This article argues that the promotion of cognitive development in children is a heavily value-laden enterprise and that educators need to understand this so they can value and nurture an appropriate diversity of competencies in children. Nine claims about values and cognitive development are considered. (MT)

The author traces oral forms of expression used in nonliterate societies and states that children, before they become literate, also depend on the spoken word for learning and communication. The author suggests that a better understanding of orality helps educators gain a fuller sense of the cognitive tasks that children undertake. (Author/CH)

Some literature concerned with the connection between thought and language is reviewed, with reference to the development of visual perception. An experiment supports the contention that internal language can direct performance of a task of visual perception. The power of verbal labelling is discussed. (Author/CH)

A psychotherapist suggests the use of a storytelling technique called "Creative Characters" to strengthen learning disabled children's cognitive and emotional functioning. The process of creating stories that represent key features of the child's world offers a means to strengthen both cognitive and emotional functioning, especially the…

Two experiments test hypothesis that development of children's comprehension monitoring skills in the referential communication paradigm is based in part on ability to differentiate the literal sentence meaning of speaker's direction from the meaning or intention that speaker wished to convey. (Author/RWB)

Three experiments test object permanenece in 3 1/2- and 4 1/2-month-old infants, and use an impossible-possible-habituation event format. The 4 1/2-month-olds, and the 3 1/2-month-olds who were fast habituators, look reliably longer at the impossible than at the possible event. Results seriously question Piaget's (1954) claims regarding the age at…

Reply by Jerome Kagan to a recent article by Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) which questions the validity of the construct of reflection-impulsivity. Kagan alleges flaws in the logic of the authors' (Block, Gjerde, Block) position and in the inferences drawn from their data. (Author/RWB)

Responds to the arguments and evidence adduced by Kagan (1987) in his reply to the Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) study questioning the validity of the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) as a measure of "reflection-impulsivity." (Author)

Changes in children's categorization behavior between 15 and 21 months of age and the relation of these changes to developments in language, object permanence, and means-end understanding are reported. (PCB)

Examined whether representational changes in digit memory are functions of children's expertise in mental abacus operation when abacus operators reproduced series of digits forward or backward. Found skilled operators equally facile with forward and backward reproduction, but novices slower going backward. Suggests advanced operators apply their…

The author presents evidence that supports the argument for the validity of right brain-left brain theories. Discusses the brain's "sense of the future," what the brain does with new information, and altering the brain's ability to process change. A bibliography of further readings is included. (CT)

The author looks at a definition of the term "case study" and notes a lack of empirical evidence to substantiate many of its claims. Some of the limitations and pitfalls of the case study method are discussed. (Author/CH)

The introductory article to the special issue on facilitating cognitive development considers individual and social roles in cognitive development, the role of the human mediator, development as an increasingly self regulated process, and types of programs which provide instruction in cognitive strategies. (DB)

The Cognitive Curriculum for Young Children, based on theories of R. Feuerstein, J. Piaget, and L. Vygotsky, uses a mediational teaching style with high risk children. The curriculum is teacher directed and emphasizes planning, small group cognitive instruction, large group cognitive experience, and summation of major activities. Evaluation…

How physiological disciplines can contribute to the study of how people learn mathematics is considered. Manipulative and experiential learning, sequential versus hierarchical organization, declarative versus procedural knowledge, and short-term versus long-term memory are among the points discussed. (MNS)