This commentary on a previous article that described the use of topological thinking in the field of mental retardation discusses appropriate scientific uses of typologies, what categories are and how they are used in social and biomedical sciences, and the importance of typologies for scientific and practical progress. (Contains extensive…

This rejoinder to a criticism of an article that decried the use of topological thinking in the mental retardation field argues that topological thinking is a form of psychological existentialism that offers a reductive approach to human development. It urges the inclusion of individual as well as group scores in studies. (Contains references.)…

Two experiments examined toddlers' noun vocabularies and interpretations of names for solid and non-solid items. Results indicated that one side of the solidity-syntax-category organization mapping was favored. Seventeen- to 33-month olds do not systematically generalize names for solid things by shape similarity until they already know many…

This article discusses the history, methodology, and assessment of giftedness by Russian psychologists from the 1920s through the present. The review indicates that because of the ban on psychometric testing, a powerful theoretical tradition emerged and continues and that Russia tends to a multifaceted definition of giftedness. (Contains extensive…

Conceptualizes a framework of types of partnerships that can develop between a school system and an external resource agency. More complex organizational structures are required as interdependency increases in the collaborative, symbiotic partnership, and spin-off models. There is no magic formula for initiating, sustaining, or terminating…

Defines the contextual classification model, comparing it to the traditional metadata models from which it evolved. Using the MetaData Object Manager (M.O.M) as an example, discusses the use of Contextual Classification in developing this system, and the organizational, performance and reliability advantages of using an external (to the data…

Two experiments investigated whether preverbal infants distinguish between humans and mammals. Study 1 found that 7-, 9-, and 11-month-olds distinguished humans from mammals in an object-examination task. Study 2 found that 7-month-olds but not 5-month-olds showed evidence for category discrimination with the 2-dimensional color photos of toy…

A comparison of 46 language-delayed and 62 normal language onset children examined whether early language delay would predict autistic symptomatology in children diagnosed with autism when young and at an older age. Results found that early language delays predicted more autistic symptomatology when young, but not at an older age. (Author/CR)

Three-year-old children (n=41) with mild learning problems and 41 typical children were given a battery consisting of seven simple cognitive tasks shown to contribute toward the differentiation of children with and without mild learning problems. Picture identification, oppositional concepts, identity discrimination, and semantic…

Discussion of subject access points in databases concentrates on the broader theoretical perspective. Topics include technology-driven stages in the development of subject access points; a taxonomy of subject access points; document titles; abstracts; references and citations; full text; and descriptors, identifiers, classification codes, and…

Two experiments examined differences in the early noun learning of English- and Japanese-speaking children. Found that English-speaking children's vocabularies were heavily lopsided with many more object than animal names, whereas Japanese-speaking children's vocabularies were more evenly balanced. Results suggested that early learners of English…

Presents a study, using questionnaires, that defines and describes a typology of the relational structures of child twins on the basis of their mothers' representations of their behavior at school and home. Focuses on the dependence on the co-twin and dominant/dominated relationship in the two environments. (CMK)

Examines several alternative document summarization techniques to determine which is the most effective for saving time when a human judge must certify the output of an automatic categorization system. That is, how useful is the summarization technique as compared to reading the entire document. Users in this case are molecular biologists wanting…

Thirteen incarcerated girls (ages 13-17) were tested following identification of language impairment to explore why they did not receive services prior to incarceration. Results indicate speech-language pathologists may be qualifying students based on a cognitive reference instead of a discrepancy formula based on age and level of language…

To effectively integrate computers into teaching, students' thinking skills must be a priority. The goal is to align thinking processes appropriately with the software's function. By categorizing software by genre and matching it to the desired thinking skills, teachers can plan lesson activities that teach discrete skills as well as complex…