摘要:

Under certain circumstances, a deductive or ‘theoretical’ mode of reasoning is revealed among young children, as well as among illiterate adults. In four experiments we asked whether 4‐, 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children can extend their deductive abilities to syllogisms whose content runs counter to their practical world knowledge. In Experiment 1, premises were presented within the context of play, using suitable toys and props, or in the ordinary verbal mode. Syllogisms with known, unknown as well as contrary facts were included. Children's performance following presentation in the verbal mode was less accurate than with presentation in the context of play, particularly when syllogisms with contrary facts were included in the premises. Experiments 2, 3 and 4 showed that it is the make‐believe context of play rather than the visible presence of toys during play that facilitates children's reasoning when the premises of the problems run counter to the

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01095.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The development of prehension in 96 subjects aged 4 to 10 months was studied in relation to age and posture. It appears that, despite the strong statistical relation between age and posture, the latter is a better predictor of the degree of maturity of prehension gesture than is age. Postural acquisition, therefore, appears as one of the factors which cause restructuring of prehension in the course of the infant's development.

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01096.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study attempts to separate the effects of literacy from those of bilingualism, on some specific measures of meta‐linguistic awareness in a group of children at a bilingual preschool in Italy. Controls for age are incorporated, with socio‐economic background held constant. Literacy and bilingualism are treated as continuous variables, with subjects rated on 10‐point scales by their teachers. Distinct and specific effects are shown, with literacy being related to the ability to recognize words as discrete sentence units, and bilingualism related to the perception of two sorts of semantic arbitrariness. In contrast to other studies, no effects were found for perception of the general rule‐governed nature of language, nor for the evaluation of the truth value of tautologies and contradictions (non‐empirical statements). Explanations are offered in terms of the lack of important controls in those studies, as well as the importance of the social and educational context in which the skills of literacy and bilingualism are learned and

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01097.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In order to study how information is processed through oral activity during infancy, its two main components, irregular mouthing (M) and non‐nutritive sucking (NNS), were investigated. It was hypothesized that if information is actually processed during M or NNS then it should subsequently be demonstrable in a recognition or a discrimination task.The first experiment tested this hypothesis through the use ofcross‐modaltransfer from oral touch to vision. Sixteen 1‐month‐old infants were first orally familiarized with a nubby or plain rubber nipple, and then tested for visual preference on corresponding shapes. Several results show that M rather than NNS involves information processing, but the amount of mouthing on such soft nipples was low and the links between M and subsequent preference were only marginally significant.A second experiment dealt withintra‐modal discrimination.Oral activity on hard nipples was video‐recorded in 24 2‐month‐old infants. During familiarization the amount of M decreased while the amount of NNS increased. The amount of M increased when a new oral shape was presented. Both experiments support the hypothesis that information about the stimulus is processed during mouthing rather than during NNS. Both approaches, cross‐modal and intra‐modal, are necessary to go beyond specific problems of transfer of information and adaptation

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01098.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Directionanddegreeof handedness were assessed in children aged 3 to 9 years old, in transverse and longitudinal studies, using a 10‐item performance battery. Item analysis revealed a single underlying factor with a bimodal distribution.Directionof handedness appears to be more or less fixed by the age of 3.Degreeof handedness increases at least over the range 3 to 7 years, and perhaps more slowly from 7 to 9.Degreeof handedness increased more rapidly in left‐handers than in right‐handers.Degreeof handedness showed no correlation with reading ability or general intelligence. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and interpreted in terms of a hypothesis wherebydegreeof handedness is a phenomenonsui ge

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01099.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Conflict and collaboration between children have been postulated as causal mechanisms in cognitive development, but the constitutive processes of such interaction patterns remain largely unstudied and unspecified. This study examined dyads of young children as they worked together on a goal‐directed problem‐solving task. Pairs of 7‐ and 9‐year‐old children were classified asjointordisjointcollaborators on the basis of their early interaction, enabling predictions to be made regarding the linguistic processes during disagreements. Dividing disagreements intoantecedent, oppositionandresolutionevents enabled comparisons to be made between dyads regarding the specific linguistic processes of disagreements. While the dyadic types were more similar than different, it was found thatdisjointdyads required more language to solve their disputes andjointdyads marked disagreements in ways that promoted social monitoring or identified the specific cause of the disagreement. Older children disagreed more but acknowledged the social nature of the problem‐solving task and the need to communicate. Such verbal use of problem‐solving strategies may allow young children to benefit cognitively from wor

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01100.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Size scaling in drawings made by children aged 3:6 years to 6:5 years, was investigated in three experiments. In Expt 1, children's drawings of a man were taller than their drawings of a dog (i.e. correct ordinal height scaling) and the order of making the drawings (and thus space remaining on the paper) had no effect on their height. In terms of the combined area of head and trunk, however, dog drawings were smaller than man drawings only when the man was drawn first. In Expt 2, even the youngest children on average produced correct ordinal height scaling in their drawings of topics which differed greatly in real size (house, man and dog), but the height of the dog was overestimated relative to the man and the height of the man was overestimated relative to the house. The relative overestimation of dog and man declined with increasing age. In Expt 3, topics which did not differ greatly in size (man and door) were generally not scaled correctly, but the scaling was more accurate when man and door were drawn close together in the picture. Thus, an effort towards visually correct size scaling could be detected even in very young children's drawings, but only on a size dimension which was salient and relevant for topic differentiation.

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01101.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0261-510X    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1988.tb01102.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY