The idea that bilingualism causes cognitive damage to children is no longer held by researchers, but it lingers in popular belief. It is based on the assumption that language is central to cognitive development, which is not held by all theorists. Another theoretical issue is whether the mind is a limited-capacity container or can accommodate two…

This paper discusses some of the issues raised for cognitive psychologists by the computer revolution together with the role that psychologists with computer training ought to play, especially in the study of how people acquire complex skills. The issues addressed include: (1) the competition between humans and intelligent machines; (2) the…

This paper presents criteria for establishing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries, and specific techniques to facilitate their achievement or determine the degree of their achievement. The following criteria are briefly described: fairness; and ontological, educative, catalytic and tactical authenticity. Explored in greater detail,…

Humanistic psychology has emerged as a third force alternative to behaviorism and psychoanalysis. It offers a new orientation to psychology, one that incorporates basic existential ideas related to personal choice, freedom, and responsibility, and which also includes central phenomenological themes related to perceptions, personal meanings, and…

A cadre of thinkers called cognitive scientists has been investigating some of the same issues that first possessed the Greeks. As did the Greeks, they seek to understand what is known, ponder the sources of knowledge, conjecture about the various vehicles of knowledge, reflect on language, and speculate on the nature of the activity of knowing.…

This paper considers the possibilities of using computers not only to amplify, but to reorganize children's thinking and mental functioning. These two different conceptualizations of the transformational role of noncomputer cognitive technologies (such as written language) in human intelligence and cognitive change are sketched, and the different…

A study investigated the effects of nonverbal and verbal classification abilities on reading comprehension. Subjects, 104 fourth grade students, were tested on three measures of classification skill (a shifting of criteria task, a free sorting task, and a three-level hierarchical classification task) and on a measure of recall of relevant story…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate children's understanding of the relationship of narrators to the texts they narrate and how children's developing cognitive abilities influence that understanding. The subjects, 164 children aged 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10, heard a series of short passages containing several characters, one of whom was the…

Governing bodies that are quasi-rational, representative, and democratic are accountable to those they govern in much the same way that social scientists are accountable to the academic community. Since they both appeal to rationality as the basis of their actions, governments and scientists must use epistemologically adequate procedures to…

This paper examines the unresolved epistemological and theoretical problems in comparative communication research. The first section examines what "comparative" means by reviewing various fields in the social sciences. The second section provides an overview of epistemic assumptions of comparative communication research and suggests that in the…

The technical reports summarized in this paper were prepared as part of a project designed to determine what is known about the teaching of cognitive skills and to formulate questions relating to such teaching for further research. Topics discussed in the 22 reports include the following: (1) teaching thinking; (2) Aristotle's logic; (3) a…

To discover the relationship between cognitive development and writing, a means of assessing writing is needed that reflects accurately changes in the way children write as they grow older. This may be accomplished by using Piaget's characteristics of concrete and formal operations. His framework permits general descriptions of thinking, organized…

The 1983-84 annual report of the President of Harvard University to members of the Board of Overseers addresses the advantages and disadvantages of the utilization of new technologies by a university, comments on the instructional uses of computers (including computer assisted instruction (CAI)) and video technology, and cites specific examples in…

This preliminary work in human communication for librarians is designed to help the library profession address itself to significant communication problems. As they relate to the library and information sciences, the three major areas of communication science covered are: (1) History and theory of communication and culture, organization and…

Using the book "Fostering Intellectual Development in Young Children" by Kenneth D. Wann and the book's impact on education as a point of departure, this paper presents a way of looking at the early childhood curriculum that goes beyond the book but is in keeping with its concerns for the education of young children. The book was a…