Argues that abilities to use sensory standards and construct and use model images are the primary cognitive abilities that preschool children develop. Discusses longitudinal intervention programs designed to enhance these abilities; their results demonstrate improvement in cognitive tasks and positive changes in neurophysiological activity. (SKC)

Data from 226 adoptive and 224 nonadoptive families was used to explore the etiology of individual differences in communication development. Children's scores from the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD) were compared with verbal and cognitive ability measures of their parents. Sibling correlations were also examined. (SKC)

The purpose of the paper is to discuss self-concept implications of the Lynch cognitive model for industrial trainees and trainers. What individual trainees learn is in part a result of the focus pertinent at various stages of self-concept development. (JOW)

Assessed J. F. Wohlwill's notion of way-stations in development by investigating developmental interdependencies among children's solutions to three proportionality tasks: a balance beam task, a probability judgment, and a juice-mixing task. (SKC)

Three experiments investigated five- and 10-year-old children's understanding of the conditions under which a person becomes committed to carrying out an intended action. Findings indicated that, although children from a very early age have the concept of commmitment, the understanding of the interpersonal conditions for becoming committed…

Two approaches that apply Piaget's theory of cognitive development to the study of child psychopathology are presented. (PCB)

Examines and discusses origins of parents' beliefs concerning children's developmental processes and specific abilities, and the relations between these beliefs and parental behavior on the one hand and children's cognitive development on the other. (PCB)

Discusses the findings of a recent study concerning the ability of an infant to see an object as a symbol. Reports that infants between 36 and 39 months old significantly outperformed informed infants between 30 and 32 months old on a symbolic task. (TW)

Reports on a study in which the symbolic relation between a scale model and the larger space that it represents was displayed by two groups of young children. Three-year-old children outperformed 2.5-year-olds in finding an object in a room after seeing an analogous object hidden in a model. (TW)

Investigates children's ability to recognize the legitimate authority figure in a structured authority situation. Thirty children at each of three age levels--5, 8, and 11 years--were administered the Authority Measure, an instrument designed to elicit children's reasoning about authority figures. (Author/RWB)

Summarizes recent research which attempted to discover what children of different ages know about the appearance-reality distinction and related phenomena. Findings show that what helps children grasp the distinction is an increased cognizance of the fact that people are sentient subjects who have mental representations of objects and events. (PS)

Explores longstanding inconsistencies in Piaget's account of development of spatial representation and perspective-taking. Examines Piaget's early writings and the findings of the original "three mountains" experiment. Concludes that Piaget's alternative theory is compatible with contemporary thinking and is important as a contributory…

Argues that Susan Sugarman's article in this issue contains some valid criticism of assumptions in developmental psychology, but that some of her conclusions regarding other assumptions need to be questioned. Suggests that many problems raised by Sugarman would disappear if developmental psychologists concentrated on children's early achievements…

Curriculum units for gifted third-graders (N=48) were judged effective if gifted students receiving instruction outperformed gifted students not receiving instruction and also nongifted students receiving instruction. One unit was successful in teaching new concepts but not in developing higher levels of thought; inconclusive results were obtained…

Reviews research on aspects of metacognition in children's comprehension of television, particularly how skills in meta-memory, meta-attention, and meta-social cognition-correlate with comprehension. (PD)