Cognitive effects in children's learning of altruistic behavior were tested with an adaptation of Aronfreed's test design and machine. Children in grades 1-4 were presented with a machine with 2 levers. One lever, when pressed, released bubble gum, and the other turned on a light. For two of the three groups the experimenter exclaimed delightedly…

This conference paper discusses two factors which seem to be responsible for the lack of clear progress in research dealing with motivation and learning in the schools: first, an overemphasis on the presumed influence of motivation on learning, which has resulted in a neglect of the many other processes that are directly influenced by motivational…

The research of Jean Piaget and his Genevan co-workers might lead one to believe that all adolescents are formal thinkers by the time they are 15 or 16 years of age. The studies reviewed by the author on formal thinking in the United States seem to support the contention that the majority of late adolescents and adults function at the concrete…

The perceptual-developmental research of Kagan and Witkin elicited this study of cognitive style. The work of these two researchers leads to the conclusion that differences between graphic expressions of children of the same age reflect differences in the children's mode of information processing. Specifically, this study sought to test the…

Mental activities and information learned in one context are not necessarily available for use in another. They often have to be learned anew in the second context, although perhaps with less time and effort. The fact is, however, that relatively little is known about how the activities of the mind affect one another. The study of bilingualism,…

Originally prepared for the Workshop to Increase and to Improve University Teacher Training Programs in Adult Basic Education, Chicago, March 1969, this paper reviews a five year project, begun in 1966, on adult age differences in cognitive performance and learning. One purpose of this project is to determine differences in cognitive abilities,…

Time estimation is improved when the interval is filled with a motor response, with the proprioceptive feedback (PFB) presumably acting as a mediator. Altering the resistive dynamics of a handle moved 60 centimeters to fill a two-second interval manipulated the PFB from the response. Spelling aloud 2-, 3-, and 4-letter words during the motor…

The definition of critical reading and also the relationship between critical reading and critical thinking, reading, and scholastic aptitude and achievement tests were investigated. The Reading Comprehension Test; Test of Critical Thinking, Form G; Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Form A; Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests, Form A; and Florida…

The present Topic Classification System (TCS) developed out of a 7-year period of research and supplements an earlier system (Aschner, Gallagher, 1965). The purpose of the system is to indicate 1) level of conceptualization (data, concept, or generalization); 2) the style of thinking (activity, description, explanation, evaluation-justification,…

This paper focuses on four studies of pupils' reading comprehension completed at the University of Alberta. A number of investigators have described the acquisition and use of connectives by pupils and have indicated the importance of connectives in the development of abstract logical thinking. (Teachers often consider these words too simple to…

The third edition of a text originally written by Tinker in 1952 and revised with McCullough in 1962 presents an overview of the nature and goals of reading, of the bases for and factors related to reading programs, and of the practices recommended for reading instruction. In this edition greater attention is given to cognitive and linguistic…

The four experiments of this study represent the first stage on a program of research designed to clarify the nature and development of certain implicit verbal behavior and to move toward application of this knowledge to school learning situations and problems. Specifically, the experiments were created to investigate some aspect of the implicit…

Fifteen bilingual and 15 monolingual Head Start children, ranging in age from 4 to 6, were administered three types of tasks: (1) object constancy task: subject was shown a common object, a transformation was done on the object, e.g., crushing a paper cup, and then that object plus an identical pre-transformed object, were shown to the subject and…

The oral and written language of 10 students expressing themselves on the same subject was observed to determine (1) whether an "oral style" could be identified and (2) what relationship existed between cognitive processes and methods of expression. Six girls and four boys were placed in two situations: an "oral" situation in…

To investigate the relationship of a creativity-oriented design curriculum to the creative development of gifted adolescents, an activities guide was developed and used with 27 pupils placed in a special art class which met for one period daily. Creativity tests were given and evaluations of art products were made before and after six months of…