Schools must change, if more working class and minority children are to succeed in college. Reuven Feuerstein (1979, 1980) was given the task of assessing youth who arrived in Israel after World War II. Many scored so poorly on intelligence tests that they were thought to require custodial care. Feuerstein developed a method of mediated…

The general ability factor (G), as enunciated by Charles Spearman in the model of cognitive functioning, has been the foundation of psychometric theory and test making practices for 80 years. Through these decades, some psychologists disagreed with this theory, especially Godfrey Thompson and E. L. Thorndike. Nevertheless, various aptitude tests…

The foundations of knowledge by tradition have been treated analytically, and knowledge has been characterized as a theoretical subject. This article introduces a steering mechanism as the prerequisite for a study of knowledge work and maintenance on empirical grounds. Knowledge is treated synthetically, that is, as something that exists only…

This paper examines and critiques several learning style inventories (LSI) in an effort to find the optimal research instrument for a proposed empirical study of both the quality of courseware and the impact of courseware characteristics on variations of learning effectiveness due to learner characteristics. Five LSIs are examined: (1) Dunn LSI;…

This study investigated the effects of solution-oriented and strategy-oriented feedback when using interactive computer-assisted instruction. The feedback confirmed problem solving strategies that were either similar to the learner's cognitive strategies (i.e., spatial strategies) or different from the learner's cognitive strategies (i.e.,…

This study assesses the effects of an aural rehabilitation program, alone or in combination with information about cognitive learning style, on reducing feelings of hearing handicap by first-time hearing aid users. Subjects, 40 newly amplified hearing-impaired adults (ages 30 to 90), were pretested for conception of their hearing handicaps and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of reasoning of a convenience sample of all seventh through twelfth grade students (N=156) in a consolidated school district in rural Arkansas prior to the introduction of a thinking program in which logical thinking is one component. Four research questions were investigated: (1) What…

Over the past two decades, theorists and researchers in cognitive structural developmental psychology have begun to investigate the social processes that impact upon individual cognitive growth. Studies have focused on how interactional processes lead to cognitive development but not on how the interactional processes are formed. This paper…

This paper discusses the creation of analytic categories that were applied to behavior in quite different, contrasting settings and that at the same time retained their ecological validity. In Project Follow Through, behavior stream observations were conducted on 20 second-grade children for an entire school day. To study the structure of behavior…

This paper discusses questions pertinent to a definition of cognitive structure as the knowledge one possesses and the manner in which it is arranged, and considers how to select or devise methods of describing cognitive structure. The main purpose in describing cognitive structure is to see whether differences in memory (or cognitive structure)…

Chapter 1 of this monograph provides an overview of student evaluation in physical education. A discussion is presented on the purposes of evaluation: diagnosing, grouping, motivating, grading, and programing. Included in the overview are sample forms for evaluation breakdown for seven units of a physical education course and a student cumulative…

Environmental psychologists are interested in the cognitive processes involved in mental maps. Multidimensional scaling was used to examine the geographic placement of buildings and their perceived attributes by undergraduate and graduate students, and by faculty and staff of a university (N=30). Nine college buildings were selected. Subjects…

Past and ongoing research on cognition indicates that its effects on academic achievement are more direct than those of environmental, affective, or behavioral factors. The research has analyzed cognitive factors, the remediation of cognitive differences, and the transferability of remediation practices. Other cognition researchers have focused on…

Author presented some comments on what parents perceive are critical areas in the elementary school program. Specifically, he called for a new emphasis - on confluent education. (Editor/RK)

The factor-analytic history of the isolation and identification of the mental ability construct known as verbal comprehension is traced through the psychometric literature. Examples of the most important item types which have been found to measure this factor--defined as the ability to understand the English language--are discussed. It has been…