This study is part of a longitudinal research project which investigated the cognitive and social development of rural children (ages 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11 years) in eight states of the U.S.A. This paper, however, reports only the cognitive development of 3- to 5-year-old subjects in rural Nebraska from 1976-1978. The longitudinal sample plus control…

Discussed are the nature of the development of conceptual relationships, and the structure of concepts. The topics are presented with regard to the importance of combining metaphors with two alternate approaches to learning, the first being rote learning and the other being inductive learning. The paper is intended to be a model of the concept of…

The argument that the personality structures obtained from retrospective ratings reflect semantic similarity structures has been as provocative as a red cape in the bull ring. High congruence between those two kinds of structures seems well established. What is less clear is how and why those structures differ from that for immediate judgments of…

Fifty first- and second-grade children's understanding of logico-mathematical relations were assessed using selected Piagetian tasks to test four hypotheses. The children's abilities to conserve numbers were compared to the means of mathematics concept scores and total mathematics scores of the 1972 Stanford Achievement Test, Form A. The…

A GROUP MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED TO TEST THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING IN YOUNG CHILDREN. DESIGNED TO ELICIT CHOICES OF THE MOST SATISFACTORY OF 3 ALTERNATIVE CONCLUSIONS FOR EACH OF 26 INCOMPLETE STORIES PRESENTED IN CARTOON PANEL FORMAT, THE INSTRUMENT MEASURES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 4 PIAGETIAN CONCEPTS OF CONSERVATION,…

THE CHILD'S CONCEPTION OF PHYSICAL CAUSALITY WAS INVESTIGATED. THREE METHODS OF INVESTIGATION WERE USED. THE FIRST METHOD WAS PURELY VERBAL, AND CONSISTED OF A SERIES OF QUESTIONS DIRECTED TO CHILDREN, REGARDING SOME NATURAL PHENOMENON. THE SECOND METHOD INVOLVED A HALF-VERBAL, HALF-PRACTICAL APPROACH, WHEREIN A SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO NATURAL…

THE NEED FOR MAJOR CURRICULUM REVISION IN HOME ECONOMICS AT THE SECONDARY, POST-HIGH SCHOOL, AND ADULT LEVELS, FOR A REDEFINITION OF THE FIELD, AND PERHAPS FOR A NEW AND MORE DESCRIPTIVE NAME, IS EMPHASIZED BY FACTORS SUCH AS (1) THE ACCEPTANCE OF NEW VOCATIONAL PURPOSES AND THE EMERGING EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS, (2) THE IMPACT OF…

TO DETERMINE HOW TRAINING WOULD AFFECT CHILDREN FROM DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT, FIVE DISADVANTAGED AND FIVE ADVANTAGED PRESCHOOLERS WERE GIVEN SPECIFIC PROBLEM SOLVING TRAINING TO PREPARE TO SOLVE A CRITERION PROBLEM. THIS STUDY WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DISPROVE PIAGET'S THEORY THAT CHILDREN MUST HAVE REACHED A CERTAIN STAGE OF CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL…

REPORTED IS AN INVESTIGATION OF CONCEPTS INCLUDED WITHIN A CONCEPTUAL SCHEME--THE BIOLOGICAL CELL--WHICH ARE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR STUDY BY CHILDREN IN GRADES 2-6. SUB-PROBLEMS WERE (1) TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING AS INDICATED BY OBJECTIVE TEST SCORES, (2) TO DETERMINE WHETHER SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN PUPILS AT…

Six tests were constructed, four on a pictorial level and two on a symbolic level, to measure the performance of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children, in three different ability groups, on problems concerning ratios or fractions. Two variables were of interest in the four tests on a pictorial level: (a) "equal" ratio situations vs.…

The purpose of this study was to compare a factual method of teaching introductory college astronomy with a conceptual method. Two sections of about 100 students each were taught from the same textbook, but had the same information presented by different techniques and with different emphasis. The control group was taught in a generally factual…

This comprehensive bibliography on problem solving and concept formation includes books, papers, journal articles, reviews of literature, projects, unpublished manuscripts, reports, research bulletins, dissertations, and related bibliographies dating from 1924-1967. Special annotations are made of materials on problem solving with young children.…

Because disadvantaged children have usually experienced sensory-cognitive deprivation or distortion, it is necessary to discover ways to offset this deficit. A program is being conducted to learn to what degree the introduction of systematic programing, while motivation techniques are retained, can reorient essentially noncognitive learning styles…

This research is concerned with human problem-solving behavior that involves inductive reasoning or concept formation when that behavior is being assisted by certain computer and display aids (called symbol manipulation functions). Human subjects use a variety of systematic operations when they are solving such problems. In order to analyze…

Designed to be of use to outdoor education centers, camp set-ups, or even public or private schools, this guide to the development of an "hebertisme" site presents the following: (1) definition ("an opportunity to discover one's own potential and limitations in moving about in the natural environment" using a network of natural…