Eighty-nine children between four and nine years of age solved mazes varying in the presumed appropriateness of advance or improvisational planning. Results of the study show that children's planning strategies are adapted to circumstances and suggest that older children may be more proficient in this adaptation than are younger children. (RH)

Points out that children have difficulty learning time concepts. Presents instructional activities for concepts associated with clocks, calendars, and chronology. Outlines Jerome Bruner's three different stages of representation for each concept: enactive, iconic, and symbolic. (DB)

This special section on cognition and mathematics contains an introduction and 13 articles on advances in the psychology of mathematics learning. The articles focus on how students learn to solve mathematics problems, including arithmetic computation problems, arithmetic word problems, and computer programing problems. (SLD)

Examines the persuasive message behaviors of truthful and deceptive communicators. Finds significant differences in the types of persuasive messages generated: truthful persuaders compose messages involving positive and negative sanctions; deceptive persuaders compose messages based on rationale or explanation. (KEH)

Attaining the insight needed to solve the Mutilated Checkerboard problem, which requires discovery of an effective problem representation (EPR), is described. Performance on insight problems can be predicted from the availability of generators and constraints in the search for an EPR. Data for 23 undergraduates were analyzed. (TJH)

Qualitative differences between 24 expert teachers and 24 novice teachers in think-aloud protocols related to solving classroom discipline problems were investigated. Results suggest that expert teachers have procedural plans for solving discipline problems and are able to put more attention into defining the problem than are novice teachers. (SLD)

Eighth graders (N=85) participated in a study that manipulated the content and form of students' lecture notes. Matrix notes were found to be relatively effective for learning concepts. Girls recorded a greater number of notes than boys on tests involving recall and recognition of factual items. (IAH)

Examines the qualities and frequency of episodes of concurrent metalinguistic and ideational thinking reported verbally by second-language learners while they composed. Finds frequencies of thinking episodes is significantly related to learners' writing expertise in their mother tongue. Argues for integrating the notion of comprehensible output…

Investigates the extent of similarity in the sequence of development of concepts in children with Down's Syndrome, children with other forms of retardation, and nonretarded children. (Author/BB)

Fourteen teenage or young adult males disabled in print acquisition were studied to determine their patterns of verbal and spatial processing. It was found that, at retest a mean of 5.4 years later, the Similarities score significantly increased while the Vocabulary scores and Acquired Knowledge category actually decreased. (Author/DB)

Twenty children, aged 7-12, with severe visual impairments completed a series of visual tasks requiring interpretation, analysis, manipulation, and visual motor coordination. Findings are discussed in terms of total performance, individual task performance, performance of younger versus older children, and performance of good versus poor readers.…

Discussion of right brain versus left brain skills focuses on a study that compared the performances of computer science students, professional programers, and bank employees on eight tests of brain function. Results are reported which suggest that the cognitive profile may be an important indicator for success in certain occupations. (16…

Explores the possibility that the lesbian or gay experience in contemporary American society might furnish a standpoint for generating new knowledge in psychology. Considers the following elements that define lesbians' or gay men's ways of knowing and experiencing the world: (1) biculturalism; (2) marginality; and (3) normative creativity. (JS)

Examined high school students' scores on test of formal thinking and those on test of reading. Students' success on both tests was disappointingly low. Lack of motivation appeared to be major problem. Correlations between scores on two tests were relatively low, although there was suggestive similarity between distribution of scores for formal…

In two experiments, a total of 78 female college students, who were novices about automobile mechanics, read technical passages about vehicle braking systems with and without illustrations that were labeled or unlabeled. Results indicate that illustrations help readers focus attention and form mental models. (SLD)