The development of an instrument for evaluating cognitive growth in preprimary children by means of observational techniques is reported. Areas of growth in pre-mathematic skills were defined for this purpose as: Imitating, recognizing, classifying, matching, comparing, understanding, counting, computing, and measuring. Each is described, and…

Twenty-seven kindergarten children were trained on two different double classification matrix tasks in an attempt to determine whether the tasks were hierarchically related. Prior behavior analyses of the tasks suggested that the two tasks shared many components, but that the more complex task had in addition components not included in the simpler…

This paper attempts to summarize the state of the field of educational anthropology, as it relates to studies of educational institutions and processes. Major research done by anthropologists in three areas--school ethnographies, school-community contacts with ethnic minorities, and cognitive and linguistic development--is reviewed. Topics covered…

This report was compiled to serve as a partial knowledge base for the Southeastern Educational Laboratory and the Harlem Research Center in their effort to plan a research program in early education. Educational programs designed for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children which emphasize either cognitive-intellectual development or language development…

Educational experiences which facilitate the development of original thinking and learning are (1) the "open system" of education which stresses freedom at home and at school; (2) the emphasis on sensory awareness of the environment; (3) the development of curiosity and sense of wonder; (4) the growth of imaginative powers and original thinking…

To produce and evaluate a language development program for culturally deprived preschool children based on characteristics of Piaget's theory of intelligence, a 6-week experimental study was carried out in Project Headstart, Starkville, Mississippi. Randomly-selected, 45 Negro Headstart enrollees made up three groups--two were taught the…

The nature and specification of goals in teaching a group of concepts affect the type and quality of learning. What is learned is learned as a means to some end. Feedback from end to means regulates learning a given activity. The task or goal structure provided by the environment may play its most important role early in life and gradually decline…

This preschool program offered a highly structured curriculum in which language development was fostered through encouraging verbal responses in a game format context. The curriculum, based on skills and concepts required for success in elementary school, included language arts, reading readiness, mathematical concepts, science, and social…

Eighty sixth-grade subjects, split into five independent groups, learned two PA lists of 12 noun pairs each. Two groups performed under traditional transfer conditions with lists conforming to a negative transfer paradigm, A-B, A-C, or to a reference paradigm A-B, C-D. Two other groups learned the same lists under a syntactic PA method where the…

Twenty-seven kindergarten subjects were trained on two different double classification matrix tasks to determine whether they were hierarchically related. Prior behavioral analyses had shown one task to be simpler than the other. It was assumed that, in hierarchical transfer relationships, one order of task acquisition is more favorable than…

The major article in this IRCD Bulletin is devoted to preschool educational programs. Following some background discussion about the new concentration in preschool education on cognitive development and the rationale for preschool learning, various techniques and procedures are reported. An extensive bibliography cites works about preschool…

The concept of deprivation has become very appealing to specialists of many disciplines as an explanation for deviations in human development. This is understandable, since the phenomenon does seem to be a key factor in development, but several technical and methodological considerations hinder immediate efforts at understanding and alleviating…

This research investigates the learning impact of Montessori prekindergarten training as compared to traditional approaches with economically deprived Puerto Rican and Negro children. The three-part, 156-page monograph includes a 22-page introduction to Parts I and II, and a 37-page appendix to Part I. Parts I and II assess training effects of the…

Activities geared to meet the needs and capabilities of low functioning residents (mental age 2 to 4 years) of an institution who were not benefiting from other language development material are given. The lessons incorporate material from other programs to form a series of 212 daily lesson plans. Each lesson is structured and self-explanatory and…

This research tests the implicit assumption that cognitive development is independent of ethnic background. The testing instrument used was a newly designed spatial reasoning test intended to reflect the sequence of acquisition of skills requisite to map reading and drawing. A sample of 270 black, Chinese, and white subjects (90 each at the 5th,…