English, German, and American youth from pubescence to late adolescence were interviewed in order to discern the maturation of political perspectives. By comparing youngsters in three countries with different political traditions, the differential impact of social ideas was examined. At each age level subjects were matched for sex and I.Q. and,…

Piaget's conception of cognitive development as the development of a set of skills resulting from interaction with the environment has had a great effect on contemporary educational theory and spurred the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to develop a set of written exercises based on this concept. Piaget's emphasis, however, was on concrete…

The relationship between learning ability and intelligence has continually been a focus of theory and research. It is argued in this paper that the inconclusive results of studies relating individual differences variables such as intellectual abilities to learning are due to a too pragmatic, theoretical orientation. Theoretical models explicating…

The author's approach to the conceptualization and measurement of natural cognitions which may have some relevance for the study of values is presented. Research on natural cognitions, or ideas entertained by people before an experimenter comes along to disturb them attempts to assess pre-existing concepts which are grouped initially according to…

The purpose was to determine whether children in classrooms would manifest cognitive behavior described by Piaget for their developmental stage. First, fourth, and eighth grade classes were selected as representative of Piaget's preoperational, concrete, and formal stages respectively. Twelve classes at each grade level (six social studies and six…

This series of four studies investigated the abilities of children in grades five through eight to perform on a reasoning test written in both Ikonic and Symbolic form. An abstract reasoning test which had been shown to be highly correlated with success in mathematics was rewritten into Ikonic form. Children whose ages bridge the gap between the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a multi-media presentation facilitates synthetic responses. The variables, linearity and meaningfulness of the presentation, were studied using a 2 x 2 design with outside control. The five conditions were administered to 95 fifth graders. The synthetic responses were measured with three tasks. Task I…

The role of motor activity in children's formation of dynamic mental imagery was investigated in two experiments using a paired-associate recognition task. From the recognition data, it was inferred that (2) the child's ability to form dynamic images relating two objects undergoes its most rapid development between the ages of five and eight; and…

Nine papers were presented at a workshop concerned with structure and process in cognition. The reports given at this conference represent detailed applications of these concepts to limited areas of experience. This work is unique in that both structure and process appear together, rather than being studied as independent concepts. All the papers…

THE REDEVELOPMENT AND ENRICHMENT PROCEDURES USED TO INDUCE CHANGES IN THE LEARNING PROCESS OF ADOLESCENTS (AGES 12-15) WILL BE EVALUATED. THE EXTENT OF MODIFICATION AND THE BEST ENVIRONMENT FOR CHANGE ARE SECONDARY INTERESTS. INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT, A CONSCIOUS RELEARNING OF LEARNING SETS, IS THE PROPOSED TECHNIQUE FOR ACHIEVING COGNITIVE…

The aim of this study was to document the development of illness and health causality concepts in young hospitalized children (ages 4-10 years) whose stage of cognitive development may limit understanding of illness and treatment. It was hypothesized that distinct qualitative levels would characterize children's conceptions of illness and that…

This issue of INVESTIGATIONS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION (ISE) provides analytical abstracts, prepared by science educators, of research reports in the areas of individual analysis, instruction, cognitive development, and Piagetian studies. Each abstract includes bibliographical data, research design and procedure, purpose, research rationale, and an…

Two studies were initiated to examine the effects of study habits, personality traits, and approach to content in college-level psychology courses. It was found that with the exception of regular study habits, none of the factors is either a help or a hindrance to academic success as measured by multiple-choice, open-book exams. (Author/JR)

Test scores have fallen because play is essential for childrens' cognitive development and this generation of children has played less than any other. (Author/IRT)