Student cognitive tempo is commonly determined through scores on the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test. According to the speed and accuracy of their responses to items on the test, students are classified as either reflective or impulsive. While little is known about the response patterns of reflective and impulsive individuals on specific…

Research is described concerning a factor analytic view of adolescent thought in Piagetian context. Included are a description of Piagetian tasks used for determining stage of mental development, studies concerning Piagetian task factor analysis, and the current factorial structure of adolescent thought. (DS)

Described is the development and validation of a test designed to assess the cognitive levels of Jamaican sixth graders. Instead of the usual clinical procedure, a 30-minute videotaped test was designed in order to standardize variables associated with the test's administration. The film presented situations involving seven conservation concepts…

Judgments that favorably set an individual apart from others tend to be made more rapidly, suggesting that the self-concept is both an effective and a cognitive entity. Subjects rated the self-applicability of traits on a 100-point scale. As in other studies using dichotomous judgements, judgement speed increased with increasing self-applicability…

In 1975 a longitudinal study was begun to determine the impact of the New York State Experimental Prekindergarten Program on the children's cognitive development. The program enrolls approximately 6,500 children annually. Three cognitive measures were used to evaluate program effects: the Walker Readiness Test for Disadvantaged Children, the…

OVER 40 ARTICLES AND STUDIES RELATED TO THE PIAGETIAN THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT ARE CRITICALLY REVIEWED AS A BASIS FOR SUGGESTING APPLICATIONS OF THE THEORY TO EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION. PIAGET'S CONCEPTS ARE ANALYZED WITHIN TWO BROAD CATEGORIES, THE STAGE OF CONCRETE OPERATIONS, FROM APPROXIMATELY SEVEN TO 11 YEARS OF AGE, AND THE STAGE OF…

An aptitude-strategy interaction in linear syllogistic reasoning was tested on 144 undergraduate and graduate students of both sexes. It was hypothesized that the efficiency of each of four alternative strategies--control, visual, algorithmic, and mixed--would depend upon the subjects' pattern of verbal and spatial abilities. Two tests of verbal…

Currently, the reliance on intelligence tests as the primary criterion for the placement of children in school programs has been challenged. Much of the controversy focuses on the insensitivity of these instruments to individual cognitive styles for different subgroups of children. While the issue of whether intelligence tests measure skill…

A current exploratory research project is directed toward developing means for gathering systematic data on nonverbal representation in young children. Tasks involving nonverbal representational functioning have been developed, evaluated in preliminary work with fifteen 4-year-old subjects, and revised. The revised series of tasks consists of four…

The application of Piaget's theory of cognitive development to the assessment of mental ability of the mentally retarded is presented. Following a discussion of developmental theories and diagnosis of mental development, testing interviews demonstrate the limits of cognitive thought at each of three stages. Abnormal intellectual oscillations are…

This report presents results of cognitive ability tests administered to 3 to 5-year olds who were graduating from Parent-Child Center (PCC) programs in 14 cities. PCC programs are designed to maximize the potentialities of low income preschoolers through in-center, home-based, or in-center/home-based combination programs. The findings reflected…

In this study the researcher investigated the feasibility of constructing a valid paper-and-pencil measure of problem solving ability. (Rationale and design of the study are discussed in Part 1.) The principal feasibility criterion, correlation of at least .71 with scores on taped and coded individual "thinking aloud" problem-solving…

Analysis of 65 children over a 4-year period on tests of operational and causal thinking offers support for Piaget's notion of stage progression. In kindergarten and grade one, the majority of children in this longitudinal study were between preoperational and the achievement stage of operational thought. By grade two, the majority had attained…

Students in grades K, 1, 3, and 5 were administered the Rod and Frame Test (RFT), the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) Test, and the Piagetian tasks of Discontinuous Quantity, Class Inclusion, Multiplication of Classes, and Multiplication of Relations. Cross-sectional trends were found in all tasks with older children being less impulsive, more…

This study examines the relationship between a child's concept of geographic and territorial relationships and his competence on classification and class inclusion measures. Jean Piaget's stages of development and studies conducted by other investigators (Jahoda, 1964; Stoltman, 1971; Rand and Towler, 1973; Flavell, 1963; Asher, et al, 1971;…