Children's magical explanations and beliefs were investigated in two studies. Found that many four-year olds view magic as a plausible mechanism, yet reserve magical explanations for certain real world events that violate their causal expectations. Parents and culture at large may at first actively support magical beliefs whereas peers and schools…

Interviews with fourth graders who had not yet received systematic instruction in U.S. history revealed that these students are interested in the past, concerned about human intentionality and cause-effect relationships, and able to construct coherent narrative accounts of historical events as they understand them. However, they lack an…

Television's impact on children and the positive role of parents in moderating that impact is discussed in terms of: (1) the view that television has a largely negative impact on children; (2) the importance of television literacy; (3) ways in which parents are molding television's impact to their purposes; (4) variation in television's impact…

The present study was designed to explore the possibility that exposure to the "Misterogers' Neighborhood" program might increase the likelihood of spontaneous imaginative play in preschool children who watched the program over a period of two weeks. The specific focus of this investigation was to determine whether a well-produced…

The author examines the psychological attraction of stories for children, psychological mechanisms involved in the reception of story literature, and effects this literature has on personality development. (MS)

This study represents the integration of several smaller studies and articles on how the fantasies of children between age 5 and 7 become structured by the socialization pressures of the media and the school and how this helps or hinders the growth of children's own imaginative processes. Paper 1 is a research review and theoretical overview of…

This paper reviews theoretical writings on the importance and function of imaginative play in the development of young children, and describes measurement instruments and instructional aids used for imaginative play in home and school settings. A historical summary of the function of play in the young child's life is presented. Early theories saw…

The case for the inclusion of aesthetic education with the traditional basic courses of reading, writing, and arithmetic is examined. The following points are emphasized in regarding arts education as a basic: (1) Aesthetic experience is basic because it is a primary form of experience on which all cognition, judgment, and action depend. It is the…

Explores the importance of play in the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of young children. Functional, constructive, and dramatic play, and games with rules, are examined. Suggests that play is a powerful curricular tool for the kindergarten and primary classroom. Investigates ways to integrate play into the curriculum and to…

Three experiments examined referential and associative linkages in memory as a function of stimulus and response material formats. Second grade, sixth grade, and university students were the subjects. In Experiment 1, subjects pointed to either the picture or printed name of a stimulus corresponding to the name or picture, respectively, pointed to…

An outstanding gain in their ability to visualize and create inventive and imaginative drawings after having been challenged by sensory activities indicates children's abilities to develop and use the right sides of their brains. (Author/SEW)

A technique using verbal analysis of photographs for the controlled syntactic manipulation of material suggested by the picture is described. This activity develops thinking skills, language skills, and cultural awareness. (PMJ)

Reviews research on elementary school students' capacity for historical understanding. Suggests Piagetian theory is not applicable to historical thinking. Considers teaching approaches for developing elementary history instruction, including (1) embedding history in meaningful context; (2) use of narrative; (3) linking past and present; and (4)…

It is widely believed that television viewing has a negative impact on school achievement. This belief is supported by negative statistical associations sometimes found between school achievement and amount of television viewing; that is, heavy TV viewers tend to show poorer achievement than light viewers. One possible explanation of this…

With more than 100,000 computers in public schools across the United States, the impact of computer assisted instruction (CAI) on students' reading behavior needs to be evaluated. In reading laboratories, CAI has been found to provide an efficient and highly motivating means of teaching specific educational objectives. Yet, while computer…