Finds that, between five and seven years of age, the majority of healthy children in modern urban-industrial societies achieve an understanding of the irreversibility, nonfunctionality, and universality of death. Suggests reasons for ambiguous findings concerning the relationship between the acquisition of the concept of death and developmental…

Effects of global cognitive development, sex, and word abstractness on young readers' word recognition were explored. ANOVA results indicated that nouns were recognized more frequently than non-nouns; children with high cognitive development recognized more words than children with lower cognitive development; and females recognized more words…

A framework for strategy remediation with learning disabled students is presented according to theories of Soviet psychologist L.S. Vygotsky. Excerpts from a remediation session with a seven-year-old are offered to illustrate the progression from other- to self-regulation. (CL)

Reports the results of a cross-cultural study of the development of five spatial competencies in samples of Thai and Australian children. The pattern of development was found to be similar for seven- and eight-year-olds but different for four- and five-year-olds. (Author/JN)

Presents a series of exercises for developmental students which were designed to help students develop the cognitive skills related to the understanding of the grammatical structure and relationships of the English language rather than focusing on grammar itself. Describes how the tasks were implemented in class. (DMM)

Discusses difficulties in measuring interpersonal understanding, ego development and moral development. Compares Loevinger's and Selman's theories, showing how cognitive and sociocognitive structures may be used to reconstruct many ego development test items. (NH)

Approximately 500 nonscience major university chemistry students were surveyed to record their interpretations of specific chemical symbolism before presenting modern concepts of atomic and molecular structure, in an attempt to understand the thought processes entering students use as they interpret symbolism. Results are reported and discussed.…

Assessment of development and home environments of twelve, 2-year-old children raised by mentally retarded mothers indicated for increased risk developmental delay, particularly in language. Cognitive development was significantly correlated with whether the mother had a previous child removed from the home by child protection authorities and with…

A study involving 23 blind students (6-12 years old) revealed that age at onset of blindness did not appear to be critical in mastery of space concepts. One-third of the Ss exhibited atypical spatial development, g mastering relative positions of left and right before mirror-image orientation. (Author/CL)

This article addresses the less utilized, nontraditional techniques of experiential and exploratory theater as vehicles for promoting both cognitive and affective learning. It discusses puppets as provocateurs, evoking response through mime, improvisation, and exploratory theater and problem solving. (CT)

The review synthesizes viewpoints on functions of play and provides an overview of information on effects of visual impairments on play patterns. The importance of play in learning is stressed. Specific needs for research on the play behavior of young children with low vision are identified. (Author/CL)

Identifies stages children progress through in acquiring adult metaphor comprehension and develops a more complex coding scheme based on theoretical clarifications of metaphor comprehension. (PD)

The article discusses the arithmetic achievement deficits of learning disabled students, cites research on cognitive factors involved, reviews the neurological evidence, and describes orientations focusing on cognitive psychology and the instructional context. Recent findings of an arithmetic task force from Columbia University are summarized. (CL)

Fourteen Down's Syndrome children (24-36 months) received systematic language training based upon the Environmental Language Intervention Program. Results indicated substantial gains in language functioning and several significant correlations between cognitive and sensorimotor status at the beginning of intervention and level of language…