Conceptual change as the foundation of meaningful learning is discussed and applied to the change in the context of cultural issues among high school students. Cultural issues are envisioned as the repertory of internal cognitive structure of individuals that shapes the foundations of their attitudinal and behavioural functioning. Each one of the…

Infants know that humans are exempt from some of the principles that govern the motion of inanimate objects: for instance, humans can be caused to move without being struck. In the current study, we report that infants nevertheless do apply some of the same principles to both humans and objects, where appropriate. Five-month-old infants expect…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain and develop a classification of cognitive structures (or typologies of thought), previously designated as spoke, chain and network thinking by Kinchin "et al." Design/methodology/approach: The paper shows how concept mapping can be used to reveal these conceptual typologies and endeavours to place…

This book illustrates the breadth of theoretical and philosophical perspectives that can be brought to bear on mathematics and education. Part 1, "Reconceptualizing the Philosophy of Mathematics," contains the following chapters: (1) "Fresh Breezes in the Philosophy of Mathematics" (R. Hersh); (2) What Can the Sociologist of…

This theme issue features five articles profiling Indiana University faculty whose work on various campuses continues to broaden and advance knowledge about cognitive science. The articles in the journal are: "A Matter of Time" (Karen Grooms) which discusses the work of Robert F. Port; "Perceiving as a Complex System" (Tom…

Post-formal operational thought is characterized by both relativism and dialecticism. To examine age differences across adulthood in relativistic and dialectical thought, and to determine whether formal operations are necessary but not sufficient for these forms of thought, 20 young (mean age, 19.6), 20 middle aged (mean age, 46.2), and 20 older…

Although expectancies for alcohol have been shown to influence drinking behavior, current expectancy questionnaires do not lend themselves to the study of how expectancies are represented in memory. Two studies were conducted which utilized multidimensional scaling techniques designed to produce hypothesized representations of cognitive…

A major error in cognitive science has been to suppose that the meaning of a representation in the mind is known prior to its production. Representations are inherently perceptual--constructed by a perceptual process and given meaning by subsequent perception of them. The person perceiving the representation determines what it means. This premise…

What is deemed to be socially relevant knowledge as it comes from social educational theorists and inquirers is not a singular conception. The prevailing notion that only pluralistic and relativist, or positivist epistemological concepts of truth adequately capture social education inquiry and products, and that claims to human action based on…

The effect of a relevant analogy and of subject visualization on the amount of cognitive capacity needed to process unfamiliar information about science was investigated. The dependent measure was reaction time on a secondary task while listening to six tape recorded passages about chemistry and physics in a 2 x 2 x 6 mixed design. The analogy…

Attempting to characterize the research literature on schooling, this paper discusses six possible inquiry perspectives termed analytic, portrait, intentional, structural, societal, and narrative. These perspectives are then analyzed and related to forms of knowledge about educating children. While preferring the narrative approach, the article…

Describes a workshop designed to introduce preservice and in-service teachers to the latest findings from research on human consciousness. (Author)

Argues that knowledge generation and model building in supervision and teaching are mistakenly patterned after the physical sciences instead of the cultural sciences. Also, this mimicry is too simplistic by physical sciences standards. Metaphorical models of research and practice would enhance educators' understanding of reality. Includes 31…

Presents a conceptual framework of second-chance systems analyzable in terms of several basic parameters (targeted population, declared goals, processes, options for students, evaluation criteria, and implications for the regular system). Uses this framework to analyze an Israeli external high school, the subject of a large-scale study. Includes 3…

Examines the effects of two variables on persons' degree of attitude-behavioral intention congruency: (1) their perceptions of the attitude object's prototypicality; and (2) their level of attitudinal confidence. Results indicate that attitude-behavioral intention congruency was limited to participants with high attitudinal confidence. (RS)