This paper is a critical examination of Piaget's formulations on cognitive development based on recent social learning research. It is suggested that learning to conserve does not seem immutably dependent on the child's attaining some maturational age-related cognitive stage and that Piaget's theorizations do not sufficiently consider social…

The emergence and development of monetary concepts were investigated in 80 black children ages 2 to 8 years. Three concepts explored were the age at which children (1) can name the denominations of money, (2) become aware of the values of different denominations of money, and (3) become aware of the purchasing power of money. Socioeconomic (SES)…

In a follow-up study of curiosity and exploratory behavior, subjects were 18 disadvantaged inner-city black children who had been observed at age four in their first year of a Head Start program, and who were now finishing first grade. Data were obtained from teachers, observations in the classrooms, and an individual session with each child. Each…

This study, which is a partial replication and validation of the 1962 Laurendeau and Pinard study of causal thinking, investigates cross-cultural differences among three age levels of Canadian and American school children in the development of causal thinking. Also studied is the relationship between level of development of causal thinking and…

Research is underway concerning the way the perception, conception, and representation of spatial layout develops. Three concepts are important here--space itself, frame of reference, and cognitive map. Cognitive map refers to a form of representation of the behavioral space, not paired associate or serial response learning. Other criteria…

The project, consisting of five experiments, attempted to develop remedial procedures and materials for retarded children with learning deficits in the area of arithmetic. Standardized training procedures were devised to facilitate development of operations (conservation, ordination, cardination, and classification) which J. Piaget describes as…

Looking times of 36 children were recorded during subject-controlled presentation of slides in order to determine whether the existence of simple categories in 3-year-olds can be inferred from habituation data, and to determine any sex differences in conceptual generalization of habituation. Habituation was demonstrated over repeated presentation…

This study attempts to raise and answer the question as to whether lateral specialization of the brain could explain some of the differences in persons at different stages of intellectual development from birth to adulthood according to Piaget's theory of individual development via sequential, qualitatively different stages.…

The author analyzes some recent developments in the debate over the status of mental imagery. He attempts to specify what a propositional theory is, and considers arguments for and against the imagery position, i.e., whether visual imagery is encoded in terms of properties that are quite spatial and modality specific. (Author/RK)

The author argues on theoretical grounds that not all "logical" pre-number activities are equally relevant for numeracy, and concludes with a practical suggestion for the kind of activity which does have particular relevance. (MN)

This article considers the idea that an analysis of the structure of geography and of the nature of spatial concept development in children will reveal a valuable conceptual link that might serve as a theoretical basis for developing objectives in geographic education. (Author)

Four kinds of understanding of mathematics are suggested: instrumental, relational, intuitive, and formal. Each type of understanding is described and illustrated. (MN)

Concludes that children have a far broader range of intellectual interests than has generally been recognized. Bringing them into contact with fields of knowledge, methods of inquiry in these fields, and the processes of logical reasoning at a time when they have a natural receptivity which can have a fundamental impact on their intellectual…

Preschool children were required to act out a series of two-event sequences conjoined by either "before" or "after." Performance was markedly superior for meaningfully ordered sequences than for arbitrarily ordered sequences. It is suggested that the meanings of "before" and "after" must be acquired in situations which provide contextual support.…

In retelling 20 stories, 23 nursery-school children often refused to produce sentences in which causation was stated directly, but readily retold causation-implied utterances. Other results are discussed. (Author/RM)