The way students, aged 12 through 16, ascribed meaning to coded words representing historical terms, based on contextual clues, was studied. Intelligence, grammatical ability, cultural background, and interest in history were also examined. (Author/MH)

Five studies examined the effect of dysphoric mood on perceivers' subjective unitization of an observed other's ongoing behavior into discrete meaningful actions. Dysphoria generally reduced unitization rate (i.e., number of actions discriminated). Additional evidence indicates this reduction results from failure to initiate a higher (more…

Two experiments assessed whether children's difficulty with word problems can be attributed to difficulty in comprehending abstract or ambiguous language. The subjects were 38 first-, 36 second-, and 36 third-graders. The resulting theory of arithmetic word problem solving may represent a theoretical problem-solving model. (TJH)

Studies 94 undergraduate students in introductory statistics and computer science courses. Applies Formal Operations Reasoning Test (FORT) and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). Finds that substantial numbers of students have not achieved the formal operation level of cognitive maturity. Emphasizes need to examine students learning style and…

The use of strategies is an important part of mathematical thinking. Presented are several games that help develop the reasoning strategies of hypothesis making and testing, proving and disproving, looking for patterns, and simplifying a difficult task. (MDH)

This study contributes to a growing body of research on the development of elementary teacher's content knowledge of mathematics. Individual clinical interviews were conducted with preservice elementary teachers (N=21) enrolled in a professional development course called "Foundations of Mathematics for Teachers." An instrument that…

Cognitive science research offers hope for the development of innovative science teaching strategies that facilitate the development of optimally interconnected procedural and declarative knowledge networks. Improving students' neural networks should improve their abilities to think critically, reason logically, learn more efficiently, and solve…

This document describes curriculum and resources designed to foster and expand the philosophical thinking of elementary and middle school students. The booklet begins with excerpts from and a discussion of Matthew Lipman's novel "Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery," written to help elementary and middle school students discover both formal…

The Professional and Administrative Career Examination measures judgment ability using comprehension and logical order of events item types. Since the verbal component of comprehension items is high, and since these items are extremely difficult to write and document, a search was conducted for a simpler item type for assessing judgment. Three…

The study examined the relation of language use and logical thought to social experience with both age and class held constant. The primary assumptions under study were: that the logic of symbolic grouping was highly sensitive to a child's experience with the objects to which that logic was applied; that the existence of diglossia in a bilingual…

Discussed are the theoretical explanations of the observation that low intelligence quotient (IQ), low socioeconomic status children appear to be brighter in certain ways than low IQ middle class youngsters. The two different theories on IQ as a function of socioeconomic status--environmental or cultural vs. genetically determined biological…

Thirty-seven normal and 33 gifted children from kindergarten classes and 26 retarded children from special classes with mean mental ages of 76 months, 80 months, and 72 months respectively, were initially tested for their understanding of the terms more, same, and less. All who had failed conservation of substance pretests using juice, sand, clay,…

The effects of age and intelligence levels upon word associations were studied in 96 intellectually retarded, normal, and superior children with IQ's of 65 to 80, 91 to 110, and 117 to 158 respectively. A word association and a word usage task (reliability coefficients of .91 and .98) called for homogeneous responses to six form classes--count…

Evaluation is an act of persuasion directed to a specific audience concerning the solution of a problem. The process of evaluation is prescribed by the nature of knowledge--which is generally complex, always uncertain (in varying degrees), and not always propositional--and by the nature of logic, which is always selective. In the process of…

The edited transcript of an AEI Public Policy Forum explores the relationship of academia to political life generally, and the the formation of public policy specifically. Themes discussed by the panelists include the effects of academia as an attitude-generating body, the universtiy as an adversary culture, and the changing social and political…