This paper advocates an integrated study of English rather than the traditional approach of studying language, literature, and composition. Its focus is not on designing an integrated curriculum, but on using this approach to develop reasoning skills for secondary students. One integrated curriculum program for the development of reasoning skills…

An analysis is presented of the latest findings from psychology and education on how children acquire complex thinking skills and learn to reason, and how the schools can teach such skills more effectively. This paper reviews previous research, highlights successful learning strategies, and makes specific recommendations about problems and…

The level of thinking that is characteristic of the typical college freshman and the skills needed by college science courses are addressed, and the Development of Reasoning in Science project (Project DORIS) at California State University, Fullerton, is described. While the typical college freshman functions at the concrete level of thinking,…

A thinking-skills course at Montana State University is described, along with recent issues concerning the potential effectiveness of such courses. Advantages and disadvantages of different designs for studying the effects of thinking-skills training are also considered. The focus of the course is: hypothesis formation and evaluation, problem…

The pamphlet examines the kinds of play that are useful in developing the basis for later abstract thinking--specifically the development of mathematical concepts. The mathematical concepts included are numbers, conservation, one-to-one correspondence, counting and sequencing, ordering, sorting and classification, sorting and sets, and equivalence…

Reviewed is the Test of Perceptual Organization, a screening device for difficulties in cognitive functioning, perceptual functioning, perceptual motor ability, and emotional adjustment, which requires that adolescents follow 10 detailed instructions on a street map. (MC)

This paper reports on an investigation of children's ability to accept contrary-to-fact premises as though they were factual and to reason accordingly. A variety of questions requiring this skill were presented in semi-structured interview form to 10 to 12 subjects from each of six age groups ranging from 5 to 9 years, and to a control group of…

Accent on Developing Abstract Processes of Thought (ADAPT) is a program designed to promote critical thinking among college students. Based on the theoretical work of Jean Piaget, it attempts to help University of Nebraska freshmen confront problems and follow them through to logical solutions. In its first year, the program's goals were to…

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude Test has been in use since 1938. In 1975 the GRE Aptitude Test was broadened to include an experimental set of items designed to tap a respondent's recognition of logical relationships and consistency of interrelated statements, and to make inferences from abstract relationships. To test the…

A study charting the development of grade school children's analogic reasoning used 26 second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from lower middle class and higher middle class schools. The children were asked to explain concrete, interactive, and abstract concepts to an imaginary creature (a puppet). For half the items, an initial period of…

Conceptual level is a personal characteristic that describes persons on a developmental hierarchy of increasing conceptual complexity, self-responsibility, and independence. The relationship between gender and conceptual level was explored in a group of 70 male and 63 female college students. The This I Believe Test (TIB) was administered to…

Linguistic and cognitive competencies of preschoolers were revealed by interviewing them about routine activities. It was found that freeing preschoolers' speech from constraints inherent in talking about the immediate context results in their demonstrating control over a variety of language-related skills that are generally assumed to be beyond…

Linear syllogisms present two premises, each describing a relation between two terms. The individual's task is to infer the relation among the three terms of the linear syllogism, and then answer a question about one or more of these relations. For example, "John is taller than Bob. Sam is shorter than Bob. Who is the tallest?" Students…

Many writers have suggested that comprehension occurs at several levels (e.g., literal, inference, and conclusion). However, many teachers spend as much as two-thirds of their time on lower-level skills such as phonics and literal-level comprehension skills. Some authors have suggested ways of assisting readers in achieving comprehension at more…

It has been suggested that cognitive style interacts with performance on tasks measuring formal thought. It is hypothesized that cognitive style interacts with task context rather than with the underlying formal thought processes. Experiments are reported to clarify the type of task that elicits an interaction and to determine whether such…