Examines four autobiographical self-narratives to see not what they are about, but how the narrators construct themselves. Proposes that an individual's ways of telling and conceptualizing eventually become recipes for structuring experience itself (past and future). (SR)

Describes imagination as the cognitive faculty that mediates a person's relationship with God. Discusses imagination's integrative function and its realm of pure possibility which facilitates openness to God. States that only through imagination grounded in God's spirit can humankind hope to perceive, with increasing degrees of clarity, God's…

Defines "conceptual framework" (an explanatory theory useful for structuring contextual elements within complex settings) and attempts to show its relationship to curriculum research. Discusses two important issues when considering conceptual frameworks in schools: selection of criteria and selection of data collection and analysis…

Discusses the transformation of women and mathematics and the papers contained in this special issue. Questions whether women are changed by mathematics or if mathematics can and is being changed by them. (MKR)

Asserts that much of the theorizing and research about social stratification and mobility is linked to industrial society, recommending that as industrial society gives way to knowledge society, a fresh examination of the material and cognitive foundations constitutive of new forms of social inequality is needed. Explains how knowledge as a…

Examined relationships among suicidal indices, hopelessness, and social desirability of subjects (N=97) receiving treatment at psychiatric crisis intervention unit. Found hopelessness and measure of social desirability were significant indicators of suicidal manifestations. Results suggest that sense of general capability buffers link of…

This overview of the writings of Manfred Kochen focuses on the pervasive theme of the growth, fragmentation, and integration of knowledge. Topics discussed include information science; the problem of fragmentation and specialization in the growth of knowledge; knowledge structures and cognitive science; and the application of Kochen's ideas to…

Children (n=336) in grades 1-5 were interviewed individually using a Piagetian task to study development from additive to multiplicative thinking. Multiplicative thinking was found to appear early (in 45% of second graders) but to develop slowly (only 48% of fifth graders used consistently solid multiplicative thinking). (Author/MKR)

Seven experiments involving over 700 undergraduate students investigated whether the naturalness of abstract category structures varies with content domain. Results indicate that the structure of knowledge varies with domain and that it would be difficult to formulate general constraints on categorization in terms of abstract structural…

Argues that the brain is the seat of cognition, that cognitive processes are neutral processes, and that, in the brain, affect and cognition are distinguishable but inseparable. This perspective allows a reconceptualization of the affective filter in terms of the brain's stimulus appraisal system, which interacts with cognition to promote or…

Reports that learners' alternative ideas in science may be coherent, stable, and theory-like. Studies how a learner can simultaneously hold several alternative explanatory schemes, each of which is persistent over time and applied coherently across a wide range of overlapping contexts. Concludes that the manifold nature of learners' conceptions…

Explores two differing perspectives of the nature of students' biological knowledge structures, conceptual frameworks, and phenomenological primitives (p-prims). Indicates that although a more prevalent description of student conceptions could not be discounted, p-prim of need as rationale for change was found to offer useful description of…

Discusses the relationships between physical, mathematical, and mental models in the process of constructing and understanding physical theories. Attempts to interpret research findings with college students regarding mental models and physics education under the framework of Johnson-Laird's mental model theory. (Author/MM)

One sentence answer to the question in the title is that the ability to prove depends on forms of knowledge to which most student are rarely, if ever, exposed. Presents more detailed analysis, drawing on research in mathematics education and classroom experiences. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/ASK)

The use of knowledge space theory (KST), to assess students' understanding and integration of the different representations in an introductory chemistry course are described. KST is a useful tool for revealing various aspects of students' cognitive structure in chemistry.