Determined that males (N=70) demonstrate higher level of intellectual development than females (N=70), that males mature intellectually earlier than females, and that there appear to be factors other than age and sex that are related to development of formal operational reasoning. Implications of these and other results are discussed. (JN)

Ability of five cognitive characteristics to predict students' (N=96) achievement of evolution and natural selection concepts was measured. Results, among others, indicate that disembedding ability, prior knowledge, and evolutionary belief were significantly related to achievement while developmental level and mental capacity were not. (JN)

Compared levels of formal operational thought of students tested before and after entering science programs. Results indicate considerable numbers of students at transitional levels on each occasion, low correlations between cognitive level and grades, and significant development in levels of cognitive thought during the National High School…

Compared laboratory and naturalistic content influences on formal reasoning tasks of 90 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds, focusing on tasks requiring ability to control variables. Results indicate that 8 to 20 percent of performance variance was associated with task content. Content effects were also shown to reflect expectations about task variables.…

Investigated development of propositional logic and three formal logical schemata (underlying generic problem solving processes/operations) in adults (N=59) enrolled in their second year of medical school. Two students were formal on the 12-Piagetian tasks used, and the 57 remaining were classified as transitional formal. Implications are…

Cognitive performance of college students (N=225) on "An Inventory of Piaget: Developmental Tasks" (IPDT) was related to Scholastic Aptitude Tests and performance in both college chemistry lectures and laboratory classes. Relationship of Piagetian tasks to learning and instructional activities in introductory chemistry classes is…

Reports a study that analyzes the importance of individual difference variables in explaining subject performance in formal reasoning in 72 first-year college students. (PR)

Spatial ability and Piagetian tasks were administered to 80 schooled/non-schooled Fulanis (primarily nomadic and hunters) and agriculturalists (living a settled life). Results indicated that Fulanis develop spatial skills adapted to the ecological demands of their lives and that schooled students performed better on Piagetian tasks than…

Effect of science instruction on young children's (N=64) concept of Piagetian physical causality was investigated. Results indicate, that pre/concrete-operational children can learn and apply a definition of living when that definition is taught through observable characteristics. Additional results and implications for elementary science…

Level of operational thinking required (cognitive demand) for concepts or problems and test items on the mole concept was determined and compared to the Piagetian levels of thinking of 71 students. Pupil cognitive level was positively associated with overall unit test scores and with percent success on all test items. (Author/SK)

To determine responsiveness to instruction, matched concrete operational seventh-grade (N=50) and college (N=72) students were given identical classroom instruction in probabilistic and correlational reasoning using biological concepts. Field dependence/independence and fluid intelligence were examined. Reasons why college students are more…