Possible legal justifications for "reasons"--statements that justify conclusions--are discussed. It is suggested that justification is a concept that should be taken seriously and is one that is guided by objective standards, authority, tautology, tradition, consequences, comparison, intuitive moral sense, internal consistency, determinism, or…

Nihilism is the fundamental movement in the history of the West. Materialism is a symptom of nihilism. Materialism is the view that all meaning has gone from the cosmos, nature, and culture. Values are objective, explicit options which imply the existence of choice. (JN)

Seven-year-olds and university students were questioned about hidden or visible colored counters. Under certain testing conditions, the children were able to demonstrate one of the major characteristics of formal operational thought, namely the ability to reason in terms of verbally stated hypotheses without reliance on direct, physical…

Details a study that assessed two experimental approaches to improving reading comprehension among fourth grade children--one involving training in syllogistic reasoning and the other using comprehension questions--and concludes that neither approach was effective. (FL)

Descries professional overspecialization and education's overemphasis on the acquisition of formalized information. Discusses the capabilities of the hemispheres of the brain and the problems caused by focusing on only the left hemisphere. Illustrates intuition and abstract patterns. Suggests that recognition of laterality will advance education…

Results indicated that progress through adolescence leads to greater differentiation, abstraction, and integration. The emergence of the ability to abstract was considered the most important cognitive development in the adolescent's self-system. Major transformations appeared after age 15. (Author/DB)

A framework for using and changing concepts in the study of science is described. (JD)

The ability of preverbal infants to abstract a prototypical representation of a category, when presented with examples of an artifically constructed category, was investigated. It was determined that infants could process visual information constructively and could take a more active role in category formation than previously believed. (Author/MH)

Shows how a teacher's questions and responses have positive impact on student comprehension. (MKM)

Derives two sufficient conditions for a finitely generated Lie algebra to have the nilpotent hypercenter. Presents a relatively large class of generalized soluble Lie algebras. Proves that if a finitely generated Lie algebra has a nilpotent maximal subalgebra, the Fitting radical is nilpotent. (DDR)

Describes a week-long activity for general to honors-level students that addresses Hubble's law and the universal expansion theory. Uses a discrepant event-type activity to lead up to the abstract principles of the universal expansion theory. (JRH)

Examined differences in self-identity and moral reasoning, as defined by Gilligan and Lyons, between male and female undergraduates (N=77). For self-description modes, findings revealed significant differences between male and female use of connected mode but not for use of separate/objective mode. Found significant differences between male and…

P. Lewicki and others (1988) suggested that subjects unconsciously abstract tacit knowledge about a complex pattern of events in a situation that departs from the artificial grammar learning pattern. The present experiment with 40 third year university students offers an alternative framework that does not assume unconscious rule abstraction. (SLD)

The "word problem" is stated for a given collection. Facts regarding Dehn's Algorithm, definition of Thue systems, a rewriting system, lemmas and corollaries are provided. The situation is examined where the monoid presented by a finite Thue system is a group. (DC)

Mathematical games designed for children from kindergarten to grade five using buttons as counters are described. Each game description includes a brief discussion of the number and mathematical concepts it teaches. (JD)