Forty-three first-grade children, who had received no formal instruction in addition and subtraction, were individually administered 20 problems that could be solved using addition or subtraction. The problems were selected to represent the following semantic types: joining, separating, part-part-whole, comparison, and equalizing. Responses were…

In the study of mathematics instruction the focus has changed from the outcomes of learning to the cognitive processes involved in mathematics learning. This new emphasis presents a serious challenge for curriculum design, but it may also lead to more success for students in learning mathematics. (Author/VM)

The need to provide understandable problems and ways to help children understand problems are explored. An interview with a sixth grader depicts his incorrect strategies and leads to suggestions for teaching problem solving using a range of mathematical models for each operation. (MNS)

An information-processing model was tested for a laboratory visualization task that represents one adaptation of a standardized spatial ability test. The pattern of results suggests that individual differences are a function of differences in the accuracy and/or quality of the mental representation, not just speed of processing. (Author/BW)

The problem-solving strategies used by 10 radiologists and 10 radiology residents during the interpretation of difficult mammograms were examined under two experimental conditions. In the "authentic" condition, standard unmarked mammograms were used. On a second set of the same cases for the "augmented" condition, mammographic…

The relative importance of different cognitive subprocesses in Bender performance was studied with Black middle-class first graders. Results suggest that the Bender owes much of its clinical validity to loadings across all stages of human information processing. Kagan's hypothesis on conceptual tempo in Bender performance is also analyzed. (SJL)

Presents a human-computer interaction (HCI) conceptions model designed to help in the understanding of the cognitive processes involved when college students learn to program computers. Examines syntactic and algorithmic HCI operational errors and reviews conceptions based on natural language reasoning, independent computer reasoning, and…

This study examined the effectiveness of a metacourse consisting of eight lessons interspersed over a semester-long beginning course in BASIC and aimed at providing mental models, problem-solving strategies, key concepts, and other heuristic structures. The experimental group consisted of 6 teachers who taught 9 classes of a total of 132 high…

This study was designed to follow up earlier work on mapping instruction. The two main goals were to: (1) test the effectiveness of mapping instruction as a general cure for "buggy" subtraction algorithms, and (2) explore two alternative explanations of how this new form of instruction works. It was hypothesized that mapping cures bugs…

This report describes an in-depth analysis of the errors made by users of SOLO, a programming language written for Open University students studying cognitive psychology. The study was designed to (1) determine the effectiveness of SOLO's current error-handling routines by evaluating how often SOLO produced "sensible" messages or…

This report reviews some ostensibly conflicting empirical findings which have been reported in conjunction with Elkind's (1967) conjecture that Piaget's conservation problems tap two distinct concepts. The discrepant findings which report on the order of emergence of identity conservation and equivalence conservation are discussed. An analysis of…

An overall schema of interpretation for programming instructors is given, so that the misconceptions students develop in programming can be determined more readily. Types of language-independent and -dependent bugs, how they can be identified, and how to help students overcome them are addressed. (MNS)

Argues that learning to spell is a developmental process and reviews research showing that errors made by poor spellers can indicate the point at which that development has broken down. Discusses some of the linguistic strategies students must acquire to become proficient spellers and offers teaching suggestions for helping students develop a…

Focuses on differences occurring with age and reading skill in the use of phonemic codes in short-term retention tasks where stimuli were presented visually. Subjects were groups of average readers in grades two, four, and six; superior readers in grade four; and disabled readers in grades four and six from three public schools. (Author/RH)

The process of transition from a novice's state to that of an expert, in the domain of decimals, is described in terms of explicit, intermediate, and transitional rules which are consistent yet erroneous. Data from students in grades 6-9 are included. (MNS)