Developmental spelling, the pattern resulting from different strategies that children use at various stages of cognitive development, is explained and five instructional activities supported by developmental spelling research are offered, including the importance of an environment emphasizing functional use of language and of opportunities for…

Profoundly retarded 3-10 year olds (N=24) were divided into three groups: two cognitive training programs--object permanence or means-end--and language only. Results of pre- and posttests revealed that the cognitive training approaches were successful in enabling the majority of Ss to learn to use speech. (CL)

Comparisons of age and test score correlations, comparisons of cross-sequential means, and trends of means for diagnostic subgroups and normal controls suggest developmental delay for all measured skills at all ages for autistic and schizophrenic children. Findings also suggest a trend for steady prepubertal cognitive skill development, followed…

The low predictive validity of infant tests is discussed in light of current issues in developmental psychology. Considers continuity and discontinuity in the development of early cognitive competence, intellectual heterogeneity problems, and individual-environment transactions. Provides suggestions for increasing predictive validity and indicates…

This report describes the second year of an award-winning summer enrichment program aimed at developing independent learning skills and encouraging lifelong learning in gifted elementary students. The program featured contact with university scholars actively involved in problem solving, introduction to general bodies of knowledge, and in-depth…

The relationship of the Uzgiris and Hunt Scales of Sensorimotor Development with six of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) domains and the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) Scale was investigated with 76 severely profoundly retarded children (mean age 6 years). Results were generally consistent with prior theory and research. (Author/CL)

Findings of the comparison of spatial role taking, social role taking, and referential communication in 56 congenitally visually impaired and sighted children (seven to nine years old) revealed that visually impaired Ss need not differ from sighted Ss in cognitive social functioning if they have had significant verbal interaction with others.…

Uses the works of J. Piaget and N. Chomsky to develop a holistic theory of reading. (FL)

Evaluates metalinguistic awareness and cognitive functioning of 23 bilingual and 23 monolingual mildly retarded students. Results indicate bilingual subjects did not outperform monolingual subjects on neo-Piagetian measure of conservation, although there were differences on metalinguistic tasks. Discusses results in relation to current theories of…

The article views assessing spelling as a cognitive and developmental process. Five developmental levels that may precede readiness for formal spelling instruction are described and illustrated. A word list and directions for assessing children's developmental levels are followed by prescriptive guidelines for cognitive and developmental…

Adolescents are likely to respond to teachers based on how they see their role, and that understanding varies with the adolescent's cognitive maturity. (JOW)

This study investigated Israeli adolescents' differential perceptions of social conflicts in the "real" world and in television news. Overall results suggest that, when asked to do so, adolescents are able to differentiate between the social conflicts and their symbolic representations in television news. (PD)

Three moderately retarded 12-14 year olds participated in a program of responsive questioning designed to help them learn through regulation of their cognitive and linguistic performance. Exerpts from the sessions illustrate the value of the approach in making the transition from other to self regulation. (CL)

Examined effects of direct intervention on language learning. Using a toy manipulation task, 18 children aged 3;6 to 4;6 were systematically taught linguistic structures beyond their developmental grasp. Solid improvement was found in the experimental conditions; no significant improvement was noted in control conditions, showing that the language…

The present studies were designed to test the role of descrepancy between existing cognitive structures and current input and the amount of pleasure derived from successful processing of that input with respect to children's appreciation of humor. (Author/SB)