This paper investigates the processes that predict reading acquisition. Associations between (a) scaffolding errors (e.g., "torn" misread as "town" or "tarn"), other reading errors, and later reading and (b) vowel and rime inferences and later reading were explored. To assess both of these issues, 50 6-year-old children were shown a number of CVC…

This paper investigated six to nine year old children's ability to use contractive and possessive apostrophes, the effects of type and token frequency, and the effect of teaching on this ability. Apostrophes provide an interesting opportunity to examine the basis of frequency effects in rule inference, as type and token frequencies dissociate in…

This chapter considers whether there are grounds for believing that an inquiry-based approach to teaching and educational development will enhance practice. (Contains 1 table.)

Noveck (2001) argued that children even as old as 11 do not reliably endorse a scalar interpretation of weak scalar terms ("some", "might", "or") (cf. Braine & Rumain, 1981; Smith, 1980). More recent studies suggest, however, that children's apparent failures may depend on the experimental demands (Papafragou…

Graphing data and/or results from quantitative studies have been noted in the social sciences and the field of education as a means toward employing solid methodological practices. The publication rate in the JCSD of six specified graphs was examined under two editor ships from 1999 to 2003 and 2004. Preliminary results from the review suggested…

Genre-specific reading or comprehension strategies can help older, striving students comprehend expository and narrative texts. Students being taught to be strategic and methodical in their approach can create a generation of readers, who will be able to apply their critical thinking skills to any piece of text they encounter.

Inferences about spatial, temporal, and other relations are ubiquitous. This article presents a novel model-based theory of such reasoning. The theory depends on 5 principles. (a) The structure of mental models is iconic as far as possible. (b) The logical consequences of relations emerge from models constructed from the meanings of the relations…

We summarize some of the most important findings from research evaluating the hypothesized causes of specific reading disability ("dyslexia") over the past four decades. After outlining components of reading ability, we discuss manifest causes of reading difficulties, in terms of deficiencies in component reading skills that might lead to such…

Many preschoolers know that plants and animals share basic biological properties, but this knowledge does not usually lead them to conclude that plants, like animals, are living things. To resolve this seeming paradox, we hypothesized that preschoolers largely base their judgments of life status on a biological property, capacity for teleological…

Goldstein and Gigerenzer (2002) [Models of ecological rationality: The recognition heuristic. "Psychological Review," 109 (1), 75-90] found evidence for the use of the recognition heuristic. For example, if an individual recognizes only one of two cities, they tend to infer that the recognized city has a larger population. A prediction…

In this paper, we distinguish between two ways that an individual can construct a formal proof. We define a syntactic proof production to occur when the prover draws inferences by manipulating symbolic formulae in a logically permissible way. We define a semantic proof production to occur when the prover uses instantiations of mathematical…

I. Klugkist, O. Laudy, and H. Hoijtink (2005) presented a Bayesian approach to analysis of variance models with inequality constraints. Constraints may play 2 distinct roles in data analysis. They may represent prior information that allows more precise inferences regarding parameter values, or they may describe a theory to be judged against the…

Inference for causal effects is a critical activity in many branches of science and public policy. The field of statistics is the one field most suited to address such problems, whether from designed experiments or observational studies. Consequently, it is arguably essential that departments of statistics teach courses in causal inference to both…

The databases of three books with almost identical titles are examined in order to throw light on the theory of neutralistic professionalism of news interviewers and on the empirical logic of the most recent of the three: The news interview by Steven Clayman and John Heritage (2002). Instead of a theory of neutralism, a theory of perspectivity…

This study investigated the development of the understanding of class inclusion in children age 5, 7, and 9 years, whose performance on a qualitative class-inference task assessing their appreciation of the transitive and asymmetrical nature of inclusive relations within the animal domain was compared with their ability to make quantitative…