To investigate task performance and the use of private speech and to examine the effects of a cognitive training approach, 30 learning disabled (LD) and 30 nonLD Ss (7 to 8 years old) were given a 17 piece wooden puzzle rigged so that it could not be completed correctly. Six variables were measured: (1) proportion of private speech that was task…

This correlational study was part of an experimental project study on abused and non-abused children between the ages of two months and six years. Thirty-one children were administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). To determine the extent of MSCA and BSID relationship,…

In the Soviet theory of cognitive development, originated by Vygotsky and elaborated by Leont'ev, acts occur at three levels of abstraction: activities, actions, and operations. According to this theory, an activity has an associated motive and may function directively as a motive. While many activities are possible, one activity tends to…

The study investigated whether training in object permanence and/or means-end followed by a language training program will result in the learning of more language (as measured by number of words and syntactic complexity) than the language training program alone with 32 profoundly retarded children (3 to 10 years old). Secondary goals included…

The concept of verbal self-regulation, or verbal mediation, originated in behavioristic analyses of thinking, but was later extended to cognitivistic analyses. In both applications, the research that was generated was usually deficient in ecological validity. In addition, in some of the research verbal self-regulation was inferred when an overt…

This issue of "Investigations in Science Education," provides analytical abstracts, prepared by science educators, of research reports in the areas of instruction, Piagetian studies, and teacher education. Each abstract includes bibliographical data, research design and procedure, purpose, research rationale, and an abstractor's analysis…

PROCEDURES TO HELP THE TEACHER OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN RECONSTITUTE THE MODELS OF LEARNERS AND CLASSROOMS TO WHICH SHE IS ACCUSTOMED ARE PRESENTED. THESE PROCEDURES ALSO HELP TO ELIMINATE THE EDUCATIONAL RETARDATION OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN. SEVEN PROCEDURES WERE DISCUSSED--(1) "CONTACT WITH THE CULTURAL MAINSTREAM"--ON THE ASSUMPTION…

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CURRENT THINKING IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING IS PRESENTED. IT IS CONTENDED THAT READING SPECIALISTS HAVE BORROWED FROM PSYCHOLOGY WITHOUT REGARD FOR A TOTAL THEORY OF READING. DEFINITIONS OF SUCH CONCEPTS AS READING HABITS NEED TO BE MADE EXPLICIT. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT MORE ATTENTION BE DIRECTED TOWARD INTEGRATING…

THE NATURE OF COMPREHENSION IS DEFINED AND CLARIFIED. THE LITERATURE IS SURVEYED TO SHOW THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS IS IMPORTANT IN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES. IT IS POINTED OUT THAT CONCEPTS ARE BUILT FROM PERCEPTS, IMAGES, SENSATION, AND MEMORIES, AND THAT THE STEPS WHICH ARE EMPLOYED AS CONCEPTS ARE BUILT AND REFINED AND INCLUDE PERCEIVING,…

THE PROCEEDINGS OF TWO RELATED CONFERENCES WHICH BROUGHT TOGETHER EDUCATORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, AND SUBJECT-MATTER SPECIALISTS TO DELIBERATE ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF COGNITIVE STUDIES AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT ARE REPORTED. PROFESSOR JEAN PIAGET, (A GREAT SWISS SCIENTIST AND EDUCATOR) SERVED AS CHIEF CONSULTANT AT THE CONFERENCES. THE FIRST PART…

A MODEL FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SPELLING BEHAVIOR WAS PRESENTED AND DESCRIBED AS REPRESENTING TOTAL SPELLING BEHAVIOR AS A FORM OF INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM. THE MODEL REPRESENTS THE PROCESSING OF A NEED TO CORRECTLY SPELL A WORD THROUGH THE SEQUENCES OF VARIOUS PROCESSING CHANNELS TO THE WRITING OF THE WORD AND FEEDBACK FOR CORRECTION WHEN…

This study tests the hypothesis that components of play such as immagination contribute to cognitive development. Twenty-four middle-class children attending a university-affiliated preschool were observed for 20 one-minute play observations during the Spring Semesters of 1978 and 1979. Play was coded using categories for both social (solitary,…

This paper discusses research on how concepts differ in their internal organization and how these differences interact with and affect cognitive processing in children. Two types of natural concepts are focused on: classes (nouns with class-inclusion organization, such as "trees,""students,""soldiers" and collections…

A study to assess the information function of pop music in the adolescent socialization process involved approximately 500 students in junior and senior high schools and colleges in a large metropolitan area in the northeast and approximately 400 university undergraduates in an introductory sociology class. In-class, self-administered…

BASIC LINGUISTIC CAPACITY IS PRESENT EXTREMELY EARLY IN CHILDREN. TWO-YEAR-OLDS UNDERSTAND TRANSITIVE ACTIVE SENTENCES AND THREE-YEAR-OLDS UNDERSTAND MANY PASSIVE SENTENCES. OLDER CHILDREN (THREE-YEAR-OLDS) UNDERSTAND SOME SENTENCES LESS WELL THAN YOUNGER CHILDREN (TWO-YEAR-OLDS). THIS BRIEF DECREASE IN COMPREHENSION ABILITY IS DUE TO THE…