Discusses how behavioral objectives and knowledge are related, what form a performance test theory should take, why some people can skip prerequisites whereas others cannot, how people discover new information, the relationship between content and performance analysis, and, how one might apply the structural approach in adaptive instruction.…

Examined the relationship between infants' attachment quality and attention and memory at 3.5 years. Found that insecure/avoidant and insecure/ambivalent children looked away from mother-child drawings more than secure children. Secure children better recalled stories in which mothers responded sensitively than did insecure/avoidant children, and…

Studies have shown that adults can recognize and recall material they have learned but not understood. When the material must be understood to be applied, however, comprehenders and noncomprehenders are not equally successful. An experiment using 63 fifth-grade students found the same pattern of results for children. (Author/TD)

Notes that psycholinguists have studied "fast mapping," and behavior analysts have studied the phenomenon of"learning by exclusion." Reviews the research protocols, questions, and outcomes of these two research lines to show their clear similarities, to support the argument that both disciplines are studying a single…

A study of four seventh-graders using an open-ended learning environment (OELE) on mechanical physics combining computer-generated graphics, computer simulations, video, and print-based materials indicated that while learners built and formalized scientific theories, in some cases, they assimilated new data into existing theories, ignored…

Discusses the organization and retrieval of information. Describes the tip-of-the-tongue state during mathematics problem solving. Provides five rules for a deep level of processing of new concepts. (YP)

Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) science superitems were examined from the perspectives of Guttman Scaling (deterministic) and Item Response Theory (probabilistic). Differences between the measurement bases for the two approaches, and the results for a small case study, are reported. (Author/MLW)

Two experiments, with 300 adult women as subjects, studied the effects of laboratory training on the use of the Conjunction Rule, a principle of probability that is often violated. Learning alternative strategies enabled trained subjects to use extensional reasoning rather than intensional heuristics. (SLD)

Two studies on M-capacity found factor-analytical and correlational evidence that five M-capacity tests share a common source of variance and that, as subjects' increase in age, scores increase at a similar rate. Results suggest that, in the 6-11 age range, M-capacity can be measured with a battery of tests. (AA)

Analyzes the cognitive processes and kinds of knowledge needed to work in a scientific domain like physics. Discusses the processes needed to interpret scientific concepts, uses of quantitative and qualitative descriptions, hierarchical ways of organizing scientific knowledge, and processes facilitating problem solving. Describes the use of these…

Presents new evidence that everyday mood does bring about a hypothesized effect on memory, termed mood-congruent memory (MCM). Results of three studies provided evidence for MCM among normal individuals (n=614). Findings support prior studies and bolster notions that mood and memory constantly covary in everyday experience. (RJM)

Considers the unique cognitive and intellectual factors that influence the learning and education of older adults. Reviews research on patterns of intellectual and cognitive aging and the implications of patterns in attention, memory, information retrieval, and tolerance for interference in the development of cognitive training programs for older…

Studies the performance of a novice Spanish student using a Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system designed for vocabulary enlargement. Results indicate that introspective evidence may be used to validate performance data within a theoretical framework that characterizes the learning approach as "surface" or "deep." (25 references)…

Two experiments explored the relationship between conceptual and procedural knowledge. Results revealed that fourth and sixth graders made computational errors even though they possessed conceptual knowledge. Fifth graders mastered conceptual knowledge before procedural knowledge. Results support the dynamic interaction theory. (BC)

Four experiments confirmed the widely accepted hypothesis that, although children as young as two engage in pretend play, even four and five year olds do not understand that pretending requires mental representation. Children appear to misconstrue pretense as its common external manifestations, such as actions, until at least age six. (MDM)