Investigates how writers plan to produce discourse for different purposes--to report, to generalize, to persuade--as well as how writers plan for sentence level units of language. To learn about planning, an observational measure of pause time was used. (HOD)

Examines three misconceptions teachers and parents make about children and learning to spell: (1) learning to spell is based primarily on a child's knowledge of phonics, (2) learning to spell is a memorization process, and (3) children should not write if they cannot spell words correctly. (HTH)

This paper responds to concerns about the suitability and appropriateness of theories of decision-making behavior in organizations by addressing conceptual and methodological issues grounded on the study of individual cognitive processes. It proposes that attention be directed to examining how individuals react to demands imposed by organizational…

Describes an internal thought and control process which underlies an individual's ability to learn and apply specific instructional skills. Piaget's formal operation thought schema is discussed as a means of identifying the components of this process, and implications for instructional development trainers are presented. Sixteen references are…

The degree to which judgments of ability, effort, and performance conform to the prediction of Harold Kelley's theory of causal schemata was examined at four age levels (kindergarten, third grade, fifth grade and college). Author/MP)

Presents a study of the influence of an investigative skills environmental education program upon the problem identification skills of junior high students. Members of the experimental group (N=43) consistently outperformed students in a general science course (N=40) on measures of skills in problem identification. (Author/WB)

The article describes a study to determine how instruction on the distinction between two theoretical ideas will affect the intake, interpretation, and recall of new information related to but different from the first. (Author/SB)

Analyzes the psychological factors relevant to the acquisition of a second language and the behavior theories that have had the most dramatic impact on teaching methodology. Advocates a broader use of television in language instruction as a means of clarifying meanings through a visual context tailored to certain pedagogical requirements. (MES)

Even among individuals operating at Piaget's highest cognitive level (Formal Operations Stage) there is a range of behaviors on important cognitive characteristics. Various substages and their performance criteria are suggested. (JD)

The covert modeling group was somewhat more improved than the cognitive restructuring group. Results suggest that cognitive restructuring may work by mechanisms of covert rehearsal and response-relevant covert positive reinforcement. (Author)

Describes a writing assignment that has been used with high school students, college freshmen, and graduate students to help them more adequately understand their own composing processes. Argues that heuristic methods are extremely powerful teaching tools and that teachers should learn the theory on which they are based. (TJ)

Testing procedures developed on younger groups are often inadequate when testing the elderly. Special tests and administration techniques that increase the likelihood that elderly examinees will do their best are described. Psychological examiners must receive special training in testing to do a credible job with the elderly. (Author/BEF)

An examination was made of factors affecting reading performance of upper elementary students. Factors included effects of questions placed at various positions in the text, role of factual and inferential questions used as adjunct aids, and differences in processing strategies used by the readers in probed recall tasks. (Author/HOD)

Examines the usefulness and limitations of the notion of cognitive structure in science and the idea of mapping or charting it. Surveys several techniques for enumerating cognitive structure and explores possible classroom applications. (GS)

Results of this study indicate that self-knowledge theory can be used to establish guidelines for processing structured experiences. Guidelines include assessing the stage of participants using the Experience Recall Test, and utilizing questions associated with stages in sequence. (Author/BEF)