First-, fifth-, and eighth-grade children were asked to make bearing and distance estimates to six targets from three sighting locations in their school. Among the results, correlations between estimated and actual bearings and distances were extremely high at all grade levels. Bearing accuracy increased between first and fifth grades. (Author/RH)

A pre- to post-test design was used to evaluate the effects of rule-based instruction on rule observance, copying performance, and discrimination skill. Three ways of imparting rules (demonstration, verbal description, and combined demonstration-verbal description) were examined, and their usefulness was compared to that of copying without…

Children's performances in pointing a telescope at landmarks surrounding their own neighborhood were assessed for 60 children in three age groups: first and second graders, fourth and fifth graders, and seventh and eighth graders. Among the results, sex differences both in point consistency and in the accuracy of pointings from imagined reference…

Reports an attempt to test two interpretations of immanent justice responses as causal attributions rather than as moral judgments. Finds older children use causal chains to explain contiguity between misdeed and adversity. Data were interpreted as consistent with an information-processing model of immanent justice responses. (RMH)

Reports on a study conducted to investigate Kohlberg's allegation that his test discerns between form and content in moral development. Indicates that the aspect of form which he measures is probably general intellectual development that rePresents norms that the school intentionally transmits to pupils. (JD)

A review is presented of major theories on the characteristics of adult cognition. The roles of social and cultural backgrounds, education, mental ability, and experience as they pertain to cognition are discussed. (JD)

The cognition theories of Piaget as they apply to adults are examined in the light of new theories about the characteristics of formal reasoning abilities and their acquisition over a long life span. (JD)

The article describes a 10-stage symbolic play language scale and relates the language concepts and structures associated with each developmental play stage. (PHR)

Tells how children's spelling strategies offer a glimpse of their knowledge about words; describes a study indicating that children's knowledge about words develops sequentially and systematically over an extended period of time. Discusses implications of the study for spelling instruction. (GT)

Presents a brief description of Adams County District 12's program to promote higher-level thinking skills in its elementary and secondary level gifted students. (SJL)

The author presents information related to brain growth and intellectual capacity. Work on early adolescent (ages 10 to 15) brain growth, its effect on cognitive development, and the implications that such research has on the capacities of early adolescents to learn are discussed. (Editor/KC)

Over 17 months, pupils' abilities to evaluate documentary evidence and to deduce concepts and changes in their attitudes toward the course were assessed. Results emphasize the importance of syllabus and teaching technique, rather than maturation, indicating limitations in studies of children's historical thinking narrowly based on Piagetian…

Concludes that performance on selected items of a reading comprehension test can be predicted on the basis of performance on Piagetian classification tasks, even when other factors are controlled by a highly parallel subtest. (HOD)