A study was undertaken in order to examine (1) the nature of the representation or prototypes underlying children's make-believe object uses, (2) the types of mental activities through which objects are allowed to substitute for real objects, and (3) the awareness children have of processes involved in their choosing and pretending. A total of 18…

Five structured components considered to be essential features of planning behavior are posited in this report. The cognitive issues of planning are assigned to the broader domain of representational thinking. Discussion then focuses on two of the planning components that involve a shift to metacognitive skills: (1) development of standards or…

The relative importance of spatial-position as a memory aid in a block pattern reproduction task was investigated by analyzing the object-selection and object-placement strategies of 69 nursery school children. Subjects were given a task modeled on Piaget's assessment of Static Reproductive Images and Action that had been modified into a…

This study investigated preschool children's awareness of the nature of pictorial representation and their understanding of their own efforts to depict. Seventy-six subjects participated in drawing sessions held at 2-week intervals throughout the 8-month school year. Children's spontaneous comments during small-group drawing sessions were…

Implications are discussed for new instrument development by way of a methodological study which used a task allowing one to focus upon: (1) a non-verbal approach; (2) memory functions; (3) a variety of mnemonics that children use in information retrieval; and (4) a non-traditional procedure supported by psychological and developmental research. A…