Proposals for teaching concepts have been dominated by traditional paradigms. A review of research on concept structure and formation reveals evidence for alternative paradigms, e.g., exemplar, probabilistic, and schematic models. The research also indicates problems regarding the traditional models. Implications for relating alternative models to…

Develops a conception of the arts as cognitive activities. Draws implications of this conception for the schools including the following: concepts of talent and lack of talent have been used too long to cover up for weak or non-existent arts programs, and full cognitive development cannot exist without substantial arts instruction. (JDH)

Compares the separation distress of 26 19-month-old Downs Syndrome infants in the Strange Situation with that of 43 normal infants who were observed at 12 1/2 and 19 1/2 months to assess whether Downs Syndrome infants responded more similarly to cognitively comparable normals than to age-comparable normals. (HOD)

Examined the relationship between 7-, 9-, and 11-year old children's performance on a battery of selected Piagetian measures and on a proportional reasoning task. Found a strong relationship between stage level and (1) the complexity of hypotheses used, (2) the use of the proportional hypothesis, and (3) the overall use of logical hypotheses. (HOD)

Outlines leadership capabilities that effective principals can exert to improve the teaching of higher level thinking skills to students. An important initial step is to make the development of student thinking skills a building priority at the school. (MD)

Provides guidelines for conducting and interpreting interviews aimed at assessing the cognitive concepts of young children. Discusses the content, task, questions, and format of the interview, listing 16 points of advice for interviewers. Also elaborates on the value and use of structured interviews. (JM)

Short and long term strategies for implementing critical thinking skills into school programs are discussed. The short term strategy is to teach analytic skills within established subject areas, while the long term strategy involves recognizing and overcoming the unconscious obstacles to development of sound critical and dialectical thinking. (TE)

Eighty-two children (aged 4 through 6) were administered a Backward Digit Span test to measure M-space (mental capacity) and four conservation tasks: number, substance, continuous quantity and weight. (MS)

Investigated was the hypothesis that conservation tasks are unifactor by administering eight different conservation tasks to 96 seventh-grade science students and performing a principal component analysis on the data. Results indicated that conservation tasks may measure up to three different components of cognitive thought. (SL)

An investigation of selected research projects which focus on intellectual development is presented. The treatment begins with a description of psychological-oriented studies and illustrates the many ways in which studying a second language in school settings contributes to the cognitive development of the learner. (Author/RM)

Studies of bilingual children have debated the effect of bilingualism on cognitive development. This study examines the relationship between cognitive processes and balanced bilingual skills. It finds there may be a threshold level of bilingual competence to be attained before bilingualism can positively influence cognitive functioning. (CHK)

Because cognition is the core substance of understanding and sense making, cognition-based assessment is essential for understanding and monitoring students' development of powerful mathematical thinking. The Cognition-Based Assessment System (CBAS) project is applying the results, theories, and methods of modern research in mathematics education…

Study examined word associations from the perspective of cognitive level and thought processes. (Authors/MB)