Young, middle-age, and old adults ranked similarities of word pairs in a conditional rank-ordering task. Analyses of variance revealed an age-related decline in semantic processing but no such decline for elaboration. Older adults' retrieval was less compatible with initial processing than was the case for younger adults. (Author/ABB)

To solve the problems of low achieving students, it is important to change the quality of teaching instruction. Cognitive instruction is presented as a critical component for this large scale-change. Includes extensive references. (MD)

An evaluation of Peter Bryant's criticisms of Piaget shows that Piaget's work is still a suitable psychological resource for educational thinking. Piaget's constructivist theory has undergone recent revision and is, therefore, of interest to those with psychological or educational commitments to constructivism. (Author/RM)

Thirty learning disabled (LD), mild (educable) mentally handicapped (EMH), and normally achieving children were administered a concept utilization task. Results indicated that, for certain conceptualization abilities, LD children are more like normal learners than like EMH children. It is suggested that cross-categorical placement increases the…

Tests the distinction between inferring new categories on the basis of property information (predicted to be difficult) and inferring new properties on the basis of category information (predicted to be easier) among 57 preschool children. (HOD)

This study focused on the developmental ability of 5, 7, ll, and 19 year olds to use a cognitive strategy to recall a series of eight movements under conditions of randomness, order, or randomness with training to organize. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Metropolitan Achievement Tests were administered to students in grades 1, 3, and 5 in the spring and again in the fall to see if their academic skills deteriorated over summer vacation. Results suggest that the assumption of generalized academic losses over the summer is unwarranted. Reasons are discussed. (Author/MT)

Female and male children, 67 to 114 months of age, rated perceived relative competence of male and female stimulus persons who were depicted as engaging in sex-stereotyped professions. Results suggest that sex-role stereotypes are transmitted to children quite early in life and with remarkable efficiency and significant impact. (Author/KH)

Because children reach developmental stages at different times and have different learning styles, some students need an alternative approach to academic classes such as that offered by vocational education. (SK)

Compares a conventional method of basic mathematics instruction (mastery learning) with a structuralist approach using analogical reasoning. Pretest posttest results from three adult education classes show that analogical teaching is more effective in developing ability to think numerically. (SK)

The place of kindergarteners in academia has grown more important in recent years. Increased emphasis on learning at the kindergarten level, however, should not blind educators to the developmental levels of four- and five-year-olds, who may learn most effectively by playing creatively and exploring new language skills. (PGD)

Various approaches to graphic literacy are reviewed in relation to vocational education. An overview is then presented of Sticht's Developmental Model of Literacy and a study conducted by Sofo on graphic literacy in the workplace is described. (Author/CT)

The availability of several effective teaching models that allow the teaching of thinking skills and subject matter simultaneously proves that intellectual processes and content are not incompatible subjects for instruction. These models differ significantly from traditional models, and adequate training in them will require a thorough commitment…

Effective teaching practices identified through research stress the search for meaning and can therefore serve as a foundation for teaching thinking, despite grade-level and subject matter differences in content, teacher role, engagement time, and outcomes sought. Effective teaching is structured, interactive, and conducted in a positive learning…

Social and cognitive values of different play materials for 21 normal and 21 handicapped preschool children were examined. Analyses showed that handicapped preschoolers exhibited comparable amounts of symbolic play but lower quality of symbolic play than that shown by nonhandicapped preschoolers. Symbolic play by handicapped children depended much…