Because schemas are often defined imprecisely and intuitively, the term "schema" is often misapplied in research. Consequently, researchers may fail to understand the complete scope of the phenomenon they are studying. Discussions of children's gender schema development and the influence of the gender schema on children's social…

A proper understanding of the role of culture in development can make a significant contribution to the development of theory and offer a more certain guide to practice than current theories afford. Three frameworks for interpreting the influence of nature and nurture on individual development assign biological and environmental factors a direct…

Determining the extent of consistency between distinct concepts has become increasingly important in current theorizing about the development and organization of cognitive structure. This paper discusses several conceptual and measurement issues that must be addressed in analyses of interconcept consistency: the distinction between connectivity…

Four concepts are considered in light of their impact on instructional technology and design, i.e., the value status of technology, the proliferation of worldviews, equity in education, and the relationship of ethical issues to practice. The assumption that instructional technology is a value-neutral method of conveying instructional information…

This paper details how memory protocols obtained in individual interviews may be translated to scores on several dimensions suggested by White. White's nine dimensions are: (1) extent, (2) precision, (3) internal consistency, (4) accord with reality, (5) variety of types of element, (6) variety of topics, (7) shape, (8) ratio of internal to…

One of the major trends occurring in the area of task analysis methodology is the development of better methods to analyze cognitive tasks, including new methodologies for analyzing the ways in which knowledge should be structured within a student's head to facilitate given types of performance. The most important trend is the integration of task…

The world presented to our senses is essentially continuous in space and time. The simplest observations of children have shown that we are not born with ways of "breaking up" the world. The structures of our knowledge must be developed, and the major issue this paper considers is how those structures develop. The discussion focuses on Jean…

Good thinking can be placed within a descriptive framework which includes a state of doubt about what to do or believe; goal, possibilities, and evidence seeking; and evidence use. The framework is useful in describing all types of thinking, although the search process may differ in the degree of control the thinker has over his search. Examples…

Assesses individuals' fear and enjoyment reactions to horror films, applying theories of cognition and affect that predict emotional responses to a stimulus on the basis of prior affect toward specific cues included in that stimulus. (MM)

Decisions assume some level of interdependency between knowledge and know-how, these being distinct realities. Knowledge refers to the understanding one has of a phenomenon while know-how refers to one's capability of actions on a phenomenon. Information can be related to decision only by transforming data which is held in a semiotic memory into…

Argues that two current receptions of Plato's rhetorical theory that either (1) leave him out, or (2) claim he rejected rhetoric, have serious consequences for contemporary rhetoric and composition studies. Discusses critics who support a third position and claims this position reconnects rhetoric with thinking rather than mere formulizing. (NH)

Administrative scientists superimpose analytic frameworks on their observations when trying to make knowledge meaningful. The generation of knowledge should be seen as an essentially interpretive and subjective activity. An awareness of this fact may encourage a view of scientific progress that is reinforced by the social context in which research…

Compares the structure of language and meaning in speaking, writing, and computing. Argues that writing and computing are biased toward a radical explicitness that eliminates the role of interpretation, the construction of a personal, subjective meaning. Discusses the cognitive implications of teaching children to cope with this explicitness. (KH)

A theory of norms and normality is applied to some phenomena of emotional responses, social judgment, and conversations about causes. Norm theory is applied in analyses of enhanced emotional response to events that have abnormal causes, of generation of prediction from observations of behavior, and of the role of norms. (Author/LMO)

The use of structural equation modeling is discussed in testing a range of theories of learning and cognition involving the concept of a hierarchy of variables of increasing complexity. To illustrate this approach, one method is applied to Bloom's taxonomy to test the theoretical assumption of hierarchical organization. (Author/MSE)