The methodological issue of qualitative versus quantitative research is addressed, and the argumentation of research using interview methods for research is explored. Warrants of the type that are used in arguments generating conclusions from interview data are included. (KR)

Investigates 156 third, fifth, and ninth grade students to determine whether the revising/editing process is related to age or instruction and learning. Finds that the tendency to engage in revision/editing is more related to one's writing ability than it is to age or level of cognitive development. (MG)

High school students (n=80) read two passages from each of three domains of career literature: short stories, formal literature, and popular literature. Both reading skill and cognitive development were related to extent to which adolescents appreciated three passages which presented career information. Reported need for information to make career…

The author shows some causes of failure in the creation of mathematical concepts. One is the stiffening of concept cores, which prevents identification of atypical exemplars and solution of atypical problems and causes a bifurcation between the natural system of everyday concepts and the formal system of school concepts. (Author/MDH)

Based on the cognitive psychological theories of Vygotsky and Davydov, discusses the establishment of connections between mathematical elements, and the algorithmic rules that govern them, and children's spontaneous mathematical concepts. Presents examples that establish connections involving addition and subtraction, comparing numerical…

Criticizes current prevention education efforts for retaining characteristics of older quantitative approaches to education. Suggests qualitative approach to prevention education be taken and discusses transactional model of substance abuse based on development of the child within both social and family context. Recommends approach that draws…

Kindergartners and second, fourth, and sixth graders were shown a series of pictures that depicted an object with increasing completeness and were asked to identify the object. Found that, with increasing age, children correctly identified the object earlier in the sequence and that reaction time was longest for second graders. (BC)

A model of the sources and consequences of mismatches between gestures and speech is presented that argues that the transitional knowledge state is the source of the mismatch and that such mismatches signal that a child is in a transitional state of concept acquisition and is ready to learn. (SLD)

Presents a theory of cognitive development that postulates a general cognitive processing system, a hypercognitive system governing self-regulation, and specialized structural systems responsible for processing different reality domains. Suggests five principles that serve as organizational pivots of developing cognition. Reports the results of…

Argues that the cognitive mechanisms in human creativity are, for the most part, sighted rather than blind. Reviews attempts to apply evolutionary ideas to psychology and argues that these ideas do not apply to the psychology of human creativity. An alternative sighted-variation framework is then proposed. (Author/CR)

Examines arithmetic and algebra knowledge from a cognitive perspective in an effort to determine what constitutes a pre-algebraic level of understanding. Presents results of a longitudinal study designed to investigate students' readiness for algebra. Proposes a model for the transition from arithmetic to pre-algebra to algebra. Contains 29…

Students, ages 12, 15, 18, and 23 (n=60 per group), wrote definitions for 16 abstract nouns. Responses were analyzed for Aristotelian style. There was an increasing tendency for students to mention the appropriate category to which a word belongs, core features of the word, and subtle aspects of meaning. (DB)

Explores relative developmental influences of age, number-sense, and context on primary school children's ability to estimate measures. Finds that, although number-sense improved with age, estimation did not; ability to perceive number relations influenced ability to estimate area; and estimation was more accurate in textbook exercises than in a…

Examines first graders' existing knowledge in relation to what they are expected to learn, by: (1) listing music vocabulary words appearing in music textbooks; (2) comparing oral vocabulary with vocabulary listed for music instruction; and (3) comparing frequency of selected music terms with frequency of same terms in general oral vocabulary. (DSK)

Notes that change in the moral and cognitive realms is a long-term historical process that includes progression and regression. Reconstructs the cognitive correlates of historical progress, using as examples the emergence of invariant numbers in Mesopotamia, the growth of logic and perspectivism in the early Middle Ages, and the rise of public…