Investigative explanations of how the mind works and elaborates on the research and findings developed from a neurocognitive connectionist model. Presents several examples and illustrations of how the human brain may generate rules, recognize patterns, and adapt. (ML)

Describes the Learning Behavior Dilemma, a developmental admissions model which evaluates students' level of intellectual development and their readiness for undertaking educational challenges. Discusses the importance of understanding the optimal match between students and their educational environment. (JAC)

Deals with the relationship between philosophy and counseling theory as outlined in a metatheoretical model. The model's implications for comparing theories and value orientations are also reviewed. This dialog serves an educational purpose and ensures an arena where counselors continually evaluate the status quo in a cultural context. (JAC)

Discusses how animals learn from companions, especially among Norway rats. Rats begin early eating foods that other rats eat. Adults also choose to eat a food largely because companions are eating it even if they had learned to avoid the food at an earlier time. Other animals also learn from watching companions' eating techniques, reactions to…

Discusses histories of three current issues in the psychology and pedagogy of mathematical thinking: (1) the notion of a "prescriptive method"; (2) "associationism" as an explanation for learning; and (3) Gestaltism. Reviews theoretical perspectives that emerged starting in the mid-twentieth century, including behaviorism,…

Presents action-theoretical approach to evaluation of career development programs based on constructionist epistemology. Propositions from action-theoretical perspective center around career and action as related, interpretative constructs. Propositions give rise to implications for evaluation of career programs that address ongoing nature of…

The goal of this unified theory of human reasoning is to specify what constitutes reasoning and to characterize the psychological distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning. The theory views reasoning as the controlled and mediated application of three processes (encoding, comparison and selective combination) to inferential rules. (JAZ)

Presents an overview of teacher preparation and concludes that the distinction between "knowledge" and "pedagogy" is a relatively recent development. Discusses different types of teacher knowledge ("content,""pedagogical content," and "strategic") and forms of knowledge…

Summarizes aspects of cognitive dissonance theory (theory that predicts when a particular persuasive attempt will be successful) that are most relevant to consultation. Reviews the corresponding experimental support and suggests practical applications of dissonance research and theory to consultation. (LLL)

Looks at what is entailed when education and experience are regarded as equivalent. Identifies faulty inferences resulting from learning by experience. Considers how experience can close avenues to conceptual and social change. Argues that ideas based on secondhand information are more likely than firsthand experience to manifest both the real and…

The reading of a literary work can give rise to five different kinds of literary knowing: (1) knowing about self; (2) knowing about others; (3) knowing about texts; (4) knowing about contexts; and (5) knowing about processes of making meaning. A literary work can prompt a reader to reflect upon aspects of his or her own life. Concentrating upon…

Warns that counselors are sometimes disoriented by the massive variety of approaches to the helping process. Employs a developmental scheme outlined by William Perry in 1970 to interpret some of the typical cognitive transitions that can occur among counselor trainees who struggle with diversity. (Author/JAC)

Theories of epistemological beliefs focus on individuals' perceptions about what knowledge is and where knowledge comes from. These beliefs are part of, and may in fact direct, the cognitive processes involved in learning. Research stemming from these theories offers varied explanations as to how beliefs relate to student learning and academic…

Discusses the relationships between feminist scholarship, science, feminist epistemology, and developments in the philosophy of science. Argues that gender bias exists at the philosophical foundations of knowledge and inquiry. Challenges the ideology, dominant in graduate schools, that empirical science is the only acceptable stance toward the…

Discusses the possibility of the development of the content and form of mathematical education as a tool of democratization in both school and society. Summarizes the social argument and the pedagogical argument of democratization. Analyzes the concept "democratic competence" to create materials at the same time open and empowering. (Author/YP)