This special issue is devoted to the cultural-historical school of thought about mental development based on the work of Lev Vygotsky. The research of Vygotsky addressed the sociocultural basis of higher-level cognitive functions, and ascribed an influential role to human speech and other mediational tools in originating changes in cognition and…

The Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP), an eight-site randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive intervention program combining home visits, child centers, and parent meetings with pediatric follow-up and referral, effectively reduced the incidence of health and developmental problems in a sample of 377 low birth weight, premature…

The effectiveness of using the Perry Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development (PSIED) was assessed with vocationally undecided students. Erwin's 1981 Scale of Intellectual Development (SID) was administered to 290 vocationally undecided college students (131 males and 156 females ranging aged 17 to 42 years with a mean age of 20.2 years) at…

This paper discusses aspects of the role of music in the preschool setting. The teaching and singing of folk songs are an avenue through which cultural literacy can be explored. A sensory approach to song learning that includes visual, kinesthetic, and aural stimuli increases children's vocabulary. Some theories suggest that musical intelligence…

The role of geography in an undergraduate student's intellectual and vocational development is described. (DE)

Secondary science students were tested, using Piagetian tasks to determine their level of intellectual development, and then tested on scientific concepts classified as concrete or formal. Results showed significant multiple correlations between the scores on the tasks and the subject matter tests. (MLH)

Two Piagetian tests which require manipulation, two conservation tasks, and the Longeot pencil and paper formal reasoning test were administered to 62 high school biology students. For all measures the males' mean level was higher than that of the females. (MLH)

Studied the intellectual differences between third and fourth grade Filipino children who had studied Science--A Process Approach (SAPA) and others who had studied a traditional curriculum. The SAPA children performed significantly better than the control group on a test of observing, comparing, and classifying simple geometric objects. (MLH)

An American visitor to China describes how Mao's "three R's" of education--Moral, Intellectual, and Physical Development--are integrated into educational practice. (CS)

The author examines current techniques used to teach elementary school children how to analyze and compare. Emphasis is placed upon developing these modes of mental activity while teaching biological concepts. (DE)

The research of William Perry, the Harvard psychologist who documented cognitive growth in undergraduates, is summarized. Perry's theory is compared to Piaget's theory, and the view that Perry is an extension of Piaget is discussed. Also noted is the shift in locus of control and other measures that occur as students progress through Perry's…

"Understanding Adult Intelligence" (Robert Sternberg) focuses on the nature of intelligence. It explains Sternberg's triarchic theory, in which he posits three main aspects of intelligence: its relation to the internal or mental world of the learner, its relation to experience, and its relation to the surrounding world. "Strategies and Learning"…

A study of college students was conducted to identify academic skill areas in which students were deficient. Dormitory residents were surveyed by questionnaire in the fall post-midterm (N=300), fall pre-final (N=210), winter (N=261), and spring (N=128). The questionnaire measured factors of distractability, concentration, self-concept, difficulty…