This article presents a rationale for emphasizing discovery instruction over guided instruction in teaching cane travel skills to people with severe visual impairments. Discovery instruction is seen to facilitate the use of intrinsic feedback in developing perceptual-cognitive skills as well as promoting problem solving, retention, and transfer of…

Suggests that individual differences in visual imagery and failure to realize their existence may have affected theories of thought throughout history. Offers possible explanations for the failure to validate thinking style differences in educationally significant ways. Argues that increased understanding of mental imagery can improve teaching.…

Extends William James' classification of phenomenalistic reality (PR) and analyzes PR using empirical data available in developmental psychology; focuses on the relation of PR to a human subject; to rational constructions; and to the idea of truth. Concludes that the development of phenomenalistic reality is qualitatively different from the…

Contends that young children show surprising awareness of other's feelings. Provides background research concerning children's understanding; addresses levels of understanding of perception, emotions, desires, and beliefs; advises how parents and teachers can support children's development of understanding; and notes the powerful role and…

Recent research using theory-of-mind tasks has rekindled interest in the possibility that social interaction makes a significant contribution to cognitive development. It is proposed here that this contribution may be most pronounced with phenomena that, like belief or affective states, are internal and abstract. A more modest contribution is…

Early-, middle-, and late-phase client emotional arousal, perceptual processing strategies, and working alliance were examined in relation to treatment outcome on 4 measures in 32 clients who previously underwent experiential therapy for depression. Hierarchical regression analyses relating these variables to outcome indicated that results varied…

This booklet presents educational programs and activities for perceptual training of 4- to 9-year-olds and older children with learning and reading problems. The development of visual and auditory perception needs to be understood as closely related to and dependent upon other developmental areas, including motor, language, thinking, emotional,…

Researchers in medicine, education, and related fields continue to make new discoveries about how the brain functions or malfunctions. The implications of studies of how young children learn compare favorably with those of educators such as Maria Montessori, Jerome Bruner, and Jean Piaget. These researchers saw growth and development as a series…

Unrealistic personal optimism is the perception that undesirable events are less likely and desirable events are more likely to happen to oneself than they are to happen to other similar people. Three experiments were performed to study the relationships among personal optimism, perceived control, and selective activation of the cerebral…

Factor analysis and multiple regression are two major approaches used to look at functional age, which takes account of the extensive variation in the rate of physiological and psychological maturation throughout life. To examine the role of racial or cultural influences on the measurement of functional age, a battery of 12 tests concentrating on…

The present research shows the development of, and rationale for, status perceptions. By grade 2, both Catholic and public school pupils are well socialized to accept inequality, and rank occupations accurately in accordance with adult values. By grade 4, they legitimate the ranking. Public school children gave an increasing emphasis on…

Although the study of the acquisition of a first language has been split by a controversy between the "innatists" and the "behaviorists," neither group has given enough consideration to the relationship between language development and the other developments of the child (social, cognitive, and perceptual). This collection of readings links the…

Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was used to measure the changes with age in field dependence and problem-solving ability. Qualitative data concerning problem-solving strategies and quantitative data were collected. EFT was administered to 12 females in each of the following decades: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. All subjects were moderately…

This research deals with the development and relative importance of both the conceptual-cognitive and the aesthetic-affective aspect of the perceptual process at various age levels of children. Three tasks were chosen: (1) sorting drawings of human figures--a task that represents a more conceptual function; (2) expressing preferences for those…

This report is an evaluation of a New York City school district educational project funded under Title VIB Education of the Handicapped Act. Under the direction of a project coordinator and a music therapist, 365 emotionally disturbed, hyperactive, and mentally retarded youngsters, ranging in age from 6 to 15, participated in the program. Primary…