High quality science teaching builds pupils' curiosity and critical thinking, helping them to develop a coherent understanding of the world around them. Primary science teaching plays a crucial role in shaping pupils' attitudes toward the subject, nurturing participation that can support future pathways into science, technology, engineering, and…

Created in the 1950s by the legendary Albert Ellis, rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) teaches clients to challenge their irrational thinking. REBT is based on the simple idea that it is not external circumstances that make a person happy or unhappy, but rather internal thoughts about events or oneself. Thinking, feeling, and behavior are…

Infants invite those caring for them to join as companions on an incredible journey. "Infant and Toddler Development from Conception to Age 3" is a helpful guide to that journey. Each chapter taps a distinct area of research to shed light on babies' biological expectations for care and their amazing competence as active participants in…

Practitioners and parents are seeking ways to help children who are not able to integrate sensory information; this has generated recent media attention. A child's inability to integrate sensory information can have implications for the whole family and their everyday routines. Research conducted by occupational therapists has provided a rich…

A central hypothesis of classical motivation theory is that affect underlies motivation and its behavioural manifestations. However, this has been largely ignored in the past 30 years because social cognitivism has been the dominant theory. As a result, studies have concentrated on social cognitive processes when analysing those factors that…

The article describes an approach to cognitive assessment of disabled readers synthesizing traditional psychometric with recent information-processing methods. Guidelines for using information-processing measures are also provided. (Author/DB)

Discusses what can be learned from and what should be expected from artificial intelligence research. Focuses on: (1) expert systems; (2) natural language processing; and (3) image processing. (JN)

A discussion is presented of the value and benefits of using questions in the classroom that will develop the critical thinking abilities of students. Some of the benefits of employing questions in classroom teaching are related to the affective domain, being psychological in nature, some are evaluative in that they provide clues to the extent of…

Emphasizing the linguistic nature of instruction and the importance of labeling, this article identifies seven starting points for creating a classroom language of cognition: (1) using precise vocabulary; (2) posing critical questions; (3) providing data, not solutions; (4) giving directions; (5) probing for specificity; (6) modeling metacognitive…

Analysis of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised protocols for identified gifted, high IQ, and average children (total N=599 and ages 5-16) identified a four-factor solution for the gifted sample (Perceptual Organization, Verbal Comprehension, Acquisition of Knowledge, and Spatial Memory). Results suggested gifted children process…

Describes how to gain optimal learning in the classroom by activating different parts of the brain. Neural systems fatigue very quickly and need to rest. Only a few minutes of factual lecture can be tolerated before the brain seeks other stimuli. The most effective presentation must move back and forth through interrelated neural systems, weaving…

Although exploring students' thought processes can be rewarding, most teachers rely heavily on reponses to tests and assignments that fail to disclose learners' thinking patterns. Concept maps grouping interrelated ideas can encourage students to demonstrate effective and meaningful assimilation of organized study areas. Includes five footnotes.…

Synectics, the making of analogies, was used with learning disabled high school seniors to provide them with a creative process that aids in developing a deeper understanding of literature. After studying Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the students completed a six-step process and produced a short writing assignment. (VW)

Examines problem-solving in selected software, considering what packages really teach and how useful they are in classrooms. Includes a table listing 21 packages with information in such categories as: suggested ages; solving standard logic puzzles; trial/error or predicting outcomes; breaking tasks into smaller parts; drawing conclusions; and…

Describes a demonstration for college-level cognitive psychology classes of Miller's "Magical Number Seven" concept of the limitation of sensory capacity for processing information. Students report on the number of pennies they observed in a box after viewing the coins for two seconds. Demonstration results consistently support Miller's…