This study attempted to search for a learning hierarchy among the skills comprising formal operations and the integrated science processes. Data were obtained from two instruments administered to 741 high school science students. The Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) measured performance on six Piagetian cognitive modes: controlling…

Because self-directed learning behaviors are inherently interwoven within a foundation of lifespan cognitive and contextual characteristics, researchers must examine the theory and application of self-directed learning not just as an externally-defined or self-perceived process but also as an internal process of continual development grounded in a…

This paper describes the Measure of Epistemological Reflection (MER), an instrument to assess cognitive developmental level according to the Perry scheme of intellectual and ethical development. It contains sets of questions for each of the six cognitive domains: decision making, learner role, instructor role in the learning process, peer role in…

The cultural universal hypothesis of cognitive development theory, as developed by Piaget and elaborated by Kohlberg, assumes that all individuals, regardless of culture, progress through the same series of six invariant stages in the development of moral judgment. The stages of moral development are transformations in the form of structure of…

The topic of mixed-age groups in early childhood education is discussed in terms of: (1) advantages of mixed-age classes; (2) social development in mixed-age groups; (3) cognitive development in mixed-age groups; and (4) implications for early childhood education. It is asserted that mixed-age interaction among young children can offer a variety…

This study examined the science process skill of prediction problem solving using naturalistic research methodology and information-processing theory. The think-aloud interview led to the identification of several specific program exploration and prediction behaviors. A total of 14 high school biology students made predictions concerning the…

A total of 83 children of 27 to 63 months of age were interviewed in an effort to assess the importance of the children's understanding of gender constancy and their use of physical characteristics in making gender role stereotype attributions. It was hypothesized that young children would use stimulus models' sex to a greater extent than the…

A total of 41 preschool children, either 2 or 3 years of age, and their mothers were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: a microworld computer experience designed to teach the concept of inside/outside and an alphabet computer experience designed to drill ABC's. Videotapes of mother/child dyads were coded and scored using a revision of the…

Freedom is subject to a variety of conceptions in life because people think of it from where they are in life. Psychological literature contains a great deal about freedom but it is almost always found under the rubric of freedom versus determinism. This study examined the concepts of freedom in subjects (N=450) who ranged in age from 7 to 21…

This paper deals with questions having to do with the nature and effects of teachers' beliefs about schooling, and to the psychological relationship between theory and practice. It is posited that teachers' beliefs are likely to have a profound influence on their actions. A critical analysis of current school performance and teacher education…

Previous research by Maratsos found that 3-year-olds were more accurate than four and 5-year-olds in selecting 'big' rectangles or animals when choosing between pairs of stimuli. A study then investigated the nature of the previous experiments themselves, particularly the procedures the researcher followed and the possible inferences which he drew…

A bibliography on Black Americans contains over 450 citations of articles, papers, monographs, and books in seven categories: culture (language and customs); normal speech and language acquisition (theoretical framework, mother-child interaction, language community, form, content, usage, cognitive development); sociolinguistics (issues, dialect…

This paper outlines seven assumptions about teaching conditions that best facilitate critical thinking in the undergraduate psychology curriculum; the main ideas proposed in a model of critical thinking developed by a network of psychologists across the nation; and the application of this critical thinking model to the undergraduate curriculum.…

Examined in a longitudinal study of children were correspondences and correlations between early language development on the one hand, and the manipulation of objects and play development on the other. There were developmental correspondences between the onset of five language landmarks (the emergence of first word, referential word, demonstrative…

A series of studies was conducted over a three-year period to determine whether the teaching technique developed in the 1960s called "inquiry training" is effective for teaching problem-solving, thinking, and/or decision-making skills. (Inquiry training is a process in which students are provided with a puzzling situation, are given the…