Reevaluates literature on the development of transitive inference in light of theoretical and methodological criticisms, and examines two aspects of the Piagetian account of the development of this cognitive ability. Criticism leveled is based on the observations that ability to make transitive inferences is not age-related and that children and…

The procedures used by first- and second-grade children in solving addition problems are investigated. The subjects were 56 pupils from a parochial school in Ithaca, New York. The data indicate that first graders add by counting, while second graders use both counting and noncounting methods. (MP)

Reviews recent progress in modeling human cognition, in particular the use of computers in generating models. Topics covered include the information processing approach to cognition, problem solving, semantic memory, pattern induction, and learning and cognitive development. A 164-item reference list is attached. (JL)

A new model is proposed for explaining children's performance on Pascual-Leone's test of M-space. The new model is used to generate theoretical performance curves for children at four different age levels and seven different levels of stimulus complexity, and it is a viable alternative. Differences between the models are reviewed. (Author/RD)

This study examines the effectiveness exercises based on the cognitive conflict, existing within the child, between two representational systems related to temperature: the qualitative-verbal one and the quantitative-numerical one as these relate to the advancement of children's understanding of the concept of temperature. (Author/DS)

Presents Ausubel's theory of learning and discusses its implication for teaching physics in the classroom and some of the theory's shortcomings. (HM)

Findings indicated that (1) stable preference measures could be obtained, (2) high preference objects resulted in higher motivation to perform and hence higher levels on each scale, (3) performance of this population is not stable, and (4) ordinality was violated in nearly 20 percent of the administrations of the scales. (Author)

Described is the interview-about-instances method used to gain insight into children's and adults' views of the world and the meanings people have for the words they use in explaining their views. Physics teachers can utilize this technique to become aware of the various concept understandings pupils bring to physics classrooms. (DS)

Developmental equations, which predict 32 parameters of the electroencephalogram as a function of age, are presented as tools to indicate children with potential neurological disorders and learning disabilities. (MP)

The paper traces the development of an integrated model of cognition stemming from Soviet neuropsychology and reviews recent research on simultaneous and successive syntheses. Implications for mental retardation, learning disability, hyperactivity, and reading disability are given. (Author/CL)

The cognitive skills approach to teaching college students, which seeks to train intelligence by explicitly developing learning and thinking skills, has been effectively used in the recent past and students taught by this method have spoken appreciatively of it. Intense verbal interaction is a distinctive feature of the approach. (MSE)

Examines short-term longitudinal relationships between test measures of cognitive processes and ratings of classroom behaviors observed during free play. Subjects were 64 middle-class preschool children. (Author/MP)

Mental abilities can be analyzed at four levels: composite tasks, subtasks, components, and metacomponents. Each level of analysis reveals something about the structure and content of mental abilities responsible for intelligent performance. (Author/WI)

The majority of 63 elderly women were able to pass tests in the conservation of mass (98 percent), volume (100 percent), and surface area (65 percent). These results conflict with previous research about Piagetian abilities of elderly people. (RL)