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…

A study examined the teaching and learning processes in the mother-child interaction that lead to the child's acquisition of the English morphemes for future and past. Data were drawn from transcripts of a mother and daughter's interaction during a period of active acquisition, age 22 to 27 months. Longitudinal microanalytic and macroanalytic…

A program of research was conducted to study transitions from preoperational to concrete operational forms of spatial imagery (area 1), to compare results from spatial imagery studies based on open-ended measures (such as drawings) with results based on reaction time measures (area 2), and to study anticipatory imagery in the contexts of memory…

This paper presents a developmental study of the problem solving strategies of reflective and impulsive children. Subjects for the study were 30 nine-year-olds, 39 eleven-year-olds, and 23 thirteen-year-olds who had been classified as reflective or impulsive at ages 7, 9, and 11 and who had been followed longitudinally over a three year period.…

Ninety-two subjects solved a series of problems without enough time to finish and worked at a pace and in an order determined by the experimenter (Experimenter- Paced) or at their own pace and order under self-administered time deadlines (Self-Paced). Self-pacing resulted in superior performance on rote and poorer performance on cognitive problems…

Originally prepared for the Workshop to Increase and to Improve University Teacher Training Programs in Adult Basic Education, Chicago, March 1969, this paper reviews a five year project, begun in 1966, on adult age differences in cognitive performance and learning. One purpose of this project is to determine differences in cognitive abilities,…

Two techniques were used to modify an impulsive conceptual tempo on a visual discrimination task. The subjects were 42 first grade white children who had previously been classified as impulsive or near-impulsive on the Matching Familiar Figures Test given to 82 children. These subjects, who had scored above the median on errors and below the…

The process of learning with respect to age is discussed. Learning may be defined as the acquisition of information or skills. Three non-cognitive factors varying with age are loss of speed, health, and motivation. Studies on learning in relation to age have not controlled for non-learning factors. Perceptual and psychomotor studies are not…

Researchers measured how much thinking time teachers allowed third grade readers of various ability levels when responding to questions. Teachers allowed more time for thinking after text-based questions, although scriptal questions usually required higher-level thinking and, consequently, more time. (Author/PP)

These two reaction papers provide a synthesis of the issues raised by the papers presented in this issue of the "Elementary School Journal." Each reaction paper approaches student variables from a different vantage point, and each brings a novel and imaginative perspective to the study of students in the classrooms. (MP)

To ascertain predictive relationships between and within cognitive tempo and cognitive level characteristics of moderately retarded children, the Matching Familiar Figures Test and Essential Math and Language Skills Inventory were administered. No significant predictive relationship from cognitive tempo to level was indicated, but elements of…

Ratcliff's theory of memory retrieval which posits parallel processing and Sternberg's serial processing explanation of memory scanning are reviewed and contrasted. Discrepancy between the two theories may arise because they focus on different aspects of the data. If scanning without comparisons takes place, the two views may be reconciled.…

Three experiments obtained same-different judgments from children and adults to trace normal development of local and global processing of hierarchical visual forms. Findings indicated that reaction time was faster on global trials than local trials; bias was stronger in children and diminished to adult levels between ages 10 and 14. Reaction time…

The effect of an imagery cue and an attention-directing strategy within the context of a microcomputer learning environment was studied using 180 Ohio State University freshmen. The environment provided both self-paced and externally paced instruction. It appears that the attention strategy and embedding of an imagery cue increased students'…

Tested three competing structural equation models concerning auditory inspection time (AIT) and cognitive ability. Found that auditory inspection times near age 11 correlate most strongly with later high IQ. (ET)