Children and adolescents from four social classes were asked to describe rich and poor people and to indicate how the rich and the poor are different from and similar to each other. Responses were classified into three categories of person description: peripheral (possessions, appearances, and behavior), central (traits and thoughts), and…

Kindergarten and first grade children were trained to choose the middle-sized stimulus in either a single stimulus set or in each of two nonoverlapping stimulus sets. Findings were reported in terms of the assumption that cognitive processes are important in the intermediate-sized transposition paradigm. (Author/DB)

Suggests five basic questions that social studies classroom teachers can use to help students understand the concept of change. Questions are, "Is something different?"; "What is changing?"; "What caused the change?"; "How much do we pay for this change?"; and "Is the change worth what it costs?" Activities based on these questions are suggested.…

The fact that the autistic children were so impaired in language even with fairly good sensorimotor skills suggests that these skills, particularly object permanence, play a minor role in their language acquisition. (Author)

Discusses the limited value of research based on the uses and gratifications approach, particularly in the area of political communication. The limitations arise from the approach's commitment to the variable analytic method. (JMF)

Discusses the scope of information science, problems involved, and the areas of research needed for development. In particular, the processes occurring in thinking, memory, and knowledge are considered as they arise in the production and receipt of information. (Author/RAA)

This study examines the effectiveness exercises based on the cognitive conflict, existing within the child, between two representational systems related to temperature: the qualitative-verbal one and the quantitative-numerical one as these relate to the advancement of children's understanding of the concept of temperature. (Author/DS)

Outlines the interview-about-instances method for investigating student understanding of concepts and to give some indication of the rationale behind the method. Provides specific examples of the type of information that can be obtained and lists the advantages and limitations of the approach. (GS)

In seven experiments, college or high school students studied texts containing either adjunct application or adjunct factual questions. Students were then tested for their ability to apply the presented concepts. Results suggested that the type of adjunct question had little influence on students' later ability to apply presented concepts.…

Described is the interview-about-instances method used to gain insight into children's and adults' views of the world and the meanings people have for the words they use in explaining their views. Physics teachers can utilize this technique to become aware of the various concept understandings pupils bring to physics classrooms. (DS)

Reber found that subjects given neutral instructions to memorize letter strings from a synthetic language learned more about the underlying grammar than those instructed to try discovering the rules for letter order. Two experiments explored the relationship between implicit and explicit processes in the acquisition of complex knowledge.…

Describes research that examined (1) the extent to which cultural experiences are translated into levels of conceptualization behavior of experientially advantaged and disadvantaged Black children as evidenced by their performances on a pictorial problems-solving task, and (2) the extent to which experiential deprivation contributes to verbal and…

An attempt was made to determine whether the traits known as cognitive styles should be recognized as intellectual abilities or intellectual controls, or both. It was suggested that the structure of intellect model could serve as a frame of reference for future research in this area. (Author/RL)

Sixty-one children were asked to construct a man, using six different methods. Data indicate that ability to identify body parts, eye-hand coordination, or use of particular materials made no significant differences in success, which seemed more related to the understanding that shapes may have symbolic meaning. (Author/SJL)

Shows how elaboration theory (ET) sequences the concepts in a taxonomy and argues that the product of an ET analysis is usually in general agreement with sequencing based on learning prerequisite relationships, and that ET sequencing of taxonomic concepts will not violate learning prerequisite relationships. (Author/MER)