Five- and 6-year-olds heard stories in which a character sorted items into two locations. Found that children could reject a report of the character's belief when the character had a false belief more easily than a belief in which an object known to the character was described using an unknown term. Children found it easier to predict incorrect…

Compared face recognition ability in young children with autism to that of children with typical development and developmental delay. Took electroencephalographic recordings of brain activity while children viewed pictures of their mothers and unfamiliar females, and familiar and unfamiliar toys. Found that autistic children showed no differences…

There is an interplay between emotions and learning, but this interaction is far more complex than previous learning theories have articulated. This article proffers a novel model by which to regard the interplay of emotions upon learning and discusses the larger practical aim of crafting computer-based models that will recognize a learner's…

Two studies examined whether object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants. Findings indicated that both 14- and 18-month-olds were more likely to select the category match after being shown a novel category exemplar with its function than when given no additional cues. Only at 18 months did naming the objects enhance…

Investigates the effects of learning material construction on concept learning while aiming for students to acquire the basic concepts of electricity and magnetism. Reports that concept learning of electricity and magnetism is influenced by the hierarchical structure of learning materials, not by sequence. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/YDS)

Investigated whether 4- to 6-year-olds' ability to reason about truths and lies influenced their truth-telling behavior. Found that children's performance on truth/lie questions did not predict their truth-telling. Regardless of performance on truth/lie questions, children receiving developmentally appropriate truth/lie discussions gave more…

Investigates the use of the Naglieri Draw-a-Person Test (DAP) for its appropriateness for use by art therapists. A total of 306 drawings were collected from 34 children, ages 5 to 10, over a 1-year period in three phases. Concludes that the Naglieri DAP would be a useful tool for art therapists in the assessment of cognitive development. (Contains…

This study investigated how 15 preadolescents and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) performed on false belief tasks that included social inferencing of psychological states as well a logical inferencing of physical states. Unlike the control groups, the ASD group performed better on the social inferencing tasks and use of a prompt…

Based on the construct of classical IQ, a model of the proportions of the population at various stages of cognitive development as a function of age is proposed. The model compares well with other theoretical models and provides evidence of the salience of the construct of general cognitive capacity. (SLD)

Used computer-administered tests to measure the reaction time to nonverbal stimuli of 4- through 6-year-olds and adults. Found age-related increases in processing speed that could not be attributed to increased accuracy and error rate monitoring. Used these results to evaluate R. Kail's (1991) model of processing speed, which adequately accounted…

Employed a modified dual task approach with 7- to 9-year olds to determine whether one of the classic M-power measures, the digit placement task, is indeed capacity-limited. Found that several critical assumptions concerning the use of the dual-task procedure were met; further testing revealed that the digit placement task is indeed…

Compares Piaget's and Vygotsky's interpretations of transmission and transformation. Notes that differences are apparent in the preformation of knowledge, availability of a third alternative to nature and culture, and unity and identity in social interaction. Vygotsky was concerned about the novel transformation of the learner; Piaget, with the…

Two experiments tested children's ability to imagine a pretend action and select a representation of its outcome. Found that children two years and older could select the correct representation, whether represented by a picture or toy; younger children could not select representations of actual or pretend transformations. Results had implications…

Examined precursors of knowledge change in college students' developing understanding of gear movement. Found that only some participants changed their problem-solving approach after instruction. Results suggest that having multiple approaches available and using instructional information to build on not-well-developed conceptions may contribute…

Acquisition of linguistic and perceptual abilities takes place at a very early age, and later learning involves knowledge and information processing strategies. Aging has greater impact on retention of the latter. Lifelong learning must accommodate the constraints of aging on cognitive abilities. (SK)