Explores the role of premature cognitive closure in the development of inferential reasoning among 62 children aged 7, 9, and 12 years through two studies. Results indicate that despite a strong tendency to close on single alternatives, most children correctly assigned nonzero probabilities to each of the possible alternatives. (RJC)

Studied the ages at which 240 children in grades one to five read and transformed times given in analog and digital displays, linked times to activities, and judged the order of hours in the day. Findings indicated that digital time reading was well developed by the first grade. (RJC)

The performance of 10 language-learning disabled ninth graders was compared to that of 16 normally achieving ninth graders and 10 normally achieving fourth graders on a modified Piagetian problem solving task sensitive to cognitive changes in early adolescence. Results suggested significant conceptual limitations in the language-learning disabled…

Investigates the development of the appearance-reality distinction in 24 children of 5 years, 24 undergraduates, and 12 adults. Results suggest that there is a transitional period in the development of the distinction that begins around age 5 years. (RJC)

Critiques findings and interpretations of an investigation of the role of schooling and urbanization on the acquisition of conservation of physical quantities in Senegalese children. Concludes that the investigation showed a smaller impact of schooling, even in the rural milieu, than a previous study of Senegalese children. (RJC)

In Europe preschools are viewed as providers of both child care and early education. Preschool programs there are optional, universally available, and designed to further children's social and cognitive development. In the advanced industrialized world, only the U.S. and Great Britain are still debating differences between care and education.…

Examines the ability of 140 children of 3-5 years to use functional standards to judge size. The ability to use nonegocentric functional standards was present by age 3. However, 3-year-olds performed above chance only when their attention was directed to the relevant function. (RJC)

Reviewed are the causes of oxygenation deprivation during the birth process, effects on the brain, clinical manifestations, developmental consequences in terms of cognitive and motor deficits, and implications for educators. (JDD)

Outlines a theory of metaphor that posits varying levels of semantic processing and formalizes the levels in terms of kinds of semantic mapping operators. Predicted complexity of semantic mapping operators was tested using metaphor interpretations of 204 children aged 6-12 years and 24 adults. Processing score increased predictably with age. (SAK)

The study found that transfer of training by mentally handicapped adults receiving Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment program could not be demonstrated in clients' workshop or job placement (far transfer) settings. Transfer was demonstrated on specific tasks designed to measure cognitive abilities developed by the program (near transfer). (DB)

Extends parallel of cognitive and moral development to levels of spiritual development and denominational choice. Suggests with an awareness of the client's level of spiritual development, the therapist can be of greater assistance to clients asking for assistance in clarification of spiritual dilemmas. (Author/ABL)

Examined Piaget's claim that young children have difficulties constructing common multiples because of an inability to abstract the number of actions performed to obtain a number of objects. Subjects were two groups of preschool children in sharing tasks. Results showed improvement in performance based on certain conditions, but the significance…

This study observed naturalistic humor in six young children with autism and six matched children with Down's syndrome, as they interacted with their mothers. Autistic children produced and appreciated humor to a limited extent, but they produced less humor overall and less humor involving nonverbal incongruity compared to matched controls.…

Implicit understanding of false belief was investigated by monitoring where preschoolers looked in anticipation of a protagonist reappearing, when the protagonist mistakenly thinks that his desired object is in a different place from where it really is. Two-year olds erroneously looked at the object's real location whereas most older children…

Five experiments examined three-year olds' ability to complete a false belief task that was manipulated in terms of their grasp of the narrative base. Children who failed a traditional task succeeded if they narrated the book version back to the experimenter. The results suggest that the structure of three-year olds' event memories is central to…