Fifty-eight adults with Down syndrome were assessed longitudinally over 10 years for the purpose of modeling aging-related change in cognitive function and adaptive behavior. Findings provide further evidence of changes in performance with age and include selected effects for participants who completed the study and those lost to follow-up.…

Discussed are the principles of Gestalt psychology and the history and future of the movement. A comparison of Gestalt, Behaviorist, and Structuralist ideas is included. The study of perception, learning, memory, and thinking from the Gestaltist point of view is described. (KR)

Described in this study are student teachers' frameworks of purity and the related concepts of the states of matter. The concept of natural versus pure substances, classifying states of matter, and implications for teaching drawn from the results are discussed. (Author/KR)

Described is an investigation that determined whether young children have schemas for environmental information. The results are discussed with reference to the importance of memory schemas for learning about the environment. (KR)

This study found that, although the mental representations of 20 sexually abused and 20 physically abused females (ages 7-12) did not differ, the internal images of the abused groups differed from images of 20 nonabused but distressed children. Thus it is abuse, and not simply family distress, that results in impaired object relations. (Author/JDD)

Summarizes major findings and implications from research on the characteristics of effective classrooms and on characteristics that distinguish schools that have unusually high student achievement from those that enroll similar groups of students with much lower achievement. Discusses how these findings relate to improving achievement in city…

Properties of information most likely to attract student attention and how students use information they generate are clarified. Students' expectations of empirical information in geometry and the design of a new version of the Geometric Supposer are discussed. (CW)

Advocated is the use of everyday games and situations instead of the traditional use of textbooks, workbooks, and worksheets. New goals and principles for the beginning arithmetic student are presented. Modifications of activities that promote the constructivist ideal are included. (KR)

Six mildly and moderately retarded children (ages 6-8) were instructed in the Piagetian constructs of unidimensional classification and/or seriation using the "Piacelleration" learning set technique. After one semester, subjects made significant gains on: classification and seriation tasks, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the…

This article presents evidence of the reliability and validity of a new paper-and-pencil test of proportional reasoning, Paper-and-Pencil Balance Beam Test. A Total of 627 individuals, aged 8-47, participated in the 3 studies discussed. Results support previous research which correlates performance on proportional reasoning problems with…

Discusses a proposed interconnectedness between the ecologies of ethnic minority families, adaptive strategies, socialization goals, and child development outcomes. (PCB)

Uses classroom anecdotes to illustrate how social forces limit literacy as a tool enabling students to think for themselves. Defines literacy as involving knowledge, learning, and culture. Appeals to teachers to enhance learners' inventive and analytical skills by putting them in touch with their own intelligence and intuition. (TES)

The research reported in this study was done to evaluate the understandings developed by students who meet science concepts through a textbook. Findings indicated that concrete concepts were better understood by eighth grade students than formal concepts and that students achieved some understanding of some formal concepts. (CW)

Examines theoretical framework of ethnic identity development in Mexican-American preschool and elementary school children. Two studies based on cognitive development theory assessed an instrument for measuring ethnic identity and for evaluating data. Children's Ethnic Identity Questionnaire responses were found consistent with framework guiding…

Investigates the effect of a directed-inquiry approach to learning science process skills and scientific problem solving in the high school biology laboratory. Reports no main effect of the approach but an interaction effect of the approach and cognitive development. (Author/YP)