Piaget's theories of the structure of knowledge, constructivist learning, and stages of development in thinking have been a cornerstone of cognitive psychology and teacher education for half a century (Piaget, 1983). More recently, his ideas about stages of cognitive development have received criticism from many quarters (Weiten, 1992), including…

"Child Development and Learning" integrates concepts of learning and development into one comprehensive text for understanding child development. At its core is the belief that learning and development are intertwined. As children learn, they also develop. As children develop, they also learn. With an understanding of how children…

One possible way of evaluating set curricula is to examine the consistency of study programmes with students' psycho-cognitive development. Three theories were used to evaluate matching between developmental theories and content proposed in the mathematics programmes (geometry section) for primary and the beginning of secondary education. These…

This article describes an initiative undertaken by a coalition of psychologists (Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education) from the American Psychological Association (APA) to identify the top 20 principles from psychological science relevant to teaching and learning in the classroom. This article identifies these principles and their…

This paper is based on a presentation given at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 2005 in Anaheim, California. It explicates the developmental stages of the child as posited by Piaget. The author then ties each of the stages to developmentally appropriate mathematics instruction. The implications in terms of not imposing…

Theoretical concepts from multivariate developmental psychology and systems theory are used to describe qualitative and quantitative change in three cognitive subsystems: perceiving, conceptualizing, and symbolizing. Available from: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut Street, Norwood, New Jersey 07648. (CL)

The cognitive development of 125 gifted 10-to 15-year-old students was compared to that of 98 normal Ss. Results supported the invariance of stage progression but revealed that gifted Ss progress more quickly and demonstrate earlier transition to succeeding developmental stages. (CL)

A nonverbal assessment procedure designed to characterize cognition using a Piagetian framework was administered to six autistic children, (4.8 to 15.2 years old). All six children evidenced competence beyond sensorimotor Stage VI and demonstrated cognitive functioning between the periods of early preoperational and concrete operations. (Author)

Describes cognitive levels matching (CLM) as a process by which teachers informally and formally assess students' cognitive levels and adapt instruction according to students' needs. Discusses four informal strategies that can assist teachers in acquiring developmental perspective basic to CLM. (CMG)

To investigate developmental differences in time-sharing performance, 60 boys, 20 in each of three age groups (7-, 10-, and 13-year-olds) performed an auditory matching task and a tracking task alone and concurrently, the latter under two sets of instructions. (Author/JH)

Indicates how research about the physiology and chemistry of the brain verifies the educational applications of Piaget's theory. Discusses maturation, experience, social transmission, and equilibration. (Author/DC)

An evaluation of Peter Bryant's criticisms of Piaget shows that Piaget's work is still a suitable psychological resource for educational thinking. Piaget's constructivist theory has undergone recent revision and is, therefore, of interest to those with psychological or educational commitments to constructivism. (Author/RM)

Literature indicating a correlation between age/grade of students and spurt and plateau periods of brain growth is reviewed. Suggestions for teachers based on the review are provided. These include indexing learning and behavior events to brain growth spurt/plateau periods, using spurt times to introduce novel intellectual materials, and others.…

Exposes the structural-functionalist roots of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, questioning the application of Kohlberg's ideas in the classroom, reviewing Kohlberg's Just Community model, examining Durkheim's and Dreeben's theories and their similarity to Kohlberg's moral theory, critiquing Kohlberg's conception of the Just Community…