Research in the psychology of mathematics education has been confronted with the fact that people blatantly fail to solve tasks they are supposed to be able to solve correctly given their available domain-specific knowledge and skills. Also researchers in cognitive psychology have encountered such phenomena. In this paper, theories that have been…

Researchers concerned with the issue of children's play are urged to read the book "Children's Play: Current Theory and Research" edited by D. J. Pepler and K. H. Rubin which provides an up-to-date review of the conceptual, methodological and developmental issues related to children's play. (MP)

In his 1979 "Human Development" article reprinted in this anniversary issue, James Wertsch presented an approach to genetic analysis of the shifting regulation of problem-solving behavior in early childhood. In my reflections on Wertsch's seminal contribution, I discuss ways that subsequent inquiry built upon ideas he elaborated in the…

This paper focuses on the relation between two areas of research which owe a great debt to the work of Giyoo Hatano: the ways in which the use of the abacus mediates arithmetic problem solving and the way in which the use of the kanji writing system mediates the interpretation of unfamiliar words. These examples are related to L. S. Vygotsky's…

Pragmatic and semantic problem solving are examined as processes that enhance acquisition of mathematical knowledge. It is suggested that development of mathematical cognition involves restructuring and that math teachers can help restructure children's knowledge systems by providing them with situations in which semantic and pragmatic problem…

Proposes a three-level model of cognitive processing to account for complex monitoring when individuals are faced with ill-structured problems (i.e., problems on which opposing or contradictory evidence and opinion exists). (Author/RH)

Two aspects of dialectical psychology are considered: the synthesis of a larger cognitive system from two previously separate parent systems, and a demonstration of how and why dialogue undergoes continual change with occasional eruptions of logical contradictions. (JMB)

Describes an ethological approach to the study of intelligence and results of observational research of problem-solving behavior in everyday situations. Nine toddlers and preschoolers were observed. Reactions to situations blocking ongoing behavior were recorded. "Blocks" included situations where the child wanted something that was…

Results of four studies to improve problem solving among the elderly indicated that it is easier to change performance through direct training on problem-solving skills than through manipulating peripheral, noncognitive factors such as motivation, practice, self confidence, and time to plan. (Author/DB)

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Discusses the overall conveyed message: The human cognitive system is a thematically organized knowledge base with agentive causality as the main mechanism for explain phenomena and analogy as the main mechanism for promoting conceptual…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Suggests that different approaches to knowledge acquisition and conceptual change should be carefully examined in light of their implications for the teaching of science. Discusses critically the issues advanced from the Japanese…

Outlines Piaget's late ideas on categories and morphisms and the impact of these ideas on the comprehension of the inclusion relationship and the solution of arithmetic problems. Reports a study in which fourth through sixth graders were given arithmetic problems involving two known quantities associated with changes rather than states. Identified…

Discusses many factors involved in determining the complex nature of a child's knowledge base. Includes three kinds of considerations: 1) task-oriented criteria; 2) motivational elements; and 3) the relationship between personality and performance. (Author/CS)

Groups of middle-aged and elderly men and women were compared on three problem solving tasks, including written problems, the 20-questions procedure, and problems administered on a Heuristic Evaluation Problem Programmer. (MS)