Reports a study comparing the way children process information about television characters and real peers. Suggests that understanding of both is based on the same construal process, is based on a common set of perceptual dimensions, and is a function of both target characteristics and the common underlying construal system. (JAD)

Preschool children were given a memory task that required repeating a list of animal names and a sentence imitation task. Results confirmed a relationship between word span and language imitation in younger preschool children and the notion of a memory constraint on early spontaneous language. Increasing mastery of linguistic rules appeared to…

Examined relationships among working memory, memory span, and reading skills in children and adults. Found that working memory and short-term memory skills develop through adolescence, but working memory skills show declines in adulthood. Age-related declines in memory appear to be related to the task's processing demands, which may affect the…

Outlines some legal and psychological issues surrounding student groups meeting on public school grounds. Describes two studies designed to measure students' ability to understand equal access policies. Study subjects included students in grades 4, 7, 10, and college undergraduates. (MLF)

Studied effects on nutritional supplementation, with or without psychosocial stimulation, on the development and growth of 129 stunted children compared with 32 nonstunted children. Found that after six months, initially low activity levels of stunted children matched those of nonstunted children, regardless of treatment. Supplementation improved…

Discusses the question of aptitude from within an information-processing perspective, examines how aptitude is conceptualized in this framework, and discusses one possible component of L2 aptitude: working memory. (56 references) (Author/CK)

This study examines the contexts of cultural interaction and the development of cognition and language among language minority children who brokered for their limited-English-speaking parents. Nine subjects who brokered for their parents as children were interviewed to determine the effects of brokering. (JL)

Annotates 16 World Wide Web (WWW) sites dealing with math and science education matters covered in feature articles for this journal issue. Topics include math fairs, classroom restructuring, and hands-on science. (JW)

Relates how children's everyday experience can revolve around a common object, in this case, a large hole dug outside their early childhood classroom. Describes how the hole captivated student interest and became the focus of much of their thought and writing, thus facilitating language skill development. (JW)

Describes the transformation of research on cognition and culture from cross-cultural comparisons of psychological tasks to theory and research on people's thinking in sociocultural activities. Recent developments in sociocultural theories and research over the past three decades are summarized, and theoretical and research commonalities that are…

Reviews "The Epigenesis of Mind: Essays on Biology and Cognition" (S. Carey and R. Gelman, editors), a collection of essays that present a hard-scientific vision of cognitive development. Examines the arguments this work articulates and then determines the place it occupies in the analysis of the state of developmental psychology as presented in…

Compared parental perceptions of the use of internal information sources--intuitions, religious beliefs, personal childhood experiences--to use of external sources for information about their toddlers' development. Found that parents perceived the internal sources as being used more frequently and as more useful for information on their child's…

Studied children's transitive inference where representation of premises provided contradictory information depending on position of two elements in a A, B, C series. Eight-year olds did significantly better on the more complex problems than did six-year olds, suggesting the presence of a developmental sequence of algorithms that enable children…

After noting the characteristics of good thinking, uses case studies to explain the development of thinking from infants to adults. Outlines strategies that do and do not work in developing children's cognitive abilities. Recommends several children's books that foster the development of thinking skills. (BC)

This article argues for the inclusion of narrative literature in college social science courses, since such literature can enhance students' understanding of scientific content by elucidating theoretical and empirical concepts with concrete examples. Evidence of the effectiveness of autobiographical literature is presented, and suggestions for…