Four experiments examined children's inferences about the relation between objects' internal parts and their causal properties. In Experiment 1, 4-year-olds recognized that objects with different internal parts had different causal properties, and those causal properties transferred if the internal part moved to another object. In Experiment 2,…

The purpose of this article is to describe four methods for completing the conceptual development phase of theory building research for single or multiparadigm research. The four methods selected for this review are (1) Weick's method of "theorizing as disciplined imagination" (1989); (2) Whetten's method of "modeling as theorizing" (2002); (3)…

Nearly 20 years after the release of The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics' video, "A Private Universe", much research has been done in relation to students' understanding of space-science concepts and how to effectively change these ideas. However, student difficulties with basic space-science concepts still persist. This article will…

Students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are confronted with multiple external representations (MERs) in their learning materials. The ability to learn from and communicate with these MERs requires not only that students comprehend each representation individually but also that students recognize how the…

This paper reports on the learning of difficult and complex concepts, the characteristics of these concepts that make them difficult for students to learn and understand well, the kinds of misconceptions students acquire, and the difficulty of changing these mistaken beliefs. A scheme, the Conceptual Stability Scheme, is presented for analyzing a…

From the insights of ancient and modern commentators and historical and psychological research, the author strived to determine briefly: (1) what Thales meant by his statements, (2) how he came to such conclusions, and (3) why such conclusions are now regarded as marking the dawn of Western philosophy. (Author/RK)

This article claimed that the discourse of ordinary people concealed at least four significantly divergent conceptions of moral education, and showed how the implications for curriculum which flow from each of these differ seriously. (Editor/RK)

Investigated the thought patterns of children classified as "nonanimistic." It was found that the subjects did not fully grasp the implications of the life concept as certain life-related concepts were more accurately generalized than others. (DP)

Two experiments tested the Conceptual Dependency Theory, stating that verbs are represented in memory as combinations of actions and relations encoding underlying conceptual structure. Experiment I results supported the conceptual complexity hypothesis, while II rejected complexity for imagery as the predictor of performance. (CHK)

Article considered the source, nature, and role of values in human behavior. (Author/RK)

Based on an M.A. thesis (Snow) submitted to McGill University.

This paper presents a formulation of a constructivist perspective and shows how it is applicable to teacher education. (CM)

A dimension of sexuality is defined as a form of knowledge and is situated in Piaget's existing theory of cognitive development. Investigates whether sexual egocentrism is comparable to cognitive egocentrism at each stage of sexual development. Uses D. Elkind's (1967) explication of egocentrism and how it is overcome throughout the sexual stages.…

The authors examine two prominent learning theories, Bruner's cognitive approach and Skinner's operant conditioning approach, hoping to "construct a 'mix' of the two traditions that really has something to say to educational practitioners. (Authors/LS)