Proposes an interference explanation of data from dual-task studies of memory development. Dual-task data support the resources hypothesis that memory processes tax a common pool of cognitive energy, which has been variously called attentional, mental effort, and working-memory capacities. Suggests that dual-task deficits are instances of output…

Two experiments involving students from grades 1-2 and 5-6 found strong connections between development and forgetting rates when the influences of learning ability were eliminated. Findings eliminated a hypothesis based on age variability in overlearning. (RH)

Critically evaluates habituation and related models for studying infant memory, focusing on methodological and substantive limitations which restrict the derivation of information from them. The essay considers existing research on the development of object permanence as an alternative source of information about infant memory. (Author/DB)

Repeated but unadvised attempts have been made by music educators to relate the Piagetian concept of concrete operational thought to children's understanding of music. The attempts have been focused on the apparent link between the child's detection of invariance in musical patterns and the concept of conservation. These attempts are unadvised…

Asserts that this book, drawn from a 1993 conference on memory development, accurately reflects the contemporary status of the field in two ways: (1) its research is matured and specialized; and (2) there are no major theoretical disputes, nor a widely shared new approach, although using microgenetic designs to study cognitive strategy choice…

Discusses motivations for research replications and makes recommendations for appropriate research strategies. Illustrates research strategies in a review of studies replicating a 1948 study by Soviet psychologist Z.M. Istomina on preschoolers' memory. Concludes that none of the studies closely replicated Istomina's methods, but some replicated…

This response to Brainerd and Reyna's paper (in this issue) argues that the common resources hypothesis can be applied to a wider range of phenomena than can the output-interference hypothesis. Presents results of a dual-task experiment under bidirectional deficits. Concludes that dual-task studies do not provide critical tests of the resources…

The authors surveyed experts in the field of neuro-behavioral research to determine the directions of progress being made in increasing understanding of neural processing and storage of information. Based on this investigation, their report presents examples of research being pursued in this area. The authors see neuro-behavioral research leading…

Examines evidence that the research community studying infants' object concept and the community concerned with adult object-based attention have been studying the same natural kind. Maintains that the discovery that the object representations of young infants are the same as the object files of mid-level visual cognition has implications for both…

Two experiments which investigated the young child's ability to deal with multiplicative classes and relations (considered behavioral indices of concrete operations thought) in double series and cross class matrices are described and discussed. In the initial study, 160 children from preschool through grade 2 received six matrix subtasks…

This 4-year longitudinal study of logical reasoning found complex interrelationships among different cognitive processes of children ages 6 to 15. Piaget's stage theory is discussed in the introduction, with a focus on the concrete operational stage in middle childhood. In the study, a representative array of logical concept tasks and short-term…

The recent phenomenon of the "returning adult" to colleges has raised concern regarding two implications: age decline in intellectual ability and loss due to lack of practice. Literature indicates slight impairment of the problem-solving function until the years of advanced age. The degree of impairment is related to factors of educational…