Considers the effect of providing two different response modes, free response and a multiple choice format, on concrete-abstract performance. Suggests if task format plays a role in subject response, then it also enters into a person's score on some intelligence test measures. (Author)

Human beings must realize the great unknowns in the material makeup and operation of the brain, in the relationship of brain to mind, in the creative imagination, and in the uniqueness of the psyche. The essential feature of the dualist-interaction theory is that mind and body are independent entities which somehow interact. (JN)

Soviet teaching experiments, based on the research of P. Ia. Galperin and of V. V. Davydov, are described, in which children are taught abstract concepts before they are provided with concrete examples. (GDC)

The educational implications of Piaget's concept of intelligence provide a framework for the application of theory to educational practice. The uniqueness of individual learning is compared to stage-based teaching. Social interaction is viewed as one of the major forces in cognitive development. (JN)

The moral criticism approach employs elements of criticism and moral reasoning to reach reasoned decisions regarding the rightness or wrongness of actions in applications of scientific knowledge. (JN)

Finds that various aspects of formal reasoning correlated significantly with mean t-unit lengths written by high school freshman boys, but not by freshman girls. Suggests that the reasoning tasks may have been biased against females. (RL)

A model for teaching proof writing to college mathematics students is presented. The model has six phases: (1) open (understanding the theorem by reading it, listing, and writing it out); (2) brainstorm; (3) instantiate (perception of the chain of inferences linking hypothesis to conclusion); (4) convince; (5) reflect; and (6) extend. Strategies…

Describes an instructional model for teaching abstract data types (ADTs) to high school students. Presents research results regarding students' conceptualizations of ADTs and their strategies of using them in computer science problem solving. To implement the ADTs, "black boxes" were used. (AEF)

Examined 8- and 10-year olds' understanding of the unique features of and potential relations among mental activities. Found a developing tendency to organize mental activities on the degree to which memory was a component of the activity. Results suggest that a constructivist theory of mind develops in later childhood. (AA)

Seventh- and eighth-grade students with learning disabilities (n=29) who reasoned through factual prose sentences did not recall more information than students who were prompted to try to remember the content after each sentence. However, students trained in thinking skills produced more correct explanations of the information than control…

This discussion of fostering recall and developing reasoning processes in students with mild disabilities considers the role of mnemonic strategies, similarities between mnemonic strategies and elaborative interrogation to facilitate information retrieval, constructivism and elaborative interrogation, and such problems as generalization and…

Presents examples where mathematical and physical reasoning complement each other in interpreting and analyzing some basic science concepts using proof by contradiction and contrapositive. Examples involve the rotation of the moon, the stability of electrons and protons, the electron's orbit about the nucleus, and the earth's liquid core. (MDH)

Features five activities to nurture "number sense," promote practice in mental calculations, and promote student self-confidence in mathmatical operations. These are "hands-off" exercises that are preparatory to calculator and computer use for math. (ET)

Describes the design of a computer-based problem-solving tool for teaching abstraction and classification to elementary school students. The task involves reasoning with attribute blocks. The software keeps a detailed trace of the student's actions, allowing teachers to provide intelligent feedback to the student. Results of a pilot study of the…

Examined inconsistencies in secondary school students' reasoning about the probability concept of equally likely events. Results of two studies suggest that the number of students who understand the concept of independence is much lower than the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress results indicate. (Contains 22 references.) (MDH)