The field of cognitive science (as represented, for instance, by intergenerational literacy programs) offers new ways to think about increasing cognitive abilities, which is particularly important in view of the disappointing outcomes of many intervention programs that do not seem to make their participants more knowledgeable or better thinkers. Important to cognitive scientists are the beliefs that (1) development of cognitive ability continues throughout life; (2) the processes involved in cognition are as important as the end product or behavior; (3) knowledge and the processes used to operate on knowledge are inseparable so that abilities must be developed within the context of the types of situations and tasks to which one expects the knowledge to be applied; and (4) the individual's potential for intellectual growth and development is primarily determined by the social and cultural groups into which the person is born and raised. It should be possible almost to double the improvement of cognitive ability that present dollars accomplish. To do so, investment must be made in programs that focus on the intergenerational transfer of cognitive ability; the functional contexts of education; and the linking of problems, practice, and research over extended time. (The document includes a 91-item reference list and the table of contents of an upcoming book of papers prepared for the 1989 Conference on the Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills.) (CML)