The purpose of this book is "to familiarize the student of linguistics with the social context of speech, and to familiarize the student of society with language as a referent and dimension of social behavior." An attempt is made at a conceptual integration of the literature of sociolinguistics (with emphasis on work published in the 1960's) so…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether creativity could be facilitated by a training method based on a salient characteristic of the creative individual, namely, his ability to synthesize elements from two disparate psychological entities: (1) visual experiences; and (2) emotional states. A four-session training program is described in…

For purposes of analysis, preschool language programs can be sorted into four general categories according to the dominant type of learning activity (1) Pattern practice, (2) Cognitive verbalization, (3) Discussion, (4) Role play. Along with definitions of language, the program types differ in the kinds of interactions which occur between teacher…

To identify the parameters of creativity exhibited in products of sixth grade children, 25 subjects (12 girls and 13 boys) were asked to produce written, art, and mechanical objects and to write a description of the product indicating its use. Ten judges graded the relative creativity of the objects by comparing their similarity to an object…

In the last few years, a rhetoric of inquiry has emerged to complement the rhetoric of the finished word. New interest in the "pre-writing" activities--e.g., audience analysis, concept formation, and the discovery of judgments which order and give meaning to experience--has manifested itself both in research into the nature of these activities and…

Some of the assertions made by Chomsky in "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax" are considered. In particular, the notion of a "competence" model in linguistics is criticized. Formal postulates for a conceptually-based linguistic theory are presented. (Author/JD)

In an effort to cross-validate a Japanese study, a 16 item test of logical connectives was administered to 223 boys and girls at each grade level (third through ninth grades) and two groups of college sophomore girls. The purpose of the test was to assess their understanding of class inclusion and exclusion, class intersection, and class union.…

This social studies unit uses conflicting eyewitness and secondary accounts of what happened in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775, to illustrate the nature and methods of history and to encourage the student to function as an historian. Sections of the unit (1) introduce problems faced by historians by focusing on documentary materials…

To determine if students learn better in a teaching situation that emphasizes their positive involvement and decreases the emotional threat to their self-esteem produced by the traditional question-answer approach, a study was conducted to compare the average achievement levels of two groups of literature students--one taught traditionally to…

The present project provided for the development of a detailed quantitative curriculum appropriate for use in Head Start classes, trial of the developed materials with preschool children in Hawaii, and preliminary assessment of the curriculum in comparison with a more spontaneous, informal quantitative classroom experience. Directions for tasks…

The consistently inferior performance of economically disadvantaged children led to this study designed to investigate how cognitive development changes with age and how it is affected by previous life experience. Classification behavior and inferential thinking were the main concerns of the study. The measurement instrument was the Matrix Test, a…

Two experiments were conducted, the purpose of which was to investigate the direct effects of questioning. In experiment one, 240 sophomores, juniors, and seniors from a small town high school read one of two versions of a 550-word passage describing the social behavior of the army ant. The subjects then took either a verbatim or paraphrase quiz,…

This paper reviews and analyzes research in science education which focused on science concepts and science concept learning. Studies reviewed are grouped into eight categories: (1) cognitive development, (2) factors influencing concept formation, (3) level of concept attainment, (4) methodological effects, (5) methodological comparisons, (6)…

This report reviews some ostensibly conflicting empirical findings which have been reported in conjunction with Elkind's (1967) conjecture that Piaget's conservation problems tap two distinct concepts. The discrepant findings which report on the order of emergence of identity conservation and equivalence conservation are discussed. An analysis of…

The import of cognitive style research for educational problems and research is discussed. Topics covered include a definition of "cognitive style," particularly "field dependence/independence," individual differences in personal characteristics associated with differences in perceptual mode (field independence) relevance of…