In two experiments subjects were required to determine whether a random, angular form, presented at any of a number of picture-plane orientations was a "standard" or "reflected" version. Average time required to make this determination increased linearly with the angular departure of the form from a previously learned orientation. (Author/BJG)

Comprehension of metaphor was examined in 36 children ranging in age from 55 months to 186 months. The subjects were audiotaped while answering questions about a target sentence that was contextually anomalous. Five pictures were drawn to accompany each story, two relating to the literal meaning of the target sentence, two to the metaphoric…

Civil liberties are rights enjoyed by individuals guaranteeing them protection from the arbitrary or discriminatory acts of government. Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental theory of moral reasoning and studies of behavioral/abstract attitudinal measures provide a rationale for examining moral reasoning processes, intelligence, and selected…

This research is concerned with human problem-solving behavior that involves inductive reasoning or concept formation when that behavior is being assisted by certain computer and display aids (called symbol manipulation functions). Human subjects use a variety of systematic operations when they are solving such problems. In order to analyze…

In earlier research the writer was constrained by the variables which were continuously appearing in both experimental class teaching experiences and various psychological experiments to distinguish four levels of cognitive sophistication in so far as mathematical material was concerned between the ages of 7 years and 17 years. In current research…

This study was concerned with children's ability to conserve spatial relationships among objects in different arrangements, in the presence of projected changes in the observer's visual field. The objectives were: (1) to determine the effects of varying types of arrangement and number of objects in the arrangement on perspective ability…

After opening with a 13-page review of the literature, the document's main emphasis is on the three experiments included in this report. The specific rationale, procedures, and results of the three studies comprise the major portion of the document. The general purpose of Experiment 1 was to ascertain the effects of prior relevant subject matter…

The study reported involved: (1) development of a concept learning task which embodied complex concepts similar to those included in elementary school curricula, and (2) investigation of the effects of type of thinking, abstract or concrete; grade levels, fourth, sixth, or eighth; and sex upon performance of human Ss with complex concepts of…

This study attempted to answer the following three questions: 1) Do students of grades four through seven perform equally well on both syncretistic understanding and logical thinking? 2) Do boys perform as well as girls on these two types of thinking? 3) Do students whose parents have a higher educational level perform as well as students whose…

Two experiments used the sentence-picture verification paradigm to study encoding and comparison processes with spatial information. Subjects decided whether a spatial description of a geometric figure matched a second figure. Three critical results demonstrated that task-specific variables could be the primary determinants of how subjects verify…

A new method for separating affective and denotative meaning subsystems in semantic differential ratings of any homogeneous concept domain is developed and illustrated using personality ratings data. Possible applications of this method are discussed. (Author/JKS)

This paper will report on a primary grade social-cognitive curriculum. We will first consider the construction of this curriculum from the principles of structural developmental and social perspective taking theory. Then we will discuss the curriculum evaluation. We will conclude by suggesting some new directions for evaluation. (Author)

Shows that age or conceptual tempo are not related to the number of trials needed to reach the criteria for a learning task. Impulsive responders performed more poorly than groups of slow-inaccurate, fast-accurate, and reflective responders on the transfer of learning task. (RL)

Cites research findings to refute Piaget's contention of stages of cognitive development. Advocates continuous cognitive differentiation as a model. (CP)

Three experiments investigated whether abstract as well as concrete sentences can be processed in a holistic manner. Results suggest that the processing of both types of sentences involves construction of particularized, holistic mental representations that contain information and inferences based on context and knowledge of language and the…