This study discusses the successful activation of change process in the cognitive capacity of 71 institutionalized Israeli adults with mental retardation. The central instruments were the Comparison, Categorization, Spatial Orientation, and Temporal Relations sections of the Instrumental Enrichment program, designed to enhance cognitive and…

Eighty-seven fifth graders in Israel were randomly assigned to four different filmmaking courses, covering photography only, scenario design and photography, editing and photography, or all three activities. Filmmaking had a significant effect on the cultivation of eight mental skills. The editing activity cultivated four logical inference skills.…

Three experiments conducted with normal adults in both Israel and the United States show that the answers people give to questions vary with the category of the target and its distance. (FL)

The multidimensional structure of verbal comprehension test items was investigated. Empirical evidence was provided to support the theory that item tasks are multivariate-multiordered composites of faceted components: language, contextual knowledge, and cognitive operation. Linear and circular properties of cylindrical manifestation were…

A master program to manage instruction and generate the necessary control cards was designed to both teach thinking skills and assist the teacher in assessing the student's thought processes. Twelve references are cited. (MER)

Examined the relationship between mediated learning experience and cognitive modifiability among children who underwent cultural change. Findings from 29 Ethiopian immigrant first graders in Israel and 23 Israeli first graders show initial differences for both measures, but after brief and intensive teaching, Ethiopians narrowed the gaps. (SLD)

This paper focuses on the cognitive processes that occur while students are exploring motion graphs. In a classroom experiment, we examine how high-school students (aged 17), with backgrounds in calculus and physics, interpret the graphs they create through drawing the path of the movement of their hand with a computer mouse. Based on recent, and…

Contact intervention programs are being used as the main vehicle to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. Current research seeks to reveal the force driving processes that lead to positive contact between conflict groups, and points to the importance of emotional modification. Acknowledging the centrality of emotional…

The effects of a teaching program in probability devised for students in grades five to seven were analyzed. Most of the notions were too difficult for fifth graders; 60-70 percent of the sixth graders and 80-90 percent of the seventh graders were able to understand and use correctly most of the concepts. (MNS)

Describes an Israeli reading program for disadvantaged adolescents based on verbal exercises using informative, literary, and speculative texts to improve their reading comprehension and cognitive functions. (HOD)

Reports on research designed to discover whether certain conceptual difficulties experienced by present day students in the realm of action at a distance are parallel to the experiences of scientists in previous generations. Contains 60 references. (DDR)

Describes a study that used the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) to assess the disposition of Israeli eleventh-grade students toward critical thinking according to school type affiliate, scientific level, and gender. Argues for establishing a baseline reference for critical thinking disposition of high school students and…

Describes the Creative Thinking in Technology (CTT) program in which creative thinking is presented as a synthesis between lateral thinking and vertical thinking. Analyzes student projects in light of this definition of creativity, and explores the role technology can play in developing students' higher order thinking skills. (Contains 37…

The authors examined the processing of phonological and orthographic word representations among 17 dyslexic and 16 normal college-level readers using Event-Related Potential measures. They focused on 2 early components--the P200 and the P300. The results revealed P200 and P300 components of lower amplitude and later latency among dyslexic readers…