Determined whether 11 third-grade children, differing in cognitive processing capacity, solve addition and subtraction word problems differently. Results, among others, show that children who differ in cognitive processing capacity also differ in strategies they use to solve the same verbal problems and differ in their success in finding correct…

Investigates children's difficulty in understanding (numerical) place value. A counting and estimating task, based on Piaget's number theory, was devised to determine if children in grades one through five evidenced this construction. (Author/BB)

A computer program is presented for the billiard ball problem. It can be integrated into a lesson on inductive reasoning and suggests several ways to do so. (MNS)

In an effort to improve performance of high school students on intelligence tests, a large-scale study involving 296 Yugoslavian students was carried out by Radivoy Kvashchev. Results indicate that it is possible to achieve small improvement and that improvement remains a year after the end of training. (Author/LMO)

Enumerates results of a study which asked graduate students and doctoral candidates to read in diverse content areas and to select main idea statements for text. Concludes that readers often made initial hypotheses about the main idea and used the main idea construction processes of listing, draft and revise, and topic/comment after the text had…

Eight severely retarded subjects (ages 9-22), four with functional language and four without, performed identity and nonidentity matching tasks employing objects, photographs, and line drawings. As representational complexity increased, greater difficulty in matching stimuli was observed in the nonfunctional language group, with line drawings…

Discusses a study which explored the possible value of the history of science to understanding student misconceptions. Focused on photosynthesis and examined relationships between students' conceptual difficulties and the transformation of concepts through time. Student responses suggest that the history of science can be used to anticipate…

Discusses a study which examined the last factor of Piaget's model of intelligence-functioning. Sought to determine if empirical evidence could be formed to support the existence of assimilation, disequilibrium, accommodation, and organization in the learning of physics. Naturalistic data provided support for the Piagetian functioning model of…

Suggests criteria to be used in selecting problem-solving activities and criteria to be considered in choosing media, exercises, and problems for the development of problem-solving skills. Provides perspectives on developing creativity and includes a chart on how thinking and attitude components relate. Also lists related reference materials. (ML)

This study evaluated the diagnostic validity of a task measuring abstract categorization ability in learning disabled (LD) and non-LD children. Data showed that the component of abstract category knowledge that best disciminates LD children from non-LD, is the knowledge of how members of abstract categories differ from each other. (Author/JAZ)

A modified replication of a study by R. C. Anderson and J. W. Pichert indicates that, even though the retrieval framework can operate selectively in making certain information more accessible for output, it is ultimately constrained by the accessibility of information as determined by the encoding framework. (JD)

Claims that literacy and literature become interrelated in classrooms where there are many opportunities to engage in the narrative mode of thought. Discusses how the potential of literacy/literature experiences is enriched when students draw from the narrative reservoirs of the community and school. (JD)

Maintains that young children can develop creative problem-solving skills through such music activities as finger plays and action songs, music games, writing words for songs, and composing melodies. Also suggests ways that teachers can establish and maintain an environment that enables children to solve problems creatively through music. (BB)

Illustrates the ways children from a first-grade classroom are encouraged to communicate their mental images of movement, spatial concepts, and imagination through drawings and writing. (BB)

This review of the research on mathematical problem solving is focused on learning disabled students. Categories discussed include characteristics of learning disabled problem solvers, strategies they use, instruction facilitating strategy learning, cognitive strategies, and problem solving strategies. Implications for instruction and research are…