Results indicate specific and positive effects of Quranic schooling on serial memory but not on other memory or cognitive tasks. These findings replicate earlier reports that Quranic schooling affects specific (and not general) memory skills. (PCB)

Spatial matching--the ability to distribute search effort in accord with the distribution of hidden resources--was studied in 18- to 54-month-old children. The principal development was the appropriate use of win-shift response. (Author/RWB)

Explains the three objectives of this study were: (1) to compare children's fantasy play in three social contexts (with mothers, with fathers, and with peers); (2) to examine the relationship of children's fantasy play to their receptive vocabularies; and (3) to examine the relationship of children's fantasy play to their perspective talking…

Stating that the most pressing and puzzling scientific questions are questions about properties, not about change, the authors examine Piaget's and other theories of human development. Disputes the constructivist view that the initial cognitive state is one of emptiness, showing that from birth, humans react to certain stimuli in specific ways,…

Reviews theory and research regarding the type and amount of learning young children gain from educational television in preschool settings. Reports the results of a study of 47 six and seven-year-old children's level of understanding of a television program and equivalent story. Includes a taxonomy useful for examining children's level of…

Tested the hypothesis that understanding of the pretend-real distinction develops earlier than understanding of the theoretically related apparent-real distinction. Found 3-year-old children consistently performed better on pretend-real tasks than on apparent-real tasks, even when the tasks were identical except for the distinction tested. (SKC)

The comprehension of humor is described as a developmental ability related to children's cognitive, linguistic, and metalinguistic development. Examples illustrate the content and structure of riddles and jokes, as well as developmental changes in children's understanding. Ways to assess and develop humor comprehension are also discussed.…

Reports the results of two experiments designed to investigate the story completion preferences of four- through seven-year-old children. It was hypothesized that children at the concrete operational level would prefer "coordinated" completions to the stories over the unidimensional-perceptual (u-p) endings preferred by preoperational…

Explored differential cognitive-perceptual distortion in depression for adolescent (N=25) versus adult female (N=25) psychiatric inpatients with diagnosis of neurotic or reactive depression. Results from Beck Depression Inventory indicated significant similarities between groups in anger at self and sense of failure. Results also indicated several…

Presents data from a 1-year follow-up of school-age children who had received structure-based remediation techniques for demonstrated deficiencies in specific areas of cognitive control functioning. The significant improvement in cognitive control functioning resulting from cognitive intervention was maintained one year following discontinuation…

A case exists for there being a moral dimension to prison education and a case against moral education programs in prison. The argument is made that prisoners are one part of a large group of citizens who suffer from uneven development in the cognitive and moral realms due to biographical and structural factors. (Author/CT)

Disagrees with recommendations made by developmental spelling researchers who advocate radical change in spelling instruction. Discusses flaws in developmental spelling research and questions researchers' advice to classroom teachers. (DR)

This research examined whether software for preschool and kindergarten children, which was designed in accordance with certain cognitive-developmental principles, would result in better learning compared to software teaching the same content but which did not incorporate such principles. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Having been identified as either concrete or abstract thinkers, 94 secondary school students were presented with a scenario and questioned regarding time needed to make a decision, effect of emotional stress on decision making, and identification of all possible decisions. Results and implications for health education are discussed. (MT)

Demonstrates young children's shift toward a taxonomic basis for organization of both named and depicted objects. Concludes that perceptual organization in young children cannot be attributed to an inability to ignore visual information but seems to be based upon the centrality of perceptual features to the representation of objects. (Author/NH)