THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE UPON A CHILD'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FATHER'S PRESENCE IN (FP) OR ABSENCE FROM (FA) THE FAMILY IN A ONE-, TWO-, OR THREE-CHILD FAMILY. THE EFFECT OF THE SEX AND ORDINAL POSITION OF A SIBLING UPON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT WAS ALSO CONSIDERED. DATA FOR THIS ANALYSIS WERE OBTAINED FROM…

Pioneering research has shown that infants are capable of perceptual discrimination and has provided some indication of the nature of the discrimination; that is, what stimuli are differentiable. Studies have demonstrated that significant effects exist, in stimulus-pair comparisons, for age of infant, speed of movement of stimulus during…

Three related experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of novel and familiar stimuli on infant attention. The procedure in each of the experiments was to place an infant before a matrix panel composed of six rows of six lights. Two patterns of lights were used to obtain the infants' fixation time: (1) a point pattern, a single…

Information is provided on the methods, rationale, and tests used by PMDC investigators to obtain data on the status of first and second graders during the first five weeks of the school year. Instruments to assess general intelligence, cognitive mathematical concepts and skills, socioeconomic status, and school environment of students from seven…

In Fall 1975, PMDC investigators administered a battery of tests to 185 first graders and 152 second graders to assess children's progress in acquiring mathematical concepts and skills during the beginning school years. Two tests were constructed by PMDC and this document reports item statistics and results from these tests; copies of the tests…

In this study, free play with toys having unambiguous functions was examined to test the hypothesis that a basic cognitive metamorphosis is associated with the new competences displayed in children at about 12 months. Functional play was observed in 64 children at 9 1/2, 11 1/2, 13 1/2, and 15 1/2 months of age. Six sets of toys with 36…

Two experiments involving 40 developmentally disabled children (7 to 13 years old) and 32 normal school children (from grades 2-5) were designed to produce a cognitive assessment tool, based on musical conservation tasks, which would be particularly useful with visually handicapped children. Implications from the research were that these tasks…

The designs, results, and conclusions of several related research studies which examine the role of student preferences in problem-solving strategies are summarized. Emphasis is upon the relationship between an individual's stated preference and his or her ability to implement this preference and successfully solve a related science task. Students…

This paper summarizes what the author considers to be the best advice available at this time for applying Piaget's theory in the chemistry classroom to understand the difficulties that some students have. The identification of students who are operating at the concrete operational or formal operational level is discussed along with the actual…

Thirty-four fourth-grade students participated in a study of the way in which children acquire frameworks used to recall and encode stories. The study tested the hypotheses that children have a consistent preference for a story structure node in which they identify narrative events as comprising plausible story themes, that the framework generated…

Described are procedures used to assess reasoning in congenitally blind students. It is explained that the Piagetian Battery of Reasoning Assessments for concrete and formal or abstract thought measures the following basic abilities: reversability of thought, classifacatory thought, spatial orientation, and mental imagery. (CL)

This paper outlines a toddler day care curriculum, based on Piaget's developmental theory, which is suitable for implementation at a laboratory preschool or community college child care center. Implications of Piaget's theory for the curriculum of a toddler program are discussed. The specific program developed is described in terms of guidelines…

This paper discusses research on age related aspects of children's processing and comprehension of the narrative content of family oriented television programs. In one study, the temporal integration necessary to make inferences about audiovisually presented information was examined in 254 second, fifth and eighth grade children. Subjects were…

Kindergarten through third grade children's responses to concrete and verbal class-inclusion problems were compared under several presentation formats. Children initially had more difficulty with the verbal task which was highly specific in format than with the concrete tasks. These differences, however, were easily eliminated by an extensive…

American college students are highly diverse with respect to formal intellectual development. This diversity can present educators with a difficult challenge, especially in fields that depend heavily on mathematics. The Cognitive Development Project at the University of Massachusetts is an attempt to foster the development of formal operational…