Shortcomings in A. M. Leslie's nondevelopmental, nonsocial, and restrictively cognitive account of young children's "theory of mind" and capacity to pretend are noted, and the alternative thesis that a young child's metarepresentational capacity arises from, rather than forms the basis of, an understanding that humans have mental states…

Presents a qualitative study of the environmental concerns and attitudes of young people aged 15 to 17 years in Brisbane, Australia. Findings reveal young peoples' expressions of cynicism, frustration, powerlessness, and hope that have not been identified in quantitative studies about youth environmental knowledge and attitudes. (LZ)

The effects of generating versus reading the answers to multiplication problems were studied with 28 2nd graders who had not yet been taught multiplication. Results are explained in terms of a procedural account of the advantage after retention interval for generation. Instructional applications are discussed. (SLD)

Judgments of similarity among mammals, including humans, were elicited from 7 and 10 year olds and adults. Results partially supported a consensus model of shared cultural knowledge. Patterns of deviation from the model appeared between children and adults because of the emergence of a primate category after age 10. (BC)

This study found that mothers (n=40) of extremely high-risk infants (averaging 1000 grams birthweight and 28 weeks gestational age) called upon the same experiences and sources of information as mothers of full-term infants. Infants of mothers with above average knowledge about infancy scored significantly higher on tests of infant development at…

First and second grade teachers (n=275) were surveyed concerning their knowledge about and attitudes toward the whole-language approach to reading instruction. Findings suggest that many teachers are not persuaded that the whole-language approach to reading instruction is to be preferred over other methods such as intensive phonics instruction or…

Examined the relationship between counting knowledge and computational skills for 13 mathematically disabled (MD) first graders who showed a delay in acquiring mathematical skills and 24 nondisabled first graders. MD children's immature counting knowledge and poor skills at detecting counting errors underlay their poor computational skills on an…

The importance and value of modeling in physics teaching is discussed from two different points of view: to teach physics as it is nowadays practiced; and to take into account research into cognitive science and learning. Two kinds of modeling software are briefly described. (40 references) (Author)

Examined extent to which college students (n=180) change their sexual behavior in response to understanding of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Results suggest students have an understanding of AIDS. For this sample, some high-risk behaviors did decrease, presumably as a result of this knowledge, but there was much behavior that still…

A survey of 39 elementary special education teachers in Colorado indicated that more respondents had knowledge of Down's syndrome than of fetal alcohol or fragile X syndromes. Respondents' level of education, date of most recent degree, and years of experience were not associated with greater awareness nor knowledge of fragile X syndrome.…

This article examines the relationship of cognitive processing and creativity and argues that educational interventions contribute to the development of creative thinking skills when they provide requisite knowledge structures and stress controlled application of these processes in solving progressively more complex problems. (DB)

The relationship between partial word knowledge and instruction was investigated for 132 college students. When correct usage could be chosen on the basis of general semantic constraints, subjects did well and instruction had no effect. However, studying dictionary definitions did increase the amount of specific information available in memory.…

AIDS infection rates among native Hawaiians are increasing. Discusses the ramifications of AIDS in the native Hawaiian community by examining the knowledge and lifestyle practices of 26 native Hawaiians in Hawaii. Identifies recommendations for the development of culturally responsive social services. (KS)

Interviews with 100 individuals (ages 10-24 years) with mental retardation revealed that age and level of retardation significantly affected self-awareness. Subjects exhibited higher awareness of self and immediate family compared to awareness of facilities in the neighborhood, religion, holidays, and sense of right and wrong. (JDD)

Used pictorial and verbal interviews to measure what children aged three to eight years learned from drug education. Posttest results revealed that children (n=26) who received intervention knew significantly more about several drugs than did matched comparison group (n=26). Both pictorial and verbal methods were useful in measuring what children…