Using academic conflicts for instructional purposes is one of the most dynamic, involving, and least used teaching strategies. Teachers fear divisiveness and also lack fitting instructional models for structuring controversial discussions. This article discusses the controversy process and how teachers can organize and use it to enhance cognitive…

Data were generally consistent with the view that preschoolers and elementary schoolers can respond to memory probes by applying arithmetical processing to running gist from recently solved problems. Discussed are two competing interpretations of the development of working memory: fuzzy-trace theory and the generic-resources hypothesis. (Author/RH)

Young, sexually abused children should be identified and treated as early as possible. Structured and directive treatment proceeding at a regular pace achieves greater success than an unstructured, nondirective approach. Structure reduces anxiety for the children, parents, and therapists. (Author/BB)

Describes and evaluates a Head Start project, Bringing Out Head Start Talents, designed to train staff, parents, and volunteers to identify and develop appropriate programming for funtionally or potentially gifted children, and to develop procedures to ensure smooth transitions and appropriate programming in public schools. (BB)

Fourth and seventh grade children received four free-recall trials on lists including typical and atypical items. Levels of recall and clustering increased with age and were greater for typical than for atypical items. More older children used organizational strategies to facilitate recall. (SKC)

The acquisition of spatial terms in the language development of young children is examined. Two primary theories of word meaning and concept acquisition are reviewed, followed by a summary of current developmental research on spatial terms and factors influencing acquisition. Finally, guidelines for the assessment and teaching of spatial terms are…

Examines the development of metaphor by using structure-mapping theory to make distinctions among kinds of metaphors. Proposes that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before those based on shared relational structure. Results indicate a developmental shift toward focus on relational structure in metaphor…

Parents must work actively with teachers to encourage the social integration of disabled children in mainstream classrooms. The ability to initiate and maintain positive peer relationships is necessary for healthy cognitive and social growth in all children, and it helps the disabled helps to overcome destructive cycles of rejection and isolation.…

Describes a model, Mediated Learning Experiences (MLE), for understanding specific criteria within adult-child (usually parent-child) interactions that effect flexiblity of mind in young children. An examination of cause-effect relationship between parental behaviors and measures of developmental outcomes are presented, based on two longitudinal…

Describes developments in strategies used by preschool and third grade children when drawing a three-dimensional model from observation. Concludes that children are able to devise unique responses to solving the problem of representation and that stage theory may be inadequate in explaining their performances. (Author/BSR)

Programs to teach students critical thinking must empower them to be self-directed, but they must also stress respect and empathy for the viewpoints of others. (Author/TE)

Thinking tools bring sound instructional theory into the classroom in a practical form that students and teachers both enjoy using. Six such tools are described that have the general characteristics of psychological validity, concreteness, relevance to teachers, and differentiation by type of learning. (TE)

Suggests basic principles to guide the construction of an integrated sequential guide for thinking skills instruction throughout the K-12 curriculum. Strategies emphasize introducing and reinforcing cognitive operations such as information processing, problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. (TE)

Describes the use of Edward de Bono's CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) program in English classes during the past five years at Memorial Junior High School in Valley Stream, New York. CoRT tools were used to analyze literary characters and plot development and to generate and organize ideas for writing assignments. (TE)

With Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children program, middle school students and their teachers in the Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Area School District use dialectical reasoning strategies as they contemplate perennial questions. (Author/TE)