Two studies examined abstract conditional reasoning. Findings indicated an increase in use of formal justifications with grade, and that abstract reasoning was facilitated by realistic context. Findings supported the idea that such reasoning may represent a qualitative change in reasoning abilities and that its development relies on appropriate…

This article describes the Cognitive Strategy in Writing program (originally intended for elementary-age students), and adaptation and application of the social constructivist approach with seven junior high and high school students with learning disabilities. Pretest-posttest assessment indicated dramatic improvements in overall quality and…

Examined effectiveness of a structured cognitive stress reduction program for unemployed managers (n=42) involved in an outplacement program. Using a control group design, managers who were assigned to cognitively based stress reduction program found reemployment significantly sooner and showed reductions in levels of state anxiety and anger that…

Four social-cognitive processes (encoding, cue interpretation, strategy generation, and evaluation of consequences) were investigated with 55 upper elementary children with mild mental retardation. Analysis of responses to videotaped vignettes of social conflict situations indicated children more accurately interpreted hostile than benign…

Examines the role of executive function, or the ability to maintain the appropriate problem-solving set for attainment of a future goal, in academic success. Describes causes of executive function deficits, common manifestations, methods for assessing the problem, and strategies for remediating related problems. (26 citations) (MAB)

The verbal overshadowing paradigm was used with 167 undergraduates to determine whether performance across all items on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices was dependent on the same cognitive processes. Results clearly indicated that a subset of items was dependent on visuospatial processes, while another subset required verbal-analytic…

Studied the effect of homelessness on cognitive and academic functioning of children 6 to 11 years old in comparison to a control group of housed children in the same classroom. Found no differences in cognitive functioning between homeless and housed children, but did find that homeless children performed significantly more poorly than housed…

Investigated suppression of activation and retrieval paths to information stored in long-term memory. Subjects were 94 children in grades 1, 3, and 5. Found that the ability to intentionally inhibit the maintenance and recall of irrelevant information improves over the elementary years, and children are less able than adults to withhold production…

Recommends the use of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) project which gives thinking skills lessons to students ages 11-13 to increase their general thinking ability. (DDR)

Analyzes assumptions underlying learner-centered, technology-based environments in light of how well learners appear to meet the cognitive demands for engaging them. Design implications include the following considerations: direct learner attention to key variables and visual cues; prompt and guide connections to prior knowledge; and provide…

A study investigated the performance of high- and low-risk (for child abuse) mothers on cognitive measures in a cry (crying infant) and no-cry condition. High-risk mothers had lower conceptual ability, cognitive flexibility, and problem-solving skills. The difficulty high-risk mothers have in using feedback to modify their behavior is discussed.…

Highlights the strengths of the Halberstadt et al. contribution to the literature on social-emotional development. Discusses three issues relating to their model: (1) the inseparability of cognitive representation in both emotional and social functioning; (2) the role played by context; and (3) the significance of goals in any construct involving…

This article examines several sub-constructs of information processing and their potential association with the poorer language comprehension of children with specific language impairments (SLI). It argues that some of the language comprehension problems of children with SLI are related to certain information processing inefficiencies. Techniques…

States that there is interest in the underlying metaphonological abilities of children with phonological impairments and their possible relationship to speech problems and later literacy development. Presents data from 61 children with phonological output problems and 59 normal speakers on a range of metaphonological, speech output, language, and…

University students were screened to determine whether some could comprehend text well despite very poor recoding skills, measured by pseudoword reading. There was no evidence that resilient readers relied on superior verbal ability or working memory to compensate for poor recoding. Resilient readers were poor at spelling, reading isolated words,…