Longitudinal psychometric test data collected at two different ages (approximately 9.5 and 15 years) were utilized to compare the developmental rates of 69 pairs of reading-disabled and matched control children. Results indicated that reading-disabled children manifested deficits on measures of academic achievement, symbolic processing speed, and…

Topics discussed in this issue include the cognitive education of the preschooler, general problems in aesthetic education and child development, educating children through play, family influence on the preschooler's personality, and the preparation of children for school. (RM)

Metalinguistic knowledge and its antecedents were studied in an investigation of performance- and reflective-based knowledge in 27 young children. Piagetian assessment tasks were used to determine cognitive functioning level, and then the children were tested as to knowledge of words' structural and significative features. Results support an…

Differential effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication were not observed in the cognitive and communication performance of the 38 experimental subjects. Furthermore, the Delayed sign language group performed significantly better than the early American Sign Language group on tests of speech perception and speech…

In two experiments, 5- to 13-year-old children mentally tracked the rotation of a pointer around a circular backdrop to indicate the pointer's imagined position on a backdrop at the sound of a signal. Results indicated that children older than eight years generated linear distance x time functions indicating mental tracking but that younger…

Analyzed was the mental activity required to answer Profile Test questions. This was then related to the results of pupils with differing profiles. Most of the mental activity could be reduced to three categories of knowledge: data, short operations, and paths. These categories are then discussed and applied. (MNS)

The relationship between students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and their conceptions of prose coherence was examined. Sequencing and unity were categorized as mature conceptions. Students with context-oriented beliefs about the nature of knowledge were more likely to report mature coherence conceptions than students with fact-oriented…

Reports on a study (of 79 Navajo women) that compared the predictiveness of two types of learning experience (schooling and weaving) for pattern continuation skills across varying domains and contexts. Questions the notion that what is learned in particular experiences automatically improves skills in general. (KH)

Reviews the role of Charles Prosser and David Snedden in developing the philosophy of vocational education and describes their conflict with ideas of John Dewey. Three criticisms of the 16 theorems of vocational education are elaborated: perpetuation of status quo, teacher expertise based on trade mastery without pedagogical preparation, and lack…

Investigated the impact of traditional cultural beliefs, called historic-sociocultural premises (HSCPs), on peoples' interpersonal and emotional lives. Results indicated that people in Mexican societies hold similar sociocultural premises and that HSCPs are related to how people cope with stress, personality traits, and vocational choice. (LLL)

Estimates confluence model of intellectual development for a within-family sample of 321 children from 101 transracial adoptive families. Mental ages of children and their parents and birth or adoption intervals were used in a nonlinear least-squares estimation procedure to obtain children's predicted mental ages. Results suggest efficiency of the…

Discusses the possible disruptive influence of computers on young children's play, the age at which children can benefit from using a computer language like LOGO, promoting cognitive development through experiences with computers, and whether playing with computers is actually play. (RH)

Explores a preschooler's repeated attraction to two books, and what it means in terms of the child's literacy before she learns to read. Describes the child's advancing critical skills. (HTH)

The paper discusses the major topics of software, examines research on the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) for learning disabled adolescents, and suggests specific and creative uses of microcomputers in academic and cognitive skill development. (Author/CL)

The article proposes a model for developing leadership among gifted students. Four components of the model are identified and sample subskills described: cognition (exploration, research); problem solving (incubation, creative thinking); interpersonal communication (self realization, cooperation, conflict resolution); and decision making skills…