In order for information to be stored and processed in a computer, it must be reduced to data and organized and systematized in accordance with the rules and principles of formal logic. Reducing manifold reality to data for use by the computer results in loss of information because an arbitrary screening of data eliminates that gathered by the…

This paper examines the possibility of a Kuhnian paradigm in research on educational communications and technology. It discusses Kuhnian metaphor and its attraction as a viewfinder. It turns to anthropology for explanation of how beliefs and behaviors become social fact, then takes a critical look at usage of this metaphor in the field as a social…

English, and presumably any natural language, contains a small group of expressions referring to species of things found in nature. These species are defined by their internal structure, determined by genetics in the case of living things and by chemical or physical properties in the case of others. The reference of these terms is determined by…

Several epistemic formulations have been advanced to explain cognitive development. Many writers have divided the field of psychology into three basic underlying models: the mechanistic, organismic, and dialectic models. An examination of epistemic positions reveals five broadly defined positions on how behavior develops within a given organism.…

General intelligence ("g") is one of the most important, and least understood, phenomena in psychometric psychology. Yet "g" is an issue that is largely ignored in cognitive studies of aptitude. In the current paper, an attempt is made to bridge the gap between psychometric data and cognitive theory, using two major performance…

Walter Carlton (1978) has suggested that the most prominent characteristic of contemporary rhetorical theory is its attempt to bring into focus the relationship between knowledge and discourse. The concern with establishing the epistemic status of discourse is not, however, limited to rhetoric. Similar questions dominate much contemporary…

An analysis of four foundational issues in the study of moral development is provided. The four issues involve: (1) the definition of morality; (2) individual or cultural moral variation; (3) moral ontogeny; and (4) moral epistemology. The first section of the paper describes each issue. The second section is based on the argument that the four…

The history of lexicography in Vietnam is chronicled from early Chinese and missionary scholarship through the colonial period (1884-1946), the war years (1946-1954), the partition period (1954-1975), and the post-1975 period. The evolution of romanization, political-linguistic influences, native scholarship in lexicography, and dictionary types…

Communication theories are always based upon assumptions about human nature and knowledge. Ways of thinking about these two dimensions can each be divided into two opposing groups. Actional thinking emphasizes freedom of choice, while nonactional thinking attributes little or no freedom to individuals. Elementalist thought sees the world in terms…

This report addresses how the influence of cognitive science is developing and what future directions it may take as a theory of instruction. The discussion of the recurrent findings and the prevalent themes emerging in cognitive science includes: limited-capacity learners; the role of prior knowledge in learning--schema theories of reading and…

A discussion of models of intellectual development and their application to education identifies the two major groups of such models and examines recent attempts to combine them. The two types of theories are described as the psychometric models, which see intellectual growth as the incremental amassing and associating of discrete ideas, and the…

Elaboration theory is a prescriptive model of instruction which focuses on how to structure and organize subject matter while attempting to be consistent with cognitive theories of human learning. In this system, instruction in the subject matter should proceed sequentially, from the general to the specific, with each part explained and related to…

The General Strategies Hypothesis and the Strategy-deficiency Hypothesis are discussed in relation to conclusions made by Symposium participants. A contrast emerges between Borkowski, et. al.'s embrace of the Strategy-deficiency Hypothesis and Turnure's dissatisfaction with it. (LMO)

Argues that a continuous concern for intellectual education from primary school to university is one of the chief educational ways of pursuing autonomy as an ideal. Characteristics of intellectual education are delineated and counter-arguments are advanced against the criticism that intellectual education is one-sided. (RH)

The recent rise of philosophical speculation about the deeper meaning of ecology has immense implications for all social institutions of contemporary society, including the educational establishment. These implications as well as a philosophy of environmental education (ecophilosophy) are discussed. (JN)