Responding to Goldman's critique of the Socratic method, the author redefines the "Socratic spirit" as rational dialog focused on questions of significance in an atmosphere of mutual support and cooperation. Exemplified in Lipman's "Philosophy for Children," this approach nourishes the reflective spirit in children and develops…

Investigated effectiveness of teaching one element of a science syllabus using drama in place of conventional practical work. No statistically significant differences were detected in factual recall, but significantly more "meaningful" learning appeared to have taken place when drama was used. Psychological and educational implications…

Presented is a model of curriculum design for history instruction using the concept cluster approach. The importance of proper age/grade placement when teaching historical concepts and the developmental characteristics of children and adolescents are emphasized. (Author/RM)

Discusses curriculum literature on mental skills, with emphasis on Bruner's work. The skills model offered in the literature is found to be somewhat simplistic in conception and inadequate when applied to higher-order mental activities. The difficulties inherent in the notion of the transferability of mental skills are examined. (RM)

Parents of preschool, first- and fourth-grade children were surveyed regarding media presentations that caused fear in their children. Results demonstrate that theories of cognitive development may provide an explanatory and predictive framework for understanding children's fears. (PD)

This article discusses the possibilities of moral education through physical education. A brief overview of several moral education programs is presented with an emphasis on Kohlberg's cognitive development approach. An appeal is made to physical educators for greater concern and involvement towards this goal. (Author/DF)

Four children were videotaped playing with their mothers, first in a situation with gestures, and then in a situation without gestures. Results showed that maternal gestures have more of a role in maintaining attention and flow of interaction for young children than they do in providing specific cues to the grammar the child is acquiring. (SL)

Two studies were conducted with a task allowing detailed examination of how information in stimulus arrays is captured in children's descriptions. How children select information and the role of modeling are dealt with. (Author/SB)

Examines the assumption that students use a level of reasoning, when solving problems, that is substantially below their intellectual capacity. The study involved 466 college students enrolled in a general chemistry or a physical science course. The results include a comparison of science and non-science majors. (GS)

The purpose of this paper is to clarify some of the conceptual issues involved in discussions of psychology and education which rely on the assumption that biological factors serve as a basis or are responsible for human intelligence. (Author/ND)

The relationship between vision and mental functioning was investigated in a study of 295 elderly residents from three levels of care. Visual acuity and mental status were assessed. Findings indicate that there was indeed a relationship between vision and mental status. (Author)

Available from: EC 090 265.

Visual preference technique was found to be a method for exploring the genesis of normal and abnormal selective attention, pattern discrimination, and recognition memory. The study of infants with differing degrees of risk for mental subnormality produced substantial evidence for relationship between early visual selectivities and future…

First graders' length conservation was measured using a verbal and nonverbal test, and the results were compared as predictors of mathematics achievement. Findings showed that verbal conservation scores were superior to nonverbal conservation scores and to intelligence scores for predicting achievement. (DT)

Three experiments involving balance scale problems were used to characterize and explain developmental differences in three domains of children's thinking: existing knowledge about the problems, ability to acquire new information about them, and process-level differences underlying developmental changes in the first two areas. (BW)