Although Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget are often characterized as polar opposites, they shared a similar "monological" view of the nature of reason. This paper argues that reason is essentially a dialogical phenomenon and illustrates this concept by considering pragmatic consequences of different types of language use. (65 references) MLH)

Pursues three goals: (1) to study developmental trends of cognitive functions across different age groups of Finnish students; (2) to identify distinct cognitive subgroups and profiles among students; and (3) to compare cognitive styles of normal and language-impaired (dysphasic) students. Reports and interprets findings in terms of the PASS…

Outlines a developmental model of critical thinking that is derived from contemporary research on directions and processes of intellectual development in children and adolescents. Identifies metacognitive, metastrategic, and epistemological forms of second-order cognition that enter into critical thinking. (Author/SLD)

Survey responses from 36 cognitive-development psychologists indicated that substantial theoretical advances have been made in the field in the past 50 years. Development of metatheories, theoretical integration, and linking of theory and application are major future objectives. (SK)

Presents theory that fundamental causes of cognitive change reside in the architecture of the mind. Describes mind as a three-level universe, types of changes occurring in cognitive development, and mechanisms that cause changes. Offers a general model of the nature of cognitive development and current research in cognitive development and…

Three experiments examined 3- to 6-year olds' ability to use a speaker's utterance based on false belief to identify which of several referents was intended. Found that many 4- to 5-year olds performed correctly only when it was unnecessary to consider the speaker's belief. When the speaker gave an ambiguous utterance, many 3- to 6-year olds…

Discusses the nature of explanations and the nature of models and the relationship between them. Reviews the explanatory value of major models of change in science. Models the characteristics of everyday thinking and the effect of attempts to change that thinking on scientific thinking. (Author/CCM)

Explored early-developing predictions of object motion through 6-month-old infants' head tracking and reaching for moving objects. Found evidence for infants' extrapolation of object motion on linear paths, in accord with principle of inertia. This tendency was remarkably resistant to counter-evidence, observed even after repeated presentations of…

Examined whether 6.5- and 5.5-month-old infants believe, like 11-month-old infants, that a moving object's size affects how far a stationary object is displaced in a collision. After a habituation event, tests indicated that the 6.5-month-old infants and 5.5-month-old female infants believed the size of the moving object affected the collision…

Three experiments examined 3- to 5-year olds' understanding of the intended nature of pretend behavior. Found that 4-year olds understood intention as a mental cause of action and construed pretend behaviors mentalistically, but systematically associated ignorance of a specific animal with pretending to be that animal. Concludes that Lillard's…

Sixty-three siblings (and their parents) of individuals with autism or related disorders were interviewed to determine their cognitive sophistication about autism. Although children's reasoning became more mature with age, it tended to develop at a delayed rate compared to norms for illness concepts. Parents tended to overestimate their child's…

Discusses the development of high-level thinking skills and how learning occurs with example studies from literature. Describes the relationship between animal and human cognition, and identifies levels of human understanding which include somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophic, and ironic understanding. (Contains 22 references.) (YDS)

Investigated children's representational ability as a cognitive factor underlying the suggestibility of their eyewitness memory. Found that the eyewitness memory of children lacking multirepresentational abilities or sufficient general memory abilities (most 3- and 4-year-olds) was less accurate than eyewitness memory of those with…

Examined 2-, 2.5-, and 3-year-olds' reasoning while searching for a ball that had been rolled behind an occluder. Found only 3-year-olds were able to reliably select the correct door; all children could retrieve a toy hidden in the same apparatus if it was hidden from the front by opening a door; and younger children used a variety of strategies.…

Technology is concerned with making and using artifacts. Piagetian and Vygotskyan frameworks provide a basis for a psychological model of instrumentation. Both the pragmatic and instrumental perspectives are needed in order to understand cognition in technological contexts. (SK)