A series of tests of dimensional understanding showed that there was a hierarchical sequence, with three year olds able to handle less complex tasks than four year olds. (Editor)

This article (1) discusses the progression of children's thought from realism to objectivity, to reciprocity, and to realitivity; and (2) describes seventeen types of explanations children give to explain the causality of physical occurrences in the world. (SB)

Recent American history has been marked by certain changes in popular attitudes that, though difficult to measure, may be the most significant events of our time. The dynamics of public opinion are explored with implications for the future. (Author/RK)

In a Virginia school grounded in Gardner's multiple-intelligences theory, K-12 students flock to the think tank, a hands-on discovery room, to explore their varied abilities. This well-equipped room synthesizes many ideas and theories, such as Socratic questioning and John Dewey's discovery-learning ideas. Because multiple ways of smartness are…

The Learning Environmental Preferences inventory was completed by 20 African-American, 24 Latino, and 25 white business administration freshmen. No significant differences in intellectual development were apparent among ethnic groups nor between men and women. Achievement as measured by grade point average or Scholastic Assessment Test scores was…

Research and metaanalyses suggest fundamental commonalities among measures of cognition, affect, and conation, yielding trait complexes that are differentially related to career choices and intellectual development. A counseling framework involves movement away from typological representations of vocational and avocational interests,…

Responds to the assumption that it is too late to teach virtue in college, noting that Aristotle considered intellectual virtue essential to the cultivation of excellence. Asserts that university education ought to embrace the cultivation of intellectual virtue in students, proposing that by helping students see the pursuit of knowledge as a…

A discussion of creativity and curiosity, particularly in the context of college instruction, examines two psychological models of creativity, the cognitive approach of Howard Gardner and one aligned with depth psychology (James Hillman). Commonalities are noted: preference for mess over management and for boundaries transgressed rather than…

Despite its failings, Herrnstein and Murray's "The Bell Curve" is valuable for emphasizing cognition as significantly affecting human performance and social achievement; acknowledging human differences; and offering a frightening depiction of contemporary American society. The authors err in reducing intelligence to a stable, immutable…

Focuses on the nature of understanding by detailing the process of clinical interviewing. Examples from experiential learning in curriculum and teacher development lead to discussion of curriculum activity that celebrates the complexity of subject matter and the value of engaging learners in pursuing their own learning. (SK)

Reviews a central problem of Piagetian theory, that of necessary knowledge, or knowledge that must necessarily follow from previously accepted information. Discusses three implications of this problem for education: (1) assessment of children's judgments and justifications; (2) intellectual development over time and according to developmental…

Some teachers believe that children will not learn unless they are entertained. However, in "Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure," Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reports that teens are most interested in school when the classes are demanding and they can stretch their brain power. Only entertaining students will prepare them…

Reports on the results of a two-year longitudinal study of mother-infant dyads (N=23) observed during a free-play session when infants were six and eight months of age. Children were assessed for language and intellectual outcomes during the second and third years of life. This information may help school professionals design effective strategies…

Critiques recent research on the effects of birth order on intelligence and personality, which found that the between-family design revealed that birth order negatively related to intelligence, while the within-family design revealed that birth order was unrelated to intelligence. Suggests that it may not be intelligence that co-varies with birth…

Critiques Rodgers et al.'s June 2000 research on the relation between birth order and intelligence, which suggests that it is a methodological illusion. Explains how the intellectual environment and the teaching function (whereby older children tutor younger ones) contribute to the growth of intellectual maturity, the first negatively and the…