Examined nascent understanding of desire in cases where a child judges another's desire while holding a strong conflicting desire. Found that difference in ability to attribute beliefs versus desires to others is not due solely to difference in representational nature of two mental states; instead, beliefs differ from desire in their potential to…

Improved writing and higher grades of first-semester calculus students (n=25) were the result of a variety of written assignments used in the course. Includes sample writing assignments. (MKR)

Two experiments investigated 8-, 10-, and 12-month-old infants' levels of searching for mothers, strangers, and objects. Found that, overall, 10- and 12-month-old infants had higher levels of searching for mothers, whereas youngest infants showed no differences for searching. This discrepancy is likely due to social cognitive development and…

Tested 160 children on a Stroop-like day-night test that involved 2 rules. Also tested for whether remembering two rules alone was sufficient to cause difficulty. Concludes that the requirement to learn and remember two rules is not in itself sufficient to account for the poor performance of younger children (under five) in the experiment. (DR)

Comments on van Geert's mathematical model of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, in this issue. Supports van Geert's use of a nonlinear model, noting that linear statistical models overlook variability in psychological phenomena. Discusses the time asymmetry in van Geert's model, which does not account for a subject's "developmental…

The Developing Cognitive Abilities Test was administered to 103 senior agriculture majors from a sample of 196. Of three cognitive levels (basic, applied, critical thinking), most did best on application. Cognitive development by gender was similar, and certain academic majors did better on different cognitive levels. Room for improvement in…

Three studies examined preschool children's understanding of categorical hierarchies, testing their ability to form categories at different levels of generality and to include the same objects in multiple categories. Found that, contrary to the implications of previous studies, two- and three-year olds appear to have both categorization skills.…

This brief statement supports more research on the linguistic and cognitive abilities of animals, particularly primates, and sees direct applicability of such research to language learning by humans with mental retardation who have not learned to speak. (DB)

Describes two studies of young children's ability to identify single and combined elements in response to music activities. Reports that children were better able to identify single than multiple elements. Concludes that children's ability to identify elements in their singing develops sooner than the ability to focus on elements in music they…

Early efforts to understand adult learning were by psychologists studying learning in general. Adult educators added such theories as andragogy, self-directed learning, and perspective transformation. New perspectives (sociocultural, critical theory, and feminist) are adding to understanding. (SK)

The article offers suggestions for helping gifted elementary students learn to use independent thinking skills to challenge their own thinking as well as to solve mathematical problems. (DB)

The study, with 57 children (ages 3-6) enrolled in 3 Head Start classes, demonstrated that short-term, large-group basic concept instruction combining direct instruction with interactive and incidental teaching techniques resulted in significantly improved scores on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised. (Author/DB)

Outlines themes from L.S. Vygotsky's writings. His claims about the social origins of individual mental functioning have implications for the definitions of cognition and memory and for the pursuit of research on mental processes. His understanding of culture is derivative of his account of the mediation of mental functioning. (BC)

Provides a review of the key ethical theories and relevant empirical research relating to the practice of human performance technology. Topics addressed include ethics, morals, business ethics, ethics officers, empiricism versus normative ethical theory, consequentialism, utilitarianism, nonconsequentialism, Kohlberg model of cognitive moral…

To examine the role of cognitive skill and racial stereotyping in Euro-American children's processing of race-related information, 75 Euro-American children, aged 4 to 9 years, were asked to recall test stories that were either consistent or inconsistent with cultural racial stereotypes. As predicted, lower degrees of racial stereotyping were…