Examined 7- to 10-year-olds' ability to acquire a domain-general processing strategy--Control of Variables Strategy (CVS)-- and make valid inferences. Found that with explicit training within domains and probe questions, children could learn and transfer the CVS. Probes without direct instruction did not improve CVS and inferential thinking…

Used classification and seriation games over 4 months to teach the oddity principle and insertion into a series to Head Start 4-year-olds during free play. A comparison group participated in free play without the teacher-directed classification and seriation games. At the conclusion, intervention students were significantly better than comparison…

Examined 1,100 boys and 1,100 girls who matched the U.S. population using the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive (PASS) cognitive-processing theory, built on the neuropsychological work of A.R. Luria (1973). Results illustrate that the PASS theory offers a useful way to examine gender differences in cognitive performance. (BF)

Four studies compared preschoolers' fast mapping of new proper and common names following indirect exposures requiring inference with their learning new names following ostensive cues. Found that inferential learning of names and learning by direct instruction were largely equivalent: learning from a situation with clear joint references…

Eight experiments examined abilities of 3- to 4-year-olds to reorient themselves and locate a hidden object in an open circular space furnished with landmark objects. Findings showed that children failed to use geometric configuration of objects to reorient themselves. Children successfully located the object in relation to a geometric…

Examines relationships between college students' alcohol consumption and epistemological development. Results indicate students who are frequent binge drinkers have not developed a value system that transcends the influences of peers. On the basis of these findings, discusses a constructivist approach to counseling students with problems related…

This paper argues that Internet-based instruction should not be only perceived as a cognitive tool or a metacognitive tool; rather, it can be perceived and used as an epistemological tool. When the Internet is used as an epistemological tool for instruction, learners are encouraged to evaluate the merits of information and knowledge acquired from…

Eight- to 12-month-olds might make A-not-B errors, knowing the object is in B but searching at A because of ancillary (attention, inhibitory, or motor memory) deficits, or they might genuinely believe the object is in A (conceptual deficit). This study examined how diligently infants searched for a hidden object they never found. An object was…

The present study was designed to evaluate the validity of the false belief task as a measure of theory of mind development in individuals with intellectual disability (ID). In most if it variants, the false belief task is linguistically demanding. This raises the possibility that the finding that individuals with ID do poorly on it might reflect…

This study examined the relationship between parent-child co-viewing of television and the cognitive development of the child. Both survey and experiment methods were employed to determine the participants' television viewing habits and their cognitive achievements after watching a pre-recorded programme under different conditions. The…

David Carr (2002) has argued against the use of developmental theories as a basis for curriculum development in moral education. Although we find common ground with some aspects of Carr's arguments, we disagree with several of his criticisms of the cognitive-developmental approach to moral education. He confuses romantic ideology (as espoused by…

Service-learning courses can be powerful instruments for cognitive, affective, and moral transformation. This chapter examines the strengths and weaknesses of service-learning as an agent for cognitive, moral, and interpersonal development and its ability to promote civic or social engagement.

New brain research reveals that synapses, the connections between neurons, are twice as plentiful at 24 months as in adulthood. Reading to babies helps "wire in" those synapses so that babies get an early intellectual boost. This article discusses early reading for babies as it promotes early literacy. Sharing picture books is a wonderful way to…

To investigate the role of early context in theory of mind development, institutionalized children living in a boarding home (n = 34) in Turkey were compared to home-reared children coming from low (n = 32) and middle socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 44). Theory of mind was assessed with one deception and three false belief tasks; Peabody PVT and…

This article argues that, as a pedagogical practice, homework plays a critical, long-term role in the development of children's achievement motivation. Homework provides children with time and experience to develop positive beliefs about achievement, as well as strategies for coping with mistakes, difficulties, and setbacks. This article reviews…