In this paper I aim to show that the creation and manipulation of written vehicles is part of our cognitive processing and, therefore, that writing transforms our cognitive abilities. I do this from the perspective of cognitive integration: completing a complex cognitive, or mental, task is enabled by a co-ordinated interaction between neural…

This paper inquires into the extent to which humans are specially constituted relative to other animals by their language. First a principled concept of evolutionary specialness is operationalized. Then it is agreed that humans satisfy the criteria for this sort of specialness in consequence of the kind of cultural evolution in which they have…

That competences may emerge given appropriate environmental and behavioral context is a long-standing theme in developmental research. Work in the motor domain, but also in cognitive development, has made it possible to transform this idea into a mechanistic account closely linked to empirical evidence. In dynamic systems thinking, such capacities…

Human infants imitate others' actions "rationally": they copy a demonstrator's action when that action is freely chosen, but less when it is forced by some constraint (Gergely, Bekkering & Kiraly, 2002). We investigated whether enculturated chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) also imitate rationally. Using Gergely and colleagues' (2002) basic procedure,…

Four studies are reported that employed an object location task to assess temporal-causal reasoning. In Experiments 1-3, successfully locating the object required a retrospective consideration of the order in which two events had occurred. In Experiment 1, 5- but not 4-year-olds were successful; 4-year-olds also failed to perform at above-chance…

This study was an attempt to integrate cognitive development (i.e., cognitive control) and emotional development (i.e., emotion regulation) in the first years of life. The construct of temperament was used to unify cognition and emotion because of its focus on attentional and regulatory behaviors. Children were seen at 8 months and 4 1/2-years of…

Using older adults and dual-task interference, we examined performance on two social reasoning tasks: theory of mind (ToM) tasks and versions of the deontic selection task involving social contracts and hazardous conditions. In line with performance accounts of social reasoning (Leslie, Friedman, & German, 2004), evidence from both aging and the…

Despite the fact that work is a fundamental part of life for nearly half of all undergraduate students--with a substantial number of "traditional" dependent undergraduates in employment, and working independent undergraduates averaging 34.5 hours per week--little attention has been given to how working influences the integration and engagement…

Using three waves of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study examines differences in cognitive, academic, and affective well-being of youth first placed in nonkinship foster care (N=259) and youth first placed in group care (N=89). To compare nonrandomized groups, propensity score matching was used. Results…

The author's understanding of Piagetian theory is compared to the "construction of reality" process hypothesized by Piaget. (JB)

Responds to three commentaries about a review paper by Lane and Pearson (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly; v28 n3 p317-37 Jul 1982). Commentaries were authored by John W. Hagen and Kim P. Wilson (v28 n4 p529-32 Oct 1982), Wendell E. Jeffrey (v28 n4 p523-28 Oct 1982), and Richard D. Odom (v28 n3 p339-45 Jul 1982). (RH)

The study described confirms previous research that has found delayed cognitive development of Down's Syndrome (DS) children. However, errors committed in task performance by DS infants did not conform to characteristic patterns for normal infants, indicating that cognitive development among DS children differs in important respects from that of…

The proposed conceptualization of logical competence has 3 dimensions; principles, content, and complexity. (SB)

Explores some of the constraints on knowledge development through a multi-perspective examination of a project in which there was an intention and enacted process to develop knowledge. Engaged with the generic question of what the conditions that facilitate knowledge creation in organizations are, considers data from three theoretical…

Two studies tested three year olds' understanding of five mental states in a false belief scenario. Results indicated that children understand that desires can differ from reality before they understand that beliefs can. Results concerning children's understanding of pretenses, and dreams that differ from reality are discussed. (BC)