Examined whether superior recall of items in event-based categorical relations, or "slot fillers," remained when association and typicality were controlled. Found that only children receiving the typical + high association slot-filler list showed significantly better recall than with the taxonomic-coordinate list, with no differences…

Among junior high school students at risk of dropout, 45 with cognitive skill deficits were taught using the Cognitive-Based Instructional System (CBIS) and compared with 27 controls. Teachers using CBIS felt empowered to engineer instruction for at-risk students; CBIS's reflection in action helped change their beliefs about teaching and learning.…

Describes use of the Learning Spiral and its stages--engage, investigate, share, and assess--to create a developmentally appropriate, child-centered learning environment for science instruction. Focuses on second-grade students' investigation of owls' behavior. Considers the learning partnership between teacher and students and the individual…

Interview with artist Ilka List describes her research: collecting 1872 drawings from rural and urban second- and third-grade children to determine the impact of environmental experiences on children's art, sense of self, and cognitive and emotional abilities. Children with a broad range of outdoor, nature-oriented experiences had greater spatial…

Examined cognitive and academic test scores in follow-up of 104 of 111 original participants in Abecedarian Project. Found that project children attained higher scores on both cognitive and academic tests, with moderate to large treatment effect sizes observed through age 21. Preschool cognitive gains accounted for a substantial portion of…

Argues that an evolutionary account provides insight into developmental function and individual differences. Outlines some assumptions of evolutionary psychology related to development. Introduces the developmental systems approach, differential influence of natural selection at different points in ontogeny, and development of evolved…

Examines the effect of 3 different types of multimedia simulation (physical, procedural, and process) for teaching the concept of energy to 14-year-old students. Pre- and posttest results showed significant, consistent cognitive gain for the physical simulation; and a more complex and varied pattern of interaction between type of simulation and…

Identifies the social characteristics associated with maternal depression and reviews research on the relationship between mothers' depression and emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems in their children. Considers the role of social support, especially from a partner, in protecting women against depression. Concludes that mothers'…

Examined the impact of day-care participation during the first 3 years of life on the cognitive functioning of 867 school age children who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Found that children from impoverished homes who started day care before age one had higher reading scores than children from similar homes who did not…

Examines the development of children's understanding of the difference between "want" and "need" in two different experiments. The first experiment required the children to respond verbally in choosing between the two concepts; the second required them to give an object to one of two characters who had made a request using…

Describes a teacher's experience with students during their first- and second-grade years. Claims that meaningful learning in a variety of curricular areas occurs when children are interested in a topic. Suggests that teachers capitalize on these situations and create learning experiences that reflect those outside the classroom. Suggests the use…

Examined whether 2-year-olds can learn a novel part name of an unfamiliar object when adult demonstrates action upon object. Asked 24 Japanese 2-year-olds to choose referent for a whole object and part of the object in forced choice tests. Found that young children are able to override whole object assumption when actions of parts of objects are…

Analyzes the use of the commutative property for solving multiplication problems by children who learn about multiplication in schools and by street vendors who solve multiplication problem through repeated addition. Concludes that the use of commutativity to solve multiplication problems is closely related to the use of multiplication. Contains…

Compared performance of first and second graders with normal intelligence but with learning disabilities (LD) in mathematics, reading, or both and children with variable achievement test performance to that of academically normal peers on experimental and psychometric tasks. Found that LD groups showed specific cognitive deficit patterns; children…

Extends William James' classification of phenomenalistic reality (PR) and analyzes PR using empirical data available in developmental psychology; focuses on the relation of PR to a human subject; to rational constructions; and to the idea of truth. Concludes that the development of phenomenalistic reality is qualitatively different from the…