One of the most useful ways to enhance collaboration is to create scenarios where learners are able to interact more effectively. Nevertheless, the design of pedagogically sound and well-thought-out collaborative learning scenarios is a complex issue. This is due to the context of group learning where the synergy among learners' interactions…

Rather than focus on the numerous flaws in the book "The Bell Curve" (Herrnstein & Murray), this discussion focuses on the racism and bigoted beliefs of the pioneers in the mental measurement movement in the United States--beliefs which provided the background and opportunity for the publication of the book. A significant amount of…

Howard Gardner (1993) identified seven areas of intelligence: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, musical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. At the elementary school level, he emphasized using an evaluation specialist, a curriculum developer, and a school-community worker to coordinate and harmonize…

This paper reviews Lev Vygotsky's theories concerning optimizing of potential through assistance, support, or instruction. The paper notes that there is a "zone of proximal development" or a band around intelligence quotient (IQ) scores reflecting one's true potential. IQ tests are generally well-standardized and "static,"…

This paper introduces a theoretical treatment of the concept of intelligence that provides for intellectual diversity and contrasts this view with the more traditional notion of intelligence. Next, the paper draws from this theory several implications for education, paying particular attention to the question of assessment. It is shown why this…

The validity of Wechsler's (1949) comments concerning the addition of the supplementary WISC subtests was investigated for a sample of 20 fifth-grade students. The study was designed to investigate whether or not the addition of one or both of the supplementary WISC sub-tests, Digit Span and Mazes, affected obtained IQs of high achieving…

Reviews Richard Herrnstein's article and book concerning I.Q. and argues that the questions of the nature of intelligence and the respective influences of environment and heredity are important not just in the interpretation of statistical evidence but because these questions have implications in the lives of human beings. (Author/JM)

Lower class black and lower class white first-grade children learned an unorganized and an organized list of words to test Jensen's hypothesis of racial differences in mental abilities. Both groups of children performed significantly better on the organized list with comparable means for each list. Most of the predicted relationships were not…

Quantitative racism is defined as the intentional or unintentional misuse of statistical and quantitative methods to show some kind or type of ethnic superiority, usually with respect to black-white differences. This essay identifies some fallacious applications of statistical methods common to a number of recent studies in the behavioral…

The background and major claims of a new approach to the conceptualization and assessment of human intelligence are presented. The theory of multiple intelligences (MI), proposed in 1983 by H. Gardner, suggests the existence of several relatively autonomous human intelligences. Intelligence is defined as the capacity to solve problems or to…

This paper examines Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Scale (CPM) IQ test which is considered by many to be "culture fair." The emphasis is on socioeconomic status but factors of sex and ethnicity are also considered. Two major studies from which socioeconomic status data can be extracted are examined. These and other studies found…

Desgined to serve as a guide to resources on artificial intelligence (AI) and expert systems, this Library of Congress bulletin is divided into 18 sections that contain lists of books, journal articles, periodicals, associations, and other sources of information. A brief statement of the scope of the guide introduces the sections, which are listed…

Previous research on adult cognition has focused mainly on the distance that separates the adult from the "formal standard" and on the factors that interact with formal operations whether they are moderators of competence or a hypothetical fifth step. Results of new clinical research on adults can be used to argue for a new constructivism of adult…

The stability of intelligence test scores over time was examined for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Subjects included 64 children aged 6-16, who had been administered the WISC-R during prior evaluations. These students had been referred because of academic difficulties. One-third of the sample had taken the test…

This paper examines the implications of recent theory and research in cognitive psychology for the understanding and assessment of intelligence. Three major themes are developed. The first has to do with how changes in the social and educational climate for testing can influence the conception of intellectual compentence and the technology of…