This paper is structured in two sections. The first examines views of mathematical abstraction in two broad categories: empiricist and dialectical accounts. It documents the difficulties involved in and explores the potentialities of both accounts. Then it outlines a recent model which takes a dialectical materialist approach to abstraction in…

Two experiments were conducted to examine the on-line processing mechanisms used by young children to comprehend pronouns. The work focuses on their use of two highly relevant sources of information: (1) the gender and number features carried by English pronouns, and (2) the differing accessibility of discourse entities, as influenced by…

The research reported here investigated primary school pupils' use of reading strategies. The study differed from most of the previous studies on reading strategies in that (1) the participants were young bilinguals in multicultural Singapore; (2) the data were examined within the Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) framework developed by John…

Development of mathematical problem solving skills is an age old problem in mathematics. This paper details the design of a component of a first year university mathematics course in which group work and mathematical communication skills, especially writing skills, are used as a tool to develop non-routine problem solving skills. In this design…

A new paradigm for computer-supported cooperative work and a research agenda for developing and testing this paradigm are proposed. The book outlines a comprehensive model of collaboration that integrates the cognitive/conceptual and social dynamics of groups. The challenge faced by all groups engaged in intellectual work is to divide the task so…

A study explored an application of rauding theory to the developmental components that contribute to elementary-age children's reading comprehension. The relationships among cognitive power, auditory accuracy level, pronunciation (word recognition) level, rauding (comprehension) accuracy level, rauding rate (reading rate) level, and rauding…

As part of an attempt to precisely clarify the role of social context in early literacy development, this paper presents a working theoretical model for the ways in which one form of close social relationship, friendship, relates to early school-based literacy. The paper defines friendship as a dyadic, mutual relationship. The paper suggests that…

The research on cooperative scripts is brought together using a model that provides an overview of the learning processes involved and the outcomes to be expected from the use of certain scripts. By providing such a framework, the wealth of research may be compared and generalized, thereby promoting its instructional utility. The Cognitive…

Cognitive development is driven by experience, but is mediated by domain general processes, which include learning, induction, and analogy. The concepts children understand, and the strategies they develop based on that understanding, depend on the complexity of the representation they can construct. Conceptual complexity can be defined in terms…

Information processing theories have been very useful in psychology. The application of information processing literature to communication, however, requires definitions of audiences and definitions of messages relevant to information-processing theories. In order to establish the relevant aspect of audiences, a multiple-stage model of audiences…

In earlier times, practically everything was taught by apprenticeships. Schools are a recent invention that use many fewer teaching resources, but the computer enables us to go back to the resource-intensive mode of education, in a form called cognitive apprenticeship. This involves the use of modeling, coaching, reflecting on performance, and…

The time has come to re-evaluate the metaphors used when people think about composition. Such a re-evaluation is under way and may affect composition theory, research models, and classroom practice well into the future. Robert Zoellner rejected the prevailing metaphor for teaching writing which equates the act of thinking with the act of writing.…

Considerable discussion and debate have been devoted to the extent and nature of structural or functional correspondence between internal representations and their external visual counterparts. An analogue representation or process is one in which the relational structure of external events is preserved in the corresponding internal…

In the present study, cognitive performance was examined by analysing a path model which included family environment variables, social status indicators, and a set of enabling conditions consisting of self-esteem, attitudes toward schoolwork and educational and occupational aspirations. (Editor)

Deaf children's thought processes are analyzed in regard to J. Piaget's theory of cognitive development. (Author)