Describes the case of a woman who experienced disparity in mathematics classrooms between learning (which for her was necessarily relational) and its validation by a system that did not ratify meaningful learning but instead rewarded the behavioral products of rote or instrumental learning. (MKR)

Summarizes presentations given at a recent White House Conference which showed that early experiences, particularly in the first three years of life, have a dramatic impact on brain development. Includes presentations on such topics as parent education, brain functioning, quality caregiving and child care services, and early intervention programs.…

Reports a study that investigated the influence of teachers' value orientations on their knowledge organization for teaching. Elementary and secondary physical educators completed the Value Orientation Inventory and the Pathfinder software program (which measured knowledge organization). Teachers' knowledge structures were similar within value…

Examines factors predicted to influence individuals' responses to romantic jealousy. Details a study in which undergraduate students completed scales measuring relationship-specific linking, relationship-specific rumination, possessiveness, trust, and communicative responses to jealousy. Suggests that jealous rumination is an important cognitive…

Three studies focused on: (1) the definition of structure in a specific domain of knowledge; and (2) the relationship between the ways in which knowledge is structured and the ways in which it is used. Evidence suggested that the knowledge of expert children is structured hierarchically into well-defined families and family-groups. (RH)

Description of expert system development focuses on identifying the problem, or knowledge, domain, and discusses three methods for defining the domain: (1) brainstorming, (2) concept analysis, and (3) information processing analysis, which describes cognitive processes. The techniques are illustrated by a description of an auto manfacturer's sales…

Examines whether individuals can generate memory structures for increasingly intimate relationships; agree on the rank ordering of expected actions; distinguish between perceived typicality of such actions and how necessary the behaviors are for a relationship to develop; and segment prototypical scenes of developing relationships in a…

Postulates a form of mathematical reasoning that learners engage in spontaneously that is not inherently inductive or deductive. This transformational reasoning is generated through the learner's inquiry into how a mathematical system works. (Author/MKR)

Following Jacobson's 1990 work, this study is another attempt to offer a unified analysis of the Japanese aspect marker "te iru" that touches upon Gestalt psychologists' ideas of figure/ground opposition, Langacker's cognitive grammar, and Kunihiro's cognitive analysis. (Contains 34 references.) (LB)

Inservice (n=36) and preservice (n=67) mathematics teachers were asked for a commutative, nonassociative binary operation. Responses were analyzed for correctness, productiveness, mathematical content, and underlying difficulties. Both groups exhibited a weak concept by failing to produce an example and using a limited content search space.…

This commentary reflects on the research methods used in EC 602 984 and suggests an alternative approach for investigating dysfunctional cognitions associated with depression in special populations. The paper recommends a multimeasure approach to depression, abandonment of reporting mean differences as significant or nonsignificant, and focusing…

Describes four alternative kinds of knowledge that differ from the mainstream concept of scientific knowledge. Argues that science, engineering, and bureaucratic institutions, under a common model of reality, often ignore and suppress these insightful kinds of knowledge. (Author)

Learning how to learn encompasses knowledge about learning, knowledge about learning style, and skills of learning proficiency. Metacognitive techniques can be incorporated into adult education through independent learning projects, collaborative learning, and other approaches. (SK)

Looks at human information processing as a complex system, concentrating on certain insights about field interactions that will reposition the understanding of mental processes, moving it from an analysis of logical steps to the exploration of the influence that contexts have on human cognitive performance. (CR)

Discusses negative consequences of researchers' faith in positivistic inquiry: (1) it promotes the idea that certain rationalistic ingredients are obligatory in research; (2) it leads to faith in models of the mind based on order; and (3) it leads to a notion of teaching as articulating "know what" rather than "know how." (DSK)