Evaluations of the relationship of curriculum programs to Jean Piaget's developmental psychology theory are reviewed. These programs include Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS), Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), Family of Man (FOM), and Social Encounter and Research Curriculum for Humanization (SEARCH). Piagetian based research results are…

This publication contains eight papers, selected from papers presented at the Bicentennial Conference on Early Childhood Education, that discuss different aspects of teaching practices. The first two chapters reexamine basic assumptions underlying the organization of curriculum experiences for young children. Chapter 3 discusses the need to…

This collection of nine papers, prepared for a conference held at Northwestern University in 1978, presents varied perspectives on applied problem solving. Assessing applied problem solving, planning for interest and motivation, developing a theory, reviewing research findings, considering learning disabilities, analyzing through information…

Originally presented at a symposium on cognition and written language, the 14 papers in this collection discuss research findings regarding reading and writing processes, ways that the development of effective reading and writing can be abetted by instruction, and research needs in the area of cognition and written language. The papers focus on…

THIS PAPER IS CONCERNED WITH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHNIC OR OTHER SUBGROUP MEMBERSHIP AND THE INDIVIDUAL'S COGNITIVE STYLE. THE COGNITIVE STYLE CHOSEN FOR INVESTIGATION HERE IS THAT OF FIELD-DEPENDENCE OR INDEPENDENCE. THE TWO ETHNIC-RELIGIOUS SUBCULTURES INVESTIGATED WERE JEWISH AND WHITE ANGLO-SAXON PROTESTANT. IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT…

The study analyzed teacher-pupil interaction in the classes of nine experimental (E) and eight control (C) teachers and their 167 mentally retarded pupils (mean age = 10.2, mean IQ = 68.76) The E-teachers were given 32 training sessions in an experimental curriculum and the inductive teaching method. Classes were tape recorded for 1 day. Analysis…

The study identified what influence university laboratory attandance had upon cognitive and attitudinal dimensions of gifted secondary school students (IQ's above 125). Tests from the Guilford battery, a self concept scale, and an adaptation of the Coleman Attitude Scale were administered to both the laboratory and the secondary school populations…

Simple and complex learning and problem solving situations were employed with mentally retarded children and adults. In the Rotation-Discrimination Complex and the Size-Discrimination Simple experiments, upper and lower test achievement subgroups were subjected to two basic types of visual discrimination at different levels of task complexity.…

A. R. Luria, in his conception of the verbal control of behavior, regards four fundamental and distinctive functional attributes of the human speech system as making up a signaling system that humans alone possess: (1) the nominative role of language, (2) the generalizing or semantic role, (3) the communicative role, and (4) the role of…

Recall lists were presented to 40 black lower class and 40 white middle class children in this experiment. The purpose of the study was to examine a possible explanation of the relatively poor performance of black and lower class children on tasks requiring abstract learning abilities. It was reasoned that the threshold for the production of…

This is a description of an instructional method called Counseling-Learning or Counselearning, which combines principles of learning theory with counseling attitudes and techniques. This method can be applied to any learning situation, and when applied to second language learning it is called Community Language Learning. The method is predicated…

The acquisition of the consonant system by a child acquiring Mexican-Spanish as her native language is described. During the earliest stages (from 1;7 to 2;1 years of age), the data showed several phenomena that could best be accounted for by assuming a central role for the word as the basic unit being acquired. The evidence for the centrality of…

Two papers on teaching methods are presented. The first concerns an experiment that tested the relative effectiveness of three teaching methods: an uninterrupted lecture, a tape-recording, and reading a prescribed text. The three-way research design used the three teaching methods, three groups of six student teachers of physical medicine between…

The inferior performance of external locus of control (LOC) subjects (Ss) on achievement tests has been attributed by many researchers to cognitive and perceptual deficiencies. Several studies have shown that advance organizers (AO) which provide optimal anchorage and mobilize existing relevant concepts, facilitate learning of verbal material.…

The purpose of this study was to empirically test a set of predictions implied by the Model of Conceptual Learning and Development using the concept of cutting tool. Four subtests were developed to assess a subject's ability to perform at each of four successive levels of concept attainment (concrete, identity, classificatory and formal). In…