Stoel-Gammon (this issue) states that "from birth to age 2 ; 6, the developing phonological system affects lexical acquisition to a greater degree than lexical factors affect phonological development" (this issue). This conclusion is based on a wealth of data; however, the available data are somewhat limited in scope, focusing on rather holistic…

Salthouse (2011) critically reviewed cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among adult age, brain structure, and cognition (ABC) and identified problems in interpretation of the extant literature. His review, however, missed several important points. First, there is enough disparity among the measures of brain structure and cognitive…

In this commentary, assumptions about the nature and development of children's false memories as described in a recent article by C. J. Brainerd, V. F. Reyna, and S. J. Ceci (2008) are reviewed. Specifically, questions are raised about what drives the development of false memories in fuzzy-trace theory (FTT). Recent studies that challenge a core…

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record…

Discusses how humans learn and describes the workings of the human brain and the complex connection between the mind, the body, and learning performance. (JOW)

Howard Gardner advises teachers and trainers to use technology as a tool that can be used to educate, but one that shouldn't dictate educational goals. He suggests that goals must be determined before a particular technology can be embraced. Electronic media potentially will accommodate personal learning styles and intelligences. (JOW)

Creativity research has traditionally regarded the creative process as involving a full or partial regression of the ego to a more primitive state of consciousness. An alternative interpretation involves an ego-syntonic concept. This developmental model of ego-syntonic play and its role in creativity is derived from a synergistic combination of…

Comments on the study reported by Feldman and others in this issue. Suggests that, in the study, subjects' word frequencies might be the result of subjects' familiarity with the words rather than the words' narrative role and that there is uncertainty in inferring interpretive patterns of subjects from word frequencies. (BC)

Two nonentrenched tasks are described, one requiring projection into the future of states of objects, the other requiring complex anological reasoning where multiple terms of analogies can be replaced by alternative answer options. Some speculations are made about the implications of these results for educational theory and practice. (Author/GK)

Replies to the commentary by Olson and Salter on an article by Feldman and others, both reported in this issue. Maintains that the evidence does not support Olson's and Salter's conjecture that the source of age-distinctive lexical differences reported in the Feldman study is a simple function of word frequency. (BC)

Maintains that philosophy is an activity in which children can engage by themselves without adult intervention but that, when adults participate in philosophical discussion with children, philosophy becomes a process which is mutually beneficial to the thinking processes of both the children and adults. (BC)

The nature of the developmental shift from adolescence to adulthood has been of ongoing interest to researchers studying the development of socio-moral cognition from within the "cognitive-developmental" paradigm. This paper identifies three dimensions along which developmental changes in socio-moral cognition occur during late…

Adult learning potential refers to our total learning capacities. It includes cognitive and affective learning as well as intuitive and reflective learning. It does not refer just to formal education (which accounts for only a small portion of our learning), but rather all learning for living, especially learning how we manage our lives. Adult…

Reviews research on children's and adults' beliefs about fantasy and their tendency to engage in "magical thinking." Suggests that children are not fundamentally different from adults in their ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Both entertain fantastical beliefs and engage in magical thinking. Offers suggestions regarding age…

Currently there is considerable enthusiasm for exploring how we can apply digital gaming paradigms to learning. But these approaches are often weak in linking the game-playing activity to transferable social or conceptual processes and skills that constitute, or are related to, learning. In contrast, this article describes a "dialogue…