In its own fashion, philosophy encompasses everything and reflects the whole. Thus it has a special role in the liberal arts curriculum whose purpose is generality and breadth. Philosophy translates the generality of the liberal arts into reason and theory in an attempt to make the whole conceptually articulate. (JMD)

Justifications are given for the development of philosophy courses for inclusion in the high school curriculum. Various subjects such as mathematics, science, and language can be given more unity and meaning through the teaching of philosophy. (JN)

Suggests that effective thinking (cognitive skills) should be taught--not just fostered--in English classes, and explores the specific skills of generalizing and abstracting, analyzing, reasoning, and classifying. (JM)

Explores the concept and uses of analogy from the rhetorical perspective, determining rhetorical functions which the analogy may serve and the adequacy with which those functions are performed. (JMF)

Ratings of concreteness and picturability and production data for meaningfulness of 310 words were gathered from sixth-grade children and college students. (JMB)

Derives two models for conceptualizing figure similarities from Piaget's developmental theory of spatial reference systems. An experiment on a two alternative forced-choice similarity matching task revealed age differences in observer dependence among children and young adults. Concludes that some Euclidian space concepts are achieved as formal…

Comparison of elementary grade students with (N=42) or without (N=42) learning disabilities (LD) on their logical-mathematical structures of thought found that, though both groups generated grouping relationships, children with LD tendered to generate solutions showing less coordinated structures of thought. For both groups, scores on the…

A new paradigm is presented for investigating how intervening concepts are learned. Results of four experiments involving 85 college students provide converging evidence for the acquisition of intervening concepts. A simple associative learning mechanism is proposed to account for the results. The new paradigm uses a stimulus-response-feedback…

Compares science and art as modes of reflective activity in order to remedy confusion concerning the notion of disciplined-based art education. Referring to the work of John Macmurray, the author suggests that there is a discipline unique to the arts that differs from the disciplines proper to intellectual modes of reflection. (KO)

This study delineates modes of thinking that differentiate exceptionally gifted children from more moderately gifted peers. Cognitive differences include viewing the simple as complex, a need for precision, viewing the complex as simple, abstract reasoning ability, early grasp of essential elements of an issue, high capacity for empathy,…

Reports results of 14 studies on children's knowledge about thinking. Suggests that preschoolers appear to know that thinking is an internal mental activity that can refer to real or imaginary objects or events. However, preschoolers are poor at determining when a person is and is not thinking. This shortcoming is considerably less evident in…

Two experiments examined the development of recall organization by observing use of categorical and spatial clustering strategies and how encoding experiences and recall task influence degree of organization. Children and adults recalled furniture from their home. Older subjects organized items spatially; when recalling objects and their…

Explored the information processing abilities associated with expertise in literature in high school and college students. Found that literary experts were superior to novices in gist-level recall, extraction of interpretations, and breadth of aspects addressed of literary texts but not in comprehension of scientific texts. (AA)

Creativity can be distinguished from intelligence, but there is no consensus on how the recognized stages of the creative act can be taught. The steps to rational thinking can and should be intentionally taught and rationality may prepare a base for unexpected creative insights. (DB)

This study with 56 students (mean age 15 years) with mental retardation and 53 nonretarded students (matched for mental age) found that students with mental retardation were more likely to rely on all kinds of external cues (task-relevant, incidental, or misleading) in problem solving, especially when the preceding task had been difficult.…