A study was conducted to determine whether the child expresses linguistic knowledge during the single-word period. The order of mention in 65 sets of successive single-word utterances from five children at Stage 1, two to four years old, were analyzed. To elicit speech, the children were shown line drawings representing such situations as animate…

The foundations of the cognitive developmental curriculum movement are briefly examined in the paper. The key features of this movement are the recommendations it makes in three areas: curriculum sequencing, curriculum content, and teaching strategies. Each of these areas is critically examined. It is concluded that the grounds for all proposals…

This document describes and evaluates a high school chemistry course developed to promote formal reasoning in students by increasing opportunities for self-regulation and to increase student understanding of chemical concepts by making instruction relevant to their developmental level. General results indicate that students enrolled in the course…

In a pilot study of children's drawings of "a house with a tree behind it," Piagetian sequence (scribbling, fortuitous realism, failed realism, intellectual realism, and visual realism) was tentatively supported. Children's strategies in decentering from intellectual to visual realism were noted. The study reported in this paper was…

The purpose of this study was the development and validation of a paper-and-pencil instrument to assess the formal stage of development as defined by Piaget. Initially, a 42-item test was constructed; item content included syllogisms, verbal analogies, combinatorial and probabilistic reasoning, and questions similar to Piagetian tasks. This…

This report is a followup of an earlier study which attempted to assess the effectiveness of a Montessori program for preschool inner-city children. Data collected from the children over a 3-year followup period is analyzed, and the children's performance is compared with that of various control groups. There was some evidence that children in the…

PLATO and TICCIT, two systems of computer-assisted instruction, are analyzed with a view to determining their educational effectiveness. This report presents an overview of how this will be accomplished, in full awareness that the concept of "effectiveness" has been subject to diverse interpretation. To avoid misunderstandings, the…

This study investigated the relationships obtained among verbal imitation, comprehension, and production when a stimulus sentence exceeded the child's short term memory. A total of 32 children, aged 3 to 5 years, took tests of comprehension, nonverbal imitation, verbal imitation, and production of structures expressing sequence ("before", "after",…

The development of children's capacity to induce spatial relations between locations in a space was investigated in this study. The sample consisted of 60 children, 20 in each of three age groups: 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8 years of age. The children were trained to move one hand from a home base to each of three target positions. The positions were…

Piaget has hypothesized that concrete and formal operations can be described by specific logical models. The present study focused on assessing various aspects of four concrete operational groupings and two variations of two formal operational characteristics. Six hundred twenty-two 9-14 year old students participating in the Human Sciences…

In order to determine if there is a relationship between reading achievement and the ability to conserve as measured by replications of Piagetian conservation tasks, 160 beginning second-grade students were identified as achievers or low achievers according to reading and intelligence test scores, and their performance on the Piagetian tasks was…

This study attempted to determine whether the mental test performance of 77 children tested at 6, 12, and 36 months of age could be predicted from scores on an Inventory of Home Stimulation used to assess the children's home environment during their infancy. The Inventory of Home Stimulation had six subscales: (1) emotional and verbal responsivity…

The essays in this book represent the substance of the 40th annual Claremont Reading Conference, the theme of which was "Reading, Thought, and Language," Among the nineteen essays included are "Cognitive Development and Reading" by David Elkind; "Behavioral Objectives and Teaching Instruction" by Herbert Simons; "Toward Personal Growth through…

Evidence which suggests that pretend activities become increasingly independent of the presence of realistic objects is examined in this paper. Results of research on pretend behavior in children 1 1/2 - 2 years of age are described and analyzed. Striking changes in pretend behavior are shown to occur during the second year of life. Pretend play…

This document describes an empirical study on the patterns of teacher behavior and a comparison of student outcomes from two settings where different programs (types of curricula) were used. The two psychological positions identified within the curricula were stated to have been operationalized in the two programs developed for the elementary…