The paper examines competing models for the thinking processes of gifted students, including the Piagetian model, the Triarchic theory of R. Sternberg, and the varieties of intelligence proposed by H. Gardner. The paper offers a meta-analysis and a six realm domain for the understanding of cognitive processing propensities in gifted students. (DB)

Adolescents with mental retardation viewed a story enacted with props and were asked questions about the knowledge and beliefs of the characters. Subjects performed worse than did nondisabled children matched for mental age. Subjects did better on questions requiring first-order reasoning than on those involving second-order reasoning. (Author/JDD)

A critical evaluation of the use of stochastic independence in psychological research is provided, considering (1) confirming the null hypothesis; (2) power of the statistical test; (3) Simpson's paradox; and (4) between-subjects and within-subject correlations. The importance of formal models in studying (in)dependence is emphasized. (SLD)

Investigated age differences from early childhood to adulthood in the capacity to understand--in a psychologically meaningful way--traits in stories wherein main characters perform actions based on a positive, negative, or incidental motive that result in an emotional consequence for another character. Found that even 5- to 6-year-olds made trait…

Examined preschool children's inferences about the likely appearance of a target figure based on information about the figure's occupation or personality traits. Without explicit gender-category information, girls' performance on gender-consistent and gender-inconsistent trials was equivalent; boys performed better on same-sex attributes. With…

Examines the nature of prior mathematical knowledge that facilitates the construction of useful problem representations in the domain of geometry. Indicates that high achievers build schemas that are qualitatively more sophisticated than low achievers, which in turn helps them construct representations that are conducive to understanding the…

The literature on how and when children acquire temporal concepts is reviewed in the context of the acquisition of time concepts by deaf children. The stages at which children acquire concepts of clock, calendar, historical time, and chronology, and effects of language acquisition are discussed. A more formal structure of temporal concepts in the…

Fifteen adolescents with and 15 without mental retardation were compared on their tendency to show the representational momentum effect when viewing a stimulus array that implied motion. Participants with mental retardation showed the representational momentum effects as did the others, although the magnitude of the memory shift was smaller.…

Two experiments used object-manipulation tasks to examine whether one- to two-year-olds form superordinate-like categories by attending to object parts. Findings indicated that 14- and 18-month-olds behaved systematically toward categories with different, but not matching, parts. Without part differences, none formed superordinate categories.…

Three experiments examined children's understanding of functional relations in economics. Found that preschoolers understood effects of demand and second graders also understood effects of supply, but even fourth graders often failed to understand motivation and morality effects. Fourth but not second graders explained how motivation and morality…

A study examined the effects of play-group composition (segregated or integrated) and category of play materials (functional, constructive, or dramatic) on cognitive level of play and language use of 24 preschool children with developmental disabilities. There were no effects for play-group composition, but category of play materials significantly…

Gender and lowest stage of cognitive development were found to significantly contribute to the variance in lower levels of white racial identity in a study of white counselor trainees (N=82). Significant relationships were not found between the higher stages of cognitive development and higher levels of white racial identity. Examines gender…

Maintains that Rogoff's work has implications for supporting the development of a well-designed "Practical Life" environment in Montessori schools. Questions the appropriateness of the concept of proximal development for the Montessori approach. Concludes that the book reaffirms one's commitment to the Montessori perspective. (KB)

Proposes an account of the development of temporal understanding, linking it with episodic memory development. Distinguishes between ways of representing time in terms of frameworks involved; describes perspectival and nonperspectival frameworks and those representing recurrent sequences or particular times. Describes emergence of new kinds of…

A seminar to prepare students for learning organizations was based on Perry's theory of intellectual and ethical development. Developmental assignments were designed to assist cognitive growth and self-awareness. Challenges arose from differences in group composition (younger or mixed-age students) and the ethics of attempting to alter students'…