Two studies were designed to investigate the age at which students adapt expository writing to meet the needs of different audiences. In the first study, students in grades four, eight, twelve, and at university level wrote descriptions of geometric figures that would enable someone unfamiliar with a figure to draw it. For all grades, realistic…

The growth model of intelligence; i.e. intelligence is the product of genetics plus environment (I.Q.=G+E), is discussed and questioned. If the growth model is discarded, formulating the problem of the development of intelligence in different ways and thinking of different possible technologies for changing intelligence can begin. The child…

The authors describe their efforts to produce a global assessment scale for young emotionally disturbed children derived from an integrated synthesis of developmenta theories. Charts outline developmental stages, zones, modes, and dominant traits or characteristics of five major theorists (S. Freud, E. Erikson, A. Maslow, J. Piaget, and F.…

The cognitive learning theories of Bruner and Gagne and the developmental psychology of Piaget play a central role in the development of curriculum models and instructional strategies to better serve the needs of bilingual children or those whose native language is not English. Each theory has components that may be useful to certain stages in…

Classificatory behavior of 41 fourth graders enrolled in a science program at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. was assessed on an instrument adapted from Piaget's interviews with children on class inclusion. Developmental levels were related to student performance in the program. Data analysis shows that students with a high…

The language development of one child was examined from birth to three years of age in order to map the similarities and differences in the acquisition of oral language, reading, and writing skills. The study also sought to provide insight into why learning to read and write are not as naturally easy as learning to talk. Data were collected by…

A rationale for teaching beginning reading from a learning theory perspective that is compatible with Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development is presented in this paper. The model offered is based on a linguistic analysis and on current research. The logical thinking skills characteristic of each stage of development proposed by Piagetian…

A study charting the development of grade school children's analogic reasoning used 26 second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from lower middle class and higher middle class schools. The children were asked to explain concrete, interactive, and abstract concepts to an imaginary creature (a puppet). For half the items, an initial period of…

Nine articles on the young adolescent consider the ability of middle schools to adapt to the needs of their students, the educational implications of preadolescent development, adolescent brain growth and cognitive ability, and the relevance of Piaget's psychology to the middle school. The authors' conclusions include the necessity to identify and…

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)

A study investigated the relationship between reading to a child, the child's awareness of print, and the child's concept of reading. Twenty-four kindergarten children and 24 three-year-old children at a day care center were randomly assigned to three groups. Three times a week for four weeks, each child in each group was read a book in a…

The five observational studies reported in this paper provide consistent and interlocking testimony for the view that moral events differ qualitatively from social conventional events, and that these two aspects of the social world are associated with qualitatively differing individual-environment interactions. Each of the five studies focuses on…

This paper describes a model for an adolescent girls group used as an adjunctive therapy to focus on the issue of maturity. Background information about the group members is provided and the group is described as an ego-supportive group which functions to maintain areas of positive functioning and to aid in the development of personal resources.…

A correlation is sought between a teacher's stages of professional growth and levels of invitational teaching. It is posited that stages of teacher professional growth are sequential, with each stage involving specific types of classroom behavior. Stage one is characterized by self concern, or a teacher-centered period. In the second stage,…

This literature review, part of the Project BORN FREE training series for teachers, counselors, administrators and parents, focuses on career socialization at the elementary level. Basic areas addressed include: (1) problem identification; (2) theoretical and psychological frameworks; (3) problem causation and the socialization process; and (4)…