Investigates whether children differentiate between the social-interactional, moral aspects of harm and the nonsocial, prudential aspects of harm. A total of 90 subjects 6, 8, and 10 years of age were administered an interview about two moral rules and one prudential rule. Three types of assessment were obtained: criterion judgments,…

This study attempted to determine the effectiveness of cognitive skills training on the verbal fluency of children in a bilingual environment. After a 14-week period, cognitive skills training had no significant impact on the verbal fluency of 103 fifth graders in south Texas. (MT)

Thinking strategies (sequences of steps undertaken to produce a thought product) should be an important goal in gifted education. Suggestions are made for creating a curriculum to promote thinking development. (CL)

Children between the ages of six and 11 were asked to recall personal experiences of pity, anger, and guilt and to rate the cause of each emotion on degree of controllability. Results were interpreted as evidence that guilt in young children may be a qualitatively different emotion because of its closer link to outcome than to perceived…

Discontinuation at ages five to six of dietary restriction in 14 children with classic phenylketonuria (PKU--a metabolic disorder which, if untreated, is associated with mental retardation) resulted in deterioration in intellectual function for some of the Ss. Deficits included visual motor integration and cognitive problem solving. (CL)

A comparison of the analogy-solving ability of 12 deaf and 12 hearing adolescents supported the predication that hearing Ss would demonstrate better analogical reasoning. The prediction was based on the premise that the oral-aural communication mode provides sensory experience that facilitates the perception of the contrast necessary to cognition…

Learning disabled (LD) and non-LD boys (grades two and six) were given a false recognition task. Study and test items were manipulated to form visual, acoustic, and semantic distractors. Results suggest that LD students do not spontaneously use the effortful semantic processing strategy of elaborative rehearsal. (Author/CL)

Each of the five principal goals of education--cultural literacy, understanding, synthesis, mastery, and involvement--is best achieved using teaching strategies that develop thinking skills appropriate to the curriculum objectives associated with the goal in question. The specific strategy selected depends on learner readiness and content…

Despite success of cognitive behavior modification (CBM) techniques in changing the behavior of learning disabled children in specific situations, little success has been achieved in changing cognitions of learning disabled children. Reasons for lack of evidence that CBM brings about cognitive change are explored. (Author/CL)

The creative act arises out of a need to explore human experience, and mathematics is a locus of creative activity. Mathematics should be taught to show the value of imagination and reasoning. (MT)

Acquisition of sentient-nonsentient distinction in 48 children between four- and seven-years-of-age occurred later than animate-inanimate distinction. The children's use of naturalistic or nonnaturalistic explanations depended on the logical nature of events in which objects were involved rather than familiarity with objects themselves. Ability to…

Examines appropriate map learning experiences for elementary school children based on inferences derived from Piaget's research on cognitive development. Addresses the eight skills developed in most map learning programs: 1) interpreting symbols, 2) envisioning perspective, 3) locating places, 4) determining direction, 5) computing distance, 6)…

Explains the relationship between important citizenship goals and recognized map skills. Demonstrates, grade by grade, how to conduct map learning activities that foster active involvement and problem solving skills needed for democratic citizenship. (JDH)

Presents fifteen activities designed to lead children from the enactive, iconic, and symbolic levels of understanding map symbols, perspective, direction, distance, location, scale, relief and elevation. (JDH)

Results of a psychoeducational evaluation administered to 40 hearing-impaired children (5-18 years old) revealed that hearing loss of any degree appeared to affect psychoeducational development adversely, leading to the conclusion that even minimal hearing loss places children at risk for language and learning problems. (Author/CL)