The purpose of this investigation was to develop and test an experimental strategy for the modification of socialization practices, which were hypothesized to affect the development of intellectual skills in young children. Experimental and control groups for this experiment were randomly selected from the population of first grade students in a…

Four seventh grade life science classes, given curriculum materials based upon Piagetian theories of intellectual development and Skinner's theories of secondary reinforcement, were compared with four control classes from the same school districts. Nine students from each class, who(at the pretest) were at the concrete operations stage of…

Suggests that although Piaget's psychological theory is developmental and dialectical in a general way, the lack of a developed philosophical basis leads to the subordination of a dialectical approach to static, anti-dialectical concepts. Hegel's theory of interaction and contradiction is examined to show that dialectical theory has a precise…

On the basis of two experiments on comprehension, it is argued that children go through at least three stages in acquiring the deictic contrasts between "here and there," and between "this and that." Children follow different routes through these states, since they choose different starting points in mastering deitic contrasts.…

A critical review. Evidence supporting the sibling-tutoring explanation is evaluated and alternatives are presented. Alternatives include age spacing as an explanation for the intelligence discontinuity of last borns, and the idea that only children are more likely to come from single-parent homes. (BB)

Kindergarten through fourth graders (N=170) were tested for conservation and then interviewed following the presentation of a story about an elderly woman's death, in an attempt to assess children's understanding of 3 concepts: irrevocability, cessation of bodily processes, and universality. (Author/JMB)

A multivariate modification of the cross-lagged panel correlation paradigm was applied to data from 4 subgroups of students tested and retested in fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades on 16 essentially identical cognitive measures. Results suggested that the test of aural comprehension was tapping the causal factors involved in intellectual…

Use of Perry's developmental scheme to test college students' intellectual development found that instead of developmental stages, there are two possible general attitudes taken toward knowledge: it (1) consists of facts to be supplied by faculty; or (2) is a quest in which students have responsibility for their own learning. (Author/MSE)

While university students are adept at acquiring knowledge, they are less and less skilled in critical thinking, and nearly illiterate in enlarged understanding, or contextual thinking. Higher education trains students to merely assume responsibility for tasks, not think about the larger realities of which they are a part. (MSE)

Explored the relationship between cognitive development and perceptions of environmental press using the Allen (l983) Paragraph Completion Instrument and a version of the Classroom Environment Scale by Moos and Trickett (l974). Persons functioning at varying levels of cognitive development (dualism, multiplicity, late multiplicity, and relativism)…

Defines life-span developmental psychology as the study of constancy and change in behavior throughout the life course. Advances metatheoretical view regarding development. Stresses focus on the dynamic and continuous interplay between growth (gain) and decline (loss). Examines structural contextual factors and study of range of plasticity in…

Extends the work of Wilde et al. (1978), in a longitudinal study of attitude change in college students (N=2,178). Compares "Greeks,""ex-Greeks," and independents on family and peer independence, liberalism, cultural sophistication, and social conscience. Found that year of enrollment was more prominent than was Greek affiliation in inhibiting…

Describes the initial validation of a new instrument and comprehensive rating manual designed to enhance the accuracy of measurement of the Perry scheme. (Author)

Five measures of intellectual level (IQ, MA, teachers' estimates of intelligence, level of object permanence, and representation of causality) were correlated with effectance variables and with each other for 42 quadraplegics (one to 12 years). Results reveal some relationship between intellectual level and effectance, although cognitive ability…