Vocal reaction time of 16 hearing and 25 hearing impaired children (7-14 years old) in response to visually presented stimuli was measured in four tasks. Differences between normal and hearing impaired increased systematically with the phonetic complexity of the task. Hearing level and latency in the counting responses were major predictors of…

Generalization of four retarded children's (five to eight years old) object naming responses to stimuli in the natural environment was assessed after training with either objects or pictures. Generalization was typically greater after training with objects. In a second experiment, an alternating procedure resulted in substantial increases in…

Examines the association between young children's analogical reasoning ability and their mathematical learning. Records and analyzes children's nonverbal behaviors and their private and social speech. Concludes that analogical reasoning is significantly related to mathematical learning and children's scores on the measure of mathematical learning,…

Two groups of children (ages 8 and 12) with reading disabilities and verbal deficits were given a memory-for-colors task designed to evaluate intra- and intermodal serial memory functioning. Results suggest developmental differences in relative influence of specific modalities in immediate memory functions, but emphasize intramodal verbal factors…

Twenty-four students (9 to 13 years old) were questioned about the metaphoric content of poetry, paintings, and dance. Interviews dealing with poetry were briefer and less animated than those dealing with paintings, suggesting that improving the capacity to understand metaphor in reading materials is a desirable goal. (CL)

Studies involving 30 learning-disabled elementary students support the contention that reading comprehension difficulties among learning-disabled children are partly due to inefficient memorization strategies, and demonstrate the efficacy of practical, cost-effective mnemonic training procedures which significantly increase reading comprehension…

Circumscribed interests are a fascinating and an understudied phenomenon in some individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research in this area is likely to contribute to our understanding of ASDs and to advancing developmental knowledge on learning processes used to adapt to the demands of everyday social life. This study reports on a…

An ambiguity in Gagne and Briggs' model of instructional design was investigated using treatments which contrasted verbal expository and guided discovery forms of presentation. Analysis found the guided discovery method as effective as the expository method on all measures. Implications are discussed. (Author/MT)

Investigates the effect of the Verbal Rule Instruction Technique in facilitating the acquisition of conservation concepts. Data were collected from 247 Nigerian schoolchildren divided into three groups: verbal, nonverbal, and no-training. (Author/RH)

The article offers teachers suggestions on ways to instruct elementary students in the vocabulary of mathematics. It gives examples of math difficulties at the elementary school level, math difficulties related to vocabulary, and math difficulties related to problem solving. (DB)

Two studies with a total of 110 children (grades three through five) with high or average verbal intelligence examined their theory of mind through ratings of their understanding of interrelationships between and among mental activities and verbs. Analysis indicated very similar organization and structure of these concepts in both groups of…

Uses a quasi-experimental design to compare the social adjustment of 21 children who received the Language for Learning program with those of 24 children enrolled in a comparison school. Finds that the Language for Learning program produced statistically and educationally significant effects, including improvements in social skills and reductions…

Twenty-nine third graders were trained in teacher led direct instruction to use a generalizable strategy to solve four structurally different types of verbal math problems. There was a significant difference between posttest scores of the two training conditions (sequential and random order) due primarily to gains of the students in sequential…

Examines whether teaching poor text comprehenders reading strategies will improve reading comprehension. Third through fifth grade adequate decoders who were poor comprehenders were trained for 10 weeks in either a verbally or visually based reciprocal teaching program. Results reveal that training reading comprehension strategies in small groups…

The essays included in this periodical focus on teaching elementary school children how to appreciate and how to write poetry. "Children, Poetry, and Memorization," by J.F.S. Smeall, outlines the historical basis, and perceptual limitations, of the use of print media alone in classroom instruction. Suggestions for encouraging children's recitation…