Four studies with kindergarten through fifth graders and adults examined the development of reasoning about the origins of psychological traits. Results suggested an age-related increase in the tendency to distinguish among different psychological traits, and that over time, individuals come to believe that psychological traits are determined…

Assessed the impact of elementary science experiences on the development of sixth-graders' epistemological views. Found that, compared to students in a traditional science classroom, those in a constructivist classroom developed an epistemological stance toward science that focused on the central role of ideas in the knowledge acquisition process.…

Details a garden project as an example of how Reggio Emilia-inspired, long-term projects can enhance young children's representational thinking. Includes samples of children's conversations and drawings. Discusses the teacher's role in locating information and documenting the progress. Notes that well-planned, continual, active, concrete…

Examined a conversation among high school physics teachers concerning a classroom discussion and teacher-written essays about their first- and second-graders' early reasoning about triangles. The examination sought to: (1) gain insight into the inquiry of teaching; (2) explore similarities and differences between inquiry in teaching and in…

The functional play of children with autism (n=15) was compared to that of developmentally matched children with Down syndrome (n=15) and typical infants (n=15). The functional play of the children with autism was less elaborated, less varied, and less integrated than that of the controls. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Poor readers who met low achievement and IQ-discrepancy definitions of reading disability (n=54) were compared with non-impaired readers (n=325) on development of eight precursor and reading-related skills. Results indicate no evidence for differences between the two groups of poor readers in the development on the eight skills, with three…

Uses four children's explanations to illustrate their use of assimilation and inference in a butterfly life-cycle activity. Describes how interviewing young children about their understanding, and recording and reflecting upon their answers, can allow teachers to better understand how students process information and construct knowledge, and…

Calls for a process-oriented approach to study of categorization in infancy. Maintains that further understanding of infant categorization and its changes with development requires a more direct assessment of infants' category formation. Argues that two research directions will enhance understanding of categorization: (1) contextual variations on…

Examines the effects of 3 years of piano instruction on children's cognitive abilities. Finds that children's general cognitive and spatial abilities improved significantly, but those improvements were only temporary. Believes that the positive effects on the children's cognitive abilities were dependent upon their dedication to learning the…

Findings from observations of 64 8- and 9-year olds show that the use of exploratory talk, talking in which joint reasoning is made explicit, can improve group reasoning and that this exploratory talk can be taught and can transfer between educational contexts. Teaching exploratory talk also improved results on a nonverbal reasoning test. (SLD)

Describes the genesis of a developmental critical-thinking course offered at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) that melds two imperatives: to provide a comprehensive developmental-education program and to satisfy the critical-thinking requirements of the job market and the university. Provides some preliminary evaluation results from faculty…

Investigated the impact of parental substance abuse on development of children in foster care. Found that although foster children presented low average cognitive scores, they improved significantly in cognitive functioning during placement. Children with prenatal drug exposure scored significantly lower but made more progress than other children…

Investigated the role of behavioral style and cognitive performance as predictors of cognitive development in extremely low-birth-weight children assessed at age 2 and again at age 4. Found stability of cognitive performance from 2 to 4 years of age; this as well as behavior style and orientation-engagement predicted subsequent cognitive…

Discusses Montessori theories for development of social, moral, cognitive, and emotional dimensions of the human personality during the second plane of development--age six to puberty--as these theories relate to the theory of optimal experience. (JPB)

This article discusses how creative thinking can be encouraged in students through such classic tools as brainstorming and the productive thinking elements of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. It describes how fairy tales can be used to foster these thinking skills and suggests classroom activities. (Contains two references.) (CR)