A planned sequence of general studies at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, entitled "The Link," is described. The Link addresses problems that were identified in three recent major studies of the college curriculum. Quotations from these national studies are included under seven categories of problems. Approaches to solving these problems…

Does new vocabulary help students to express existing ideas for which they do not yet have words or does it actually give them new ideas which they did not previously hold? James Woodcock asks whether offering students new vocabulary can give them new ideas, and whether this can enhance their historical analyses of causation problems. This is an…

This book provides secondary reading teachers with a practical guide for establishing a reading laboratory program. Written in conversational style, it contains diary-like comments and includes student responses to the activities described. The first section deals with the following topics: determining the physical aspects of a reading laboratory,…

Research supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation.

Reported are results of a study designed to replicate a study at North Carolina State University which investigated the effectiveness of a diagnostic/prescriptive system for increasing the science achievement of university students and examined the relationship between selected student characteristics and participation in voluntary diagnosis.…

It was hypothesized that the cognitive structures which underlie performance on class-inclusion tasks also underlie reading comprehension of the stated or inferred main idea of a paragraph, and that performance on three-dimensional class-inclusion tasks developmentally precedes performance on two-dimensional class-inclusion tasks. Ten kindergarten…

STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO CONSIDER THE IDEA OF THE HERO IN THIS 10TH-GRADE RHETORIC UNIT. EMPHASIS IS ON (1) THE INDUCTIVE PROCESS OF ARRIVING AT A GENERALIZATION, (2) THE PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION, INCLUDING QUALIFICATION AND COMPARISON, AND (3) THE PROCESSES OF SELECTIVITY AND REVISION. LITERARY SELECTIONS USED ARE "BEOWULF,""THE DIARY…

This paper examines the concept of decalage from two cognitive-change positions (structures of logical thought and attentional and verbal mediators) and proposes an alternative explanation for decalage from a perceptual-change point of view. The term decalage is used to summarize the relation between differences in performance of various age…

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the theory and techniques of research in cognitive development can be applied to the study of learning and instruction in mathematics. Five basic research paradigms are characterized; major directions of research on number, measurement, geometry, and adolescent reasoning are identified. Most of the…

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of several cognitive development capacities on first-grade children's ability to learn basic concepts and skills of linear measurement. The cognitive capacities of interest were logical reasoning ability and information processing capacity. The hypotheses predicted that children who had not yet…

This report summarizes the work completed and outlines the plans for future research of an ongoing research program of the department of psychology at Wayne State University. The program is concerned with the identification and description of cross-cultural and developmental differences in the conceptualization and linguistic expression of…

A CONCEPT ATTAINMENT TASK IN WHICH CHILDREN ARE ASKED TO IDENTIFY A CONCEPT THROUGH DETERMINING WHICH OF A SET OF OBJECTS ARE OR ARE NOT INSTANCES OF IT WAS USED TO INVESTIGATE THEIR PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST WAS THE QUESTION OF TO WHAT EXTENT THEY USED OR LEARNED THE STRATEGY OF VARYING ONE FACTOR WHILE HOLDING ALL OTHERS…

This study tested the hypothesis that children with weaker speech ability have greater difficulties in perception, powers of reasoning and spatial orientation than children with better speech ability, and assessed the value of Apgar scores as a predictive measure of later linguistic disorders. Subjects were 100 children born in 1970 who attended…

This paper explores the concept of metamemory, generally defined as the individual's knowledge of and awareness of memory. The concept of metamemory is compared to three other categories of memory and a model of what the growing child could conceivably acquire in the domain of metamemory is presented. Brief reviews of existing research relations…

The document is a training bulletin for criminal investigators, explaining the use of probability, logic, lateral thinking, group problem solving, and psychological profiles as methods of solving crimes. One chpater of several pages is devoted to each of the five methods. The use of each method is explained; problems are presented for the user to…