Residents (N=27) of a Jewish home for the aged were given a battery of 25 tests of cognitive abilities. There were marked individual differences among participants. Poorer performance was associated with carrying a diagnosis of organic brain syndrome and with a number of other background variables. (Author)

Experimentally manipulated differences in mental state can systematically alter the linguistic intuitions which speakers render about acceptability of sentences. The processes underlying intuitions must be taken into consideration when they are used as empirical data to test grammatical theories. A theory of introspection must be part of the…

The author argues that, in all people, one hemisphere of the brain has dominance--either the left, logical side, or the right, creative side. He presents methods of improving the design and delivery of learning through developing the recessive hemisphere. (CT)

Describes the reading in sign language of 25 stories by four young deaf readers. Suggests that the reading processes of the deaf closely resemble those of hearing readers. (AEA)

From his knowledge of the brain and learning, the author argues that Horace Mann's classroom system is the core cause for the outdated state of public education and attendant problems. He asserts that the conventional classroom is brain-antagonistic and the continued use of graded classrooms, ruinous. (Author/WD)

Discusses Piaget's theory of constructivism and its practical application in schools. Gives evidence for the value of constructivist teaching and the importance of offering different kinds of education within the same system. (WD)

Discusses the problems of the adult second language learner. The decline in interest among adolescents in language learning is reflected by the number of adult language learners. Problems ensue, however, from the unique classroom situation, which is not conducive to the development of communicative competence. (PJM)

Describes an experiment which used a computer simulation program to demonstrate that there are characteristic differences between experts and novices when they have to solve problems in complex situations. Tables of data and a list of six references are included. (LLS)

The Haptic Visual Discrimination Test of tactual-visual information processing was administered to 39 first-graders, along with standard intelligence, academic potential, and spatial integration tests. Results revealed consistently significant associations between the importance of parieto-occipital areas for organizing sensory data as well as for…

Investigates the asserted differences in reasoning between adults and second, fourth, and sixth graders in a manipulation of variables task using class inclusion and story problems with common everyday situations. Results are discussed in terms of sensible reasoning and problem-solving skills. (CM)

Explores children's predicting and inferencing strategies for understanding written materials by analyzing an example of one second grader's oral reading. Discusses theory of reading comprehension processes, as well as how teachers can develop student's predicting and inferencing abilities at word, sentence and suprasentential levels. (RH)

Referring to a recent British publication, discusses linguistic problems in technical language and their relevance to foreign language teaching. Mentions specifically "cognitive structures" common to the foreign and the native languages, which can facilitate understanding technical texts. Discusses also "modes of discourse" which are relevant to…

Addresses four major issues in developmental psychology: the preservation of structures over time; the psychological growth functions for emergent competences; the mechanisms of change in development; and the determinants of individual variation in psychological development. (Author/DB)

This paper makes a start in the search for a fair test of prelingually deaf children's short-term visual memory ability by exploring the coding problems presented to them by the traditional digit-span test. It suggests that more research be devoted to the problem of stimulus-response compatibility. (Suthor/SJL)

Analysis (using semantic scoring criteria) indicated that: (1) self-action yielded higher scores on recall; and (2) girls scored significantly higher than boys. When absolute and syntactic criteria were used, self-action, puppet-action, and color, paste, and cut actions were equally facilitative. (Author)