In Dodge's model of "social information processing" depression is the result of a linear sequence of five stages of information processing ("Annu Rev Psychol" 44: 559-584, 1993). These stages follow a person's reaction to situational stimuli, such that each stage of information processing mediates the relationship between earlier and later stages.…

This study examined the features of peer argumentation in middle school students' scientific inquiry. Participants were two boys and six girls in grade 8 of a middle school in Seoul, Korea. Students engaged in open inquiry activities in small groups. Each group prepared the report for peer review and then, during the peer discussion, presented…

A learning model describes how learning occurs, and two major classifications of models are objectivism and constructivism. A. D. Carswell (2001) notes that "within an objectivist schema, the instructor identifies the course objectives required of students and then systematically arranges the content to reach those goals." Constructivism, on the…

In this article, the author provides a concise discussion on creativity, defining the term, sharing theoretical background information and offering insights into promoting creativity in online university classes. Emphasis will be placed on relevant ways to integrate creativity into instructional activities across the academic disciplines. He…

Research regarding the cognitive processing of students with learning disabilities, mild mental handicap, and emotional handicap is reviewed. In considering cognitive processing for students with mild mental handicap, research attention has been directed to the issues of memory and learning, acquisition and retrieval deficits, inefficient…

The pursuit of a science of mind has been marked by persistent conceptual tension. At one pole, exemplified by Piaget, the mind is characterized in terms of overarching principles. At the other end of the continuum, theory is more concerned with modeling particulars, as represented by the information processing model. This paper explores the…

Related to the earlier ACT production system theory, this book's basic goal is to present evidence for the psychological reality of a production system model of mind. Distinguished from the original theory in three ways, this volume uses previous rational analyses to improve upon that theory and extend its scope. It also relates the theory to new…

Constructed-response formats are desired for measuring complex and dynamic response processes that require the examinee to understand the structures of problems and micro-level cognitive tasks. These micro-level tasks and their organized structures are usually unobservable. This study shows that elementary graph theory is useful for organizing…

Mental retardation, learning disabilities, and intellectual giftedness have long been separated as different fields. In the past decade research findings suggested a continuity within the general intelligence spectrum which place the gifted on one extreme and the retarded on the other, as well as a two dimensional taxonomy of intellectual…

A discussion of writing looks at research on the factors influencing written discourse and proposes a model of writing for academic purposes. First, studies of both cultural and individual aspects of the writing process are reviewed and the phenomenon of writing is viewed from both social and cognitive perspectives. The social perspective is that…

This paper presents a four-component instructional design model for the training of complex cognitive skills. In the analysis phase, each skill is broken down into a set of recurrent skills that remain highly consistent over various problem situations, and a set of non-recurrent skills that require variable performance over different situations.…

A research project was undertaken to (1) identify the major cognitive processes involved in expository writing, (2) test a model of the organization of those processes, and (3) identify teachable aids that could be used by poor and average adult writers to improve their writing skills. Subjects were expert and novice student writers at…

The process of getting a thought out of the mind and onto paper can be divided into five major categories: (1) discovering the word, (2) excavating the mythic word from the subconscious, (3) perceiving the word in the conscious, (4) verbalizing the expressed word, and (5) comprehending the unsaid word. When humans experience anything, their minds…

This paper presents an overview of systems theory as an introduction to the applications possible to a model of burnout. Literature dealing with burnout is reviewed and shown to be in an early, descriptive stage, with basic concepts largely unchallenged. Meier's (1982) expanded model of burnout, based on current cognitive-behavioral and vocational…

Cognitive process instruction takes a constructivist view of education and emphasizes that students must be actively involved in learning, not merely recipients of information. Four basic descriptive model-building frameworks characterize the work related to cognitive process instruction: (1) a developmental framework, (2) a microanalytic…