks designed…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of conceptual change texts accompanied with concept mapping instruction, compared to traditional instruction (TI), on 8th grade students' understanding of solution concepts and their attitudes toward science as a school subject. Solution Concept Test was developed as a result of examination…

I use this paper to reexamine my role as a White researcher on a multiracial research team. I reanalyze data I collected during an evaluation project to reveal how I avoided seeing race in the schools I visited and how I dodged discussions of race with members of those school communities. By analyzing my own discursive practice, I introduce a…

This paper introduces a conceptual model for supporting the continued development of service-learning as a pedagogy of engagement. A logic diagram is used to facilitate understanding of service-learning. The model illustrates the (a) complex elements involved in creating or sustaining a strong program, (b) potential tensions within the field, and…