Humans accumulate knowledge throughout their entire lives. In what ways does this accumulation of knowledge influence learning of new information? Are there age-related differences in the way prior knowledge is leveraged for remembering new information? We review studies that have investigated these questions, focusing on those that have used the…

Reviews research on children's ability to remember events in relation to that of adults. Concludes that age interacts with other factors, including language and the relative development of knowledge structures, to determine suggestibility. Suggests that children's memories may at times be less easily influenced than adults' memories. (KH)

An examination of the role of metacognitive thinking (a secondary level of understanding in which an individual shows knowledge of his/her own cognitive process and products) in the cognitive training of exceptional students is presented. (PHR)

The perspective of the child as an active problem solver is promoted. Three theoretical orientations consistent with this perspective are presented, and the value of conceptualizing treatment change in the context of developmental change is stressed. (Author/GK)

Summarizes relevant aspects of the theory of field dependence. Topics discussed include stages of information processing, developmental issues and implications, and future directions for research. (RJC)

The author states that learning theory is useful for economic educators because it enables them to develop instructional theory for economic education. The paper is arranged into five parts. Part 1 focuses on the historical learning theory perspective of economics education. Part 2 defines instructional theory, states its relationship to learning…

Reviews the literature on the relation between early memory development and corresponding changes in brain development of infants. Finds that an adult-like form of explicit memory emerges between 8 and 12 months of age, drawing heavily on limbic and cortical structures. Offers theoretical perspectives for studying the ontogeny of memory. (JW)

Responding to recent advances in developmental and cognitive science research on knowledge acquisition, this report presents a theoretical framework for analyzing cognitive development as a process of learning. The first section summarizes three developmental characteristics recognized in both the Piagetian and the quantita experimental tradition:…

The proposals concerning working memory outlined in this paper involve the architecture of working memory, the reasoning mechanisms that draw on it, and the ways in which working memory may develop with age. Ways of assessing task demands and children's working memory capacities are also considered. It is noted that there is long-standing evidence…

The current status of conceptions of learning in children is reviewed and some areas of neglect are considered in this paper. The main premise is that although considerable strides have been made in the understanding of the learning process, essential developmental formulations of growth and change have been poorly articulated. It is suggested…

This paper provides an introduction to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a manner that facilitates the interested learner's further exploration. It presents theoretical references and reviews the social factors and epidemiology of PTSD in children and adolescents. The psychobiology of PTSD is described in relation to the types of memory it…

This paper examines the nature of communication taking place between suspected victims of child abuse and adults in courtroom and investigative proceedings. It focuses on the discourse requirements of eyewitness testimony, the child's developing ability to produce the requisite discourse, autobiographical memory, sociocultural factors influencing…

Argues that the operating characteristics of perceiving and remembering provide a foundation for progress on detailing the processes through which knowledge is realized in real-time tasks and in detailing the processes of developmental change. Includes three examples to illustrate how forming developmental hypotheses in terms of perceiving and…

In recent research, two qualitatively different classes of mental operations have been identified. The performance of one type of cognitive task requires attention, in the sense of mental effort, for its execution, while the second type can be performed automatically, independent of attentional control. Further research has shown that automatic…

Cognitive change in the elderly can be due to several etiological factors which are empirically difficult to separate and clinically problematic to differentiate. Normal aging is accompanied by behavioral slowing. The slowing down of psycho-motor processes results in a lowered intelligence quotient, but cannot be taken as unequivocal evidence for…