According to Matthew Lipman, director of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, philosophy is the best answer to the call for critical thinking because it provides experience in reasoning that will prepare children much better than the limited knowledge of the disciplines. (TE)

Discusses the nature of reasoning and the categorical syllogism. Indicates syllogistic logic can be used in rational-emotive therapy (RET) to help therapists expose clients' irrational beliefs. Presents procedure for RET therapists to use syllogistic logic and concludes these therapists should master inductive and deductive logic. (Author/ABL)

This article briefly reviews literature on critical thinking and applies this conceptualization to five widely used elementary social studies textbook series (Holt, Laidlaw, McGraw-Hill, Silver Burdett, and Scott Foresman). Concludes that comparisons between actual textbook instruction and suggestions found in the literature were quite unfavorable…

The controversy over whether or not machines can think has attracted the attention of philosophers, psychologists, neurologists, computer scientists, and writers of science fiction. Various topics and issues related to this controversy are discussed, including turing machines and the relationship between computer history and mathematical…

One-hundred eighteen children (five-seven years old) were tested fall and spring on language comprehension logico-perceptual development, and reading acquisition. It was concluded that strategies demonstrated in the logico-perceptual tasks may play a fundamental role in correct interpretation of certain language structures. (Author/CL)

One hundred and sixty gifted children (4-11 years old) participated in a study confirming a hierarchy of difficulties for logic activities and the existence of a developmental trend in logic learning. (CL)

This article discusses the interaction between language acquisition and logical reasoning. Whorf feels that language is ascendant over thought, whereas Piaget holds that language is the servant of thought. The relationship remains unclear. It is stated, however, that, at least, linguistics have assisted teachers by "demythifying" language…

This article discusses problems with logical reasoning in science education, especially as they affect curriculum. Especially noted are the translation of psychological knowledge into curricular plans and the concept of a philosophically oriented framework. (JA)

The ability of some individuals to understand self-embedded sentences, which occur when a sentence is placed within another sentence of a similar type by means of a relative clause, is shown to be related to their ability to reason with the use of the syllogistic form. (Author/KM)

Teaching students to unscramble sentences in a paragraph. (SP)

Article suggests things teachers can do and guidelines they can use in order to raise the logical quality of classroom interaction and the logical quality of student abilities. (Author/MM)

The administration of a test based on Jean Piaget's method of determining logical thinking revealed that only 33 of 131 freshmen could meet the criteria for formal operations. Reviews research which indicates that logical thought can be enhanced by inquiry-oriented courses. Elementary and secondary teachers do not use inquiry teaching because…