This paper debates the usefulness and plausibility of the notion of cognitive structures. The cornerstone of the theory of cognitive philosophy is the claim that the epistemic process is mediated by mental representations that constitute both the knowledge base and interpretations of sensory experience of individuals. Cognitive theorists typically…

In educational psychology research the concept "prior knowledge" is not always clearly described, but it is important to distinguish prior knowledge state (PKS) components as well as possible and to elucidate the relations among these elements. An in-case-study was conducted into the operationalizing of the concept of prior knowledge and…

The pamphlet reviews cognitive and developmental psychology research in which skilled and less skilled performance patterns and mechanisms have been compared. Knowledge has been described, in theory, in terms of an associative network in which concepts are represented as the nodes of the net, and relations between concepts serve as associative…

Cognitive psychologists and measurement specialists have identified several methods for assessing students' knowledge structures. Applications of the Concept Structure Analysis Technique and MicroCAM (a computer-aided method) are described. Other research into schema knowledge is noted. These assessment procedures provide information about student…

This paper reviewed literature on cognition to help art teachers understand what they can learn from the huge body of literature that has been generated by cognitive psychologists. It is argued that, in this information society, teaching memorization skills is not enough; students must learn problem-solving skills. A long list of specific thinking…

Trends in emphases in the study of clinical reasoning are examined, with attention to three major branches of research: problem-solving, knowledge engineering, and propositional analysis. There has been a general progression from a focus on the generic form of clinical reasoning to an emphasis on medical content that supports the reasoning…

Analyses of the cognitive activity displayed by students on existing innovative assessments in science were conducted. The project has worked with pilot alternative assessment programs in Connecticut and California to document the match or mismatch between the skills and processes that the assessment is designed to tap and those actually elicited.…