Two studies examined associations between theory of mind performance and counterfactual thinking using both antecedent and consequent counterfactual tasks. Moreover, the studies examined children's abilities to generate different types of counterfactual statements in terms of direction and structure. Participants were 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old…

This study estimated the independent effects of age and schooling in grades 7-9 on scores obtained on invalid conditional and class syllogisms. The results, which point to a negative, albeit small, effect of out-of-school experience and to a sizeable positive effect of schooling, replicate previous findings in a different age range and support the…

To clarify the nature of the social cognitive skills involved in preschoolers' reenactment of actions on objects, we studied 31- and 41-month-old children's reenactment of intended acts (''failed attempts'') in Meltzoff's [Meltzoff, A. N. (1995)]. Understanding the intentions of others: Reenactment of intended acts by 18-month-old children.…

In Study 1, 10-, 13-, and 16-year-olds were assigned to conditions in which they were instructed to think logically and provided alternative antecedents to the consequents of conditional statements. Providing alternatives improved reasoning on two uncertain logical forms, but decreased logical responding on two certain forms; logic instructions…

This study investigated the constraints underlying developmental improvements in complex working memory span performance among 120 children of between 6 and 10 years of age. Independent measures of processing efficiency, storage capacity, rehearsal speed, and basic speed of processing were assessed to determine their contribution to age-related…

In the May 2001 issue of "Educational Researcher," Michael Glassman proposed several commonalities in the thinking of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. However, in addition to general problems in the article (misstatements about scholars' writings and a reliance on unsupported inferences), the discussion misconstrues major concepts and topics addressed…

Evidence from theory-of-mind tasks suggests that young children have substantial difficulty thinking about multiple object identity and multiple versions of reality. On the other hand, evidence from children's understanding of pretense indicates that children have little trouble understanding dual object identity and counterfactual scenarios that…

Research on deductive reasoning in adolescents and adults has shown that errors in deductive logic are not necessarily due to a lack of logical ability but can stem from an executive failure to inhibit biases. Few studies have examined this dissociation in children. Here, we used a negative priming paradigm with 64 children (8-10 years old) to…

Three experiments examined children's knowledge of harmony in Western music. The children heard a series of chords followed by a final, target chord. In Experiment 1, French 6- and 11-year-olds judged whether the target was sung with the vowel /i/ or /u/. In Experiment 2, Australian 8- and 11-year-olds judged whether the target was played on a…

This paper describes the application of theories underlying research-in-progress intended to enhance substantially the cognitive development of children in the first two years of Primary school. The intervention is delivered partly in the context of mathematics, and partly through an existing Y1 intervention focused on Piaget's concrete…

Adults readily detect changes in face patterns brought about by the inversion of eyes and mouth when the faces are viewed upright but not when they are viewed upside down. Research suggests that this illusion (the Thatcher illusion) is caused by the interfering effects of face inversion on the processing of second-order relational information…

The purposes of this research were to examine the developmental relation between reality monitoring and episodic memory, to link reality monitoring to autobiographical memory by using extended naturalistic events, and to examine prefrontal functioning as a potential contributor to development in reality monitoring and episodic memory. In…

Two theories that attempt to explain the relationship between false belief understanding and inhibition skills were investigated: (1) theory of mind development improves self-control, and (2) executive control is necessary for developing a theory of mind. A microgenetic approach was adopted, with a group of 21 children completing a battery of…

Noting that research on cognitive development and on values are normally separate, the author shows the connection by closely examining different ways in which teachers relate to students. Modes of discipline based on positional authority, and even force, rather than on an ethical dialogue, not only reduce students' self-esteem but also limit…

Binge eating is a common problem associated with distress and dysfunction. Mindfulness-based interventions are attracting increasing attention, and the recent empirical literature suggests that they may be effective for a variety of disorders. Current theories about the etiology and maintenance of binge eating suggest that mindfulness training may…