This paper reports on a 14-year follow-up study of two developmentally retarded Japanese children, a brother and sister, who had been kept shut up in a small shack before being rescued (at ages 5 and 6 respectively). Following birth they consistently suffered malnutrition, maternal deprivation, social isolation from adults, language deprivation,…

In an effort to describe the linguistic relational categories used by elementary school children, 75 children in grades one through six were asked to complete a puzzle by placing each of three identical triangles on a drawing of a fish, one on the dorsal, one on the ventral, and one on the tail. A piece of Velcro was attached to the back of two…

Given the opportunity to tell and write their own stories directly after hearing folk tales, 15 children, aged 7 to 10, used methods similar to those of professional adult writers to reshape 52 traditional tales. Three times, children retold the original tale; in 9 cases, they borrowed heavily from the original, retaining concrete details and…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate children's understanding of the relationship of narrators to the texts they narrate and how children's developing cognitive abilities influence that understanding. The subjects, 164 children aged 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10, heard a series of short passages containing several characters, one of whom was the…

Over 800 studies suggest that students who learn via cooperative learning groups--as compared to competitive or individualistic learning--(1) achieve more; (2) are more positive about school, subject areas, and teachers; (3) are more positive about each other, regardless of ability or ethnic background, handicapped or not; and (4) are more…

The influence of intelligence, self-concept, and causal attributions on metamemory and the metamemory-memory behavior relationship in grade-school children was studied. Following the assessment of intelligence, self-concept, and causal attributions, 105 children each from grades 3, 5, and 7 were given a metamemory interview and a sort-recall task.…

This experiment explored how incorporating the importance of task strategy use and positive achievement beliefs into cognitive modeling affected self-efficacy and skill acquisition. Students deficient in division skills received cognitive modeling of division solution strategies and practice opportunities. For one group of students the cognitive…

During the first half of the 1988-89 school year, the Chapter 1 Prekindergarten Program of the School District of the City of Saginaw, Michigan, screened 488 children and served 446. Process evaluation data on cognitive, psychomotor, parent participation, education, language development, and scheduling activities in 13 classrooms revealed that:…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a preservice science methods course emphasizing the mastery of selected science process skills on the level of development of logical thinking of students majoring in elementary school education. The problem was investigated for one semester with experimental subjects in their junior year,…

This paper discusses ways in which the innate act of "telling" can be used in teaching to strengthen the bond between teacher and student and enrich the process of learning. The paper offers an intuitive rationale for using "telling" as a teaching mode in the community college classroom and provides a formal explanation of "telling" based on the…

The reviews of articles contained in this issue have been grouped into those dealing with research related to cognitive development and to instruction. In addition, seven science education researchers have provided responses to critiques of their published research. Included are: (1) an analysis of an article designed to persuade researchers to…

The value of developmental baseline information is examined from an educational point of view. Data from studies on preschool children and primary and secondary school students that were carried out in Singapore are focal to the discussion. Sections of the paper concern: (1) assumptions about the value of baseline data on human development and…

Input language may have an effect on child development that goes far beyond language development alone. Language is the medium by which children acquire at least a portion of their sex role and social class or group characteristics, world view, and emotional and psychological well-being. Existing theories of psychological development ignore…

This paper outlines the components of initial cognitive skill acquisition and analyses features of elaborations in the instructional materials that can facilitate each component. Three basic components of skill learning are identified: (1) learning novel concepts and the functionality of novel concepts and procedures; (2) learning how to execute…

A total of 61 Belgian boys and girls who were 5 and 7 years old participated in an experiment which aimed at enhancing their giving and helping behavior. Treatment basically involved the induction of empathy. Children in the experimental group were told stories by their teacher in which the hero meets secondary characters who are in need and acts…