Reviews how second-language acquisition (SLA) research appeals to ideas of attention and distinguishes among attention, awareness, and consciousness. Suggests how problems in SLA might be investigated through an alliance of SLA insights with those of the cognitive literature on attention. (Contains 90 references.) (JP)

A theory of visual information acquisition and visual memory is described that conjoins two models that have been used to describe low-level perceptual and higher level cognitive processes. Six experiments with 21 adult observers generally support the theory, although some weakness is discussed. (SLD)

Effective problem solvers have an aptitude complex composed of cognitive, affective, and conative factors. After diagnosing learning readiness, instructions can organize strategies to help students structure knowledge and develop the attitudes, confidence, and skills to think through application-level problems. (SK)

The social cognitive problem-solving skills of 389 adults (ages 17 to 72) with mental retardation were evaluated using the Means-Ends Problem-Solving measure. Subjects employed limited means to solving social problems and generated proportionally fewer relevant means than expected. The relationship between self-determination and social problem…

Examined effects of a reduced-scale play environment on the temporal aspects of complex play behavior. Children playing with playdough in a 7 x 5 x 5-foot structure began complex play more quickly, played in longer segments, and spent slightly more time in complex play than when in full-size conditions, suggesting that scale-reduced environments…

Using a computer-based tutorial called STUDY, students navigate through content and apply studying actions such as underlining, taking notes, requesting elaborations, and attempting test items whereas STUDY creates detailed time-stamped records of the learner's interactions in a log file. Log file data are analyzed using a methodology based on the…

Describes research on memory in preschool children. Each child was studied for scene and list memory. Domain-specific and general knowledge were not found to be strongly related to memory performance. Object typicality did not have a strong effect on memory, but size did. (GH)

Children performed well on tasks involving pictures regardless of whether the pictures were named. Performance on atypical pictures was better when category labels were provided than when labels were not provided. A control study demonstrated that children ignored labels when they named a transient, as opposed to a stable, category. (RH)

Examined follow-up employment information on clients with traumatic head injuries and explored relationships between neuropsychological data and employment outcomes. Findings from 40 discharged rehabilitation center clients with traumatic head injuries were consistent with reports in the literature that higher cognitive functioning following…

Explored adolescent risk taking from Jessor's problem-behavior perspective; a decision-making perspective; and perspectives that view adolescent risk taking as normal and adaptive, and as a function of adolescent egocentrism. Argues that adolescent risk taking is a multidimensional phenomenon involving personality correlates and cognitive aspects…

In one experiment, autistic children continued to fail a task that involved strategic deception when no opponent was present. In a second experiment that involved reaching for an object under direct and detour conditions, autistic children had greater difficulty with the task than did nonautistic, mentally handicapped children. Cites advantages…

Makes the analogy between Wilfred Bion's theory of mental processes involving preconception and mathematical problem solving. (MDH)

Two experiments with 78 college students investigated the effect of visual display coherence and simultaneous presentation of visual displays and stories on detailed recognition memory. Results suggest that unification of the visual display has a detrimental effect on memory for detail. (SLD)

This article contends that the debate about the necessity of vision in teaching cane travel to people with visual impairments is misguided and is dissolved once the focus is shifted from the instructor's teaching to the student's learning. A proposed alternative model of rehabilitation teaching stresses the role of the cognitive dimension.…

A summary of the major concerns involved in modeling the process of reading attempts to integrate both the cognitive, psychological aspects of the process and some salient aspects of learning to read in a second language. A model of reading as a cognitive activity is outlined. (four references) (CNP)