Highlights the strengths of the Halberstadt et al. contribution to the literature on social-emotional development. Discusses three issues relating to their model: (1) the inseparability of cognitive representation in both emotional and social functioning; (2) the role played by context; and (3) the significance of goals in any construct involving…

Examines the traditional place of play in contemporary early childhood programs in light of new directions in theory and curriculum, the push for educational outcomes, and perceived pressures of the global market economy. Maintains that a new focus on teaching through play may provide a way to reconcile demand for outcomes with a concern for…

Three experiments explored 5- and 7-month-olds' intermodal coordination of proprioceptive information produced by leg movements and visual movement information specifying these same motions. Results suggested that coordination of visual and proprioceptive inputs is constrained by infants' information processing of the displays and have…

Two experiments tracked infants' eye movements to examine use of word-initial information to understand fluent speech. Results indicated that 21- and 18-month-olds recognized partial words as quickly and reliably as whole words. Infants' productive vocabulary and reaction time were related to word recognition accuracy. Results show that…

Argues that the operating characteristics of perceiving and remembering provide a foundation for progress on detailing the processes through which knowledge is realized in real-time tasks and in detailing the processes of developmental change. Includes three examples to illustrate how forming developmental hypotheses in terms of perceiving and…

Describes The Lab School's (in Washington D.C.) use of the arts to provide nontraditional learners with new routes to learning. States that the arts give these special children a chance to express their creativity, feel good about themselves, and learn skills they cannot learn traditionally. Looks at art as salvation, diagnostic tool, and teacher.…

Responds to Needham and Baillargeon's criticisms and offers an alternative resolution of the conflicting results between the laboratories regarding abilities of infants less than 12 months to use property/featural information for object individuation. Maintains that kind concepts are acquired as infants approach their first birthday and that…

Advocates artificial neural networks as models for cognition and development. Provides an example of how such models work in the context of a well-known Piagetian developmental task and school science activity: balance beam problems. (Contains 59 references.) (Author/WRM)

Applies the depth of cognitive processing construct to a social constructivist analysis of students' collaborative knowledge-building in science. Discusses the interplay of depth of sociocognitive processing with motivational, cognitive, and discursive elements of groups' interactions and the relationship between accuracy of ideas and depth of…

Responds to a conference held in March 1996 entitled "Ongoing Inquiry" and designed to present the research methods and results of a five-year study of aesthetic education at the Lincoln Center Institute (New York). Discusses the assessment methods used, the assumptions underlying the assessment project, and the value of aesthetic education…

Presents the results of Dr. Ernest Pascarella's National Study of Student Learning, which investigates institutional influences on learning and cognitive development. Presents examples of positive and negative influences on student learning. Outlines recommendations that can influence institutional programs regarding first-generation students,…

Comparison of 16 children (ages 9 to 12) with visual impairment to 16 sighted children found visually impaired children had a poorer understanding than did sighted children of characters in stories, as shown by fewer correct justifications based on mental states. Some subgroup patterns concerning congenital impairments and cognitive style were…

Examined how aspiring Scottish principals conceptualized school leadership and management, discussing the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) on practice in the context of the Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH). Changes in SQH candidates' cognitive frameworks were traced over time. Results suggest that social processes have…

Two experiments examined developmental changes in reasoning about intensive quantities--predicting mixture intensity of pairs of liquids with different intensities of red color. Results showed that cognitive averaging in this domain developed late and slowly. Predominating up to 12 years was an extensivity bias, a strong tendency to use rules that…

Examined the role of early versus ongoing maternal responsiveness in predicting cognitive and social development for full-term and preterm children (low- and high-risk) at five ages. Found that children, especially preterm children, showed faster cognitive growth when mothers were consistently responsive. Social growth was similar in the…