Three groups of older adults were compared on a free recall task with categorizable lists. Data showed that older adults' memory performance is modifiable and that efficient performance is obtained when instructional training is aimed at the processes that are crucial to task performance. (Author)

Piaget's theory is identified as a branch of structuralism concerned with the concept of truth, in distinction from French structuralism, which is focused on meaning. The two branches are compared and contrasted, and relations between logic and language are explored. Similarities and differences in the theories of Piaget, Levi-Strauss, and Chomsky…

Relates cognitive psychologist William G. Perry's idea that most students undergo radical change during their college years to the teaching of freshman composition. (JL)

The results showed the schizophrenic group to be similar to the controls on verbal and full-scale intelligence measures but significantly inferior on performance measures. The schizophrenic group also showed a general disadvantage in paired associate learning, with a trend toward specific differential difficulty with words as stimulus items.…

Investigates the predictability of cognitive differences at 12 months from infant and maternal behaviors at 4 months. Overall, the results show that some individual differences in cognition may be predictable across the first year of life. (Author/RH)

The development of probability judgment is explained in terms of working memory, composed of four types of storage operations and three types of processing operations. Age changes in probability judgment were related to changes in frequency retrieval, which stem from changes in constraints on work-space capacity. (Author/RD)

Familiarizes educators and researchers with a method to develop curriculum according to the individual cognitive styles of individual students. (Author)

Undergraduates were given either Barnum characterizations or straightforward instructions regarding open- or closed-mindedness. Barnum inductions influenced subsequent cognitive behavior: Subjects led to believe that they were open-minded were more balanced in the thoughts they produced on two campus issues than were subjects led to believe they…

Significant correlations were found between mean play scores obtained on each play scale and the developmental level of the children. Results indicated that the collateral relationship of play to mental development found in preschool-aged nonretarded children may also be seen in young mentally retarded children. (Author)

Obstacles confronting deaf students in language development are considered. American Sign Language is distinguished from English in terms of grammar, inflection and syntax, and context. The impact of deafness on language acquisition and cognitive development is examined. The importance of auditory feedback and verbal reinforcement is emphasized.…

The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) underwent a generalizability study examining the consistency and stability of scores. Canonical correlation and principal components factor analysis indicated that the organization of environment changes over the first two years of life, and the amount--not type--of stimulation is…

The method presented provides a systematic approach for communicating information about interrelationships between concepts taught in a psychology course. Students who did not receive the information through traditional instructional methods received enhanced scores on tests of structural understanding. Five references are listed. (MER)

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development described what children are capable of doing at each stage of development; new research focuses on actual use of these capabilities. (Author/MLF)

Thirty-six children from grades K, three, and six rated their preferences of nine figures of speech after being administered standardized IQ and creativity tests. Children's appreciation of figurative language starts at a nonverbal creativity level but turns to operational reasoning and changes in cognitive development. (CE)

In three experiments, three- and four-and-a-half-year-old preschool children were tested on free and cued recall tasks in which semantic and contextual cues were manipulated. When context and target items were integrated experimentally at presentation, unrelated context cues improved recall. A developmental increase in the effectiveness of…