The “implicit-explicit” distinction is usually used to specify the nature of mental processing or of essential memory systems. The purpose of this paper is to call attention to this distinction, too often neglected, within the domain of semantic knowledge. In fact, taking account of the degree of explicitation of specific knowledge may enable us to account for both the best performances by experts within their domain and also the idiosyncratic difficulties some learners encounter during the acquisition and generalization of both specific and general knowledge. The importance of processes of explicitation of knowledge within developmental and individual differences perspectives is discussed.

The Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) was investigated in computerized versus noncomputerized environments using process (e.g., mediation strategies) and performance variables (e.g., cognitive modifiability) as outcome measures. The sample consisted of 108 pupils drawn from fourth- (tutors) and first-grade (tutored) classes randomly assigned to experimental (n = 27) and control (n = 27) dyads. Dyads in each group were randomly assigned to either computerized or noncomputerized learning environments. Experimental tutors received training in the PMYC program whereas control tutors received general preparation for peer tutoring. Following the PMYC program, each dyad was assigned to a collaborative learning situation in which the older child taught his/her partner a problem solving task. All children were tested on a set of cognitive measures before and after the PMYC program. The findings showed that the experimental tutors used significantly higher levels of mediation strategies and achieved higher cognitive modifiability than did the control children in both learning environments. Children tutored in the computerized environment achieved higher cognitive modifiability than children tutored in the noncomputerized environment. The findings are discussed in light of Vygotsky and Feuerstein’s theories and recent research on peer-assisted learning.

The question of why deaf children have difficulties in learning mathematics is the basis of this study. The aim of the study is to illuminate deaf children’s concept formation in mathematics by describing how some deaf children express themselves and act on their way towards understanding two basic concepts: the concept of multiplication with whole numbers and the concept of length.

Theories developed by Feuerstein are used in order to describe how deaf children develop concepts, and to investigate possibilities to help deaf children develop their cognitive potential in a more effective and adequate way. Concept maps illustrate steps and pathways taken by the pupils. The importance of language in concept formation, with focus on sign language is illuminated.

The children in this study were pupils in a School for the Deaf, a bilingual school with the languages Swedish Sign Language and Swedish. Seven 11-year-old pupils, all the pupils in one group in grade 4, were studied. Video recordings were made of pupil-teacher interactions in problem solving situations in sign language only, with paper and pencil, with learning materials, and with real things.

A large variability in the pupils’ ability to solve the problems was found depending on different factors identified by Feuerstein, e.g., self-confidence, looking for meaning, search of challenge, intention to finish the work, and use of known facts. No difference was found concerning the steps towards comprehension of the concepts for the deaf pupils in the study compared to those of hearing pupils. In accordance with earlier studies, it was found that the deaf pupils needed more time to learn mathematics than hearing pupils normally do. As a consequence, they may learn certain concepts at a later age, and the pathways towards comprehension may vary compared to those of hearing pupils. The structure of sign language and the lack of an established terminology in mathematics are also of importance.

The bilingual situation for deaf pupils is a reason for developing methods of teaching mathematics to deaf pupils alternative to methods used today.

Applications of cognitive education have taken place primarily in schools, but applications outside the classroom can be equally rewarding. “Clinical” applications have so far included: (a) cognitive and motivational redevelopment of individuals with mental retardation; (b) psychological treatment of individuals with severe psychiatric disorders; (c) clinical treatment of persons with delays in language development; (d) treatment of children with learning disabilities, including ADD and ADHD; (e) cognitive and social redevelopment of persons with psychological and character disorders; (f) cognitive, motivational, and social redevelopment of persons who have sustained traumatic brain injuries. The last two of these applications, in psychotherapy and in neuropsychology, are especially promising and are examined in some detail.

This master’s thesis (Berger, 2003) concerns a new learning potential test of analogical reasoning, the Hessels Analogical Reasoning Test (HART; Hessels, 2003) aimed at the assessment of pupils from 5 to 15 years of age in a group situation. A frequently emphasized problem of learning potential tests is the time needed for their administration. We intend to be able to assess a whole group of approximately 20 pupils in the context of their classroom, in a relatively short time of about 45 to 60 minutes.

The analogies are presented in two different formats: 2 rows x 3 lines with six response alternatives or 3x3 with eight response alternatives. The number of elements varies from one to three, as does the number of transformations. We created nine series of increasing complexity for a total of 70 items. The items were constructed by pairs, meaning that two items had the same number of elements, and the same number and kind of transformations applied. The complexity, that is, theoretical difficulty, was defined by the number of transformations and elements present in the analogy. For example, an item with one element and one transformation is easier than an item with three elements and two transformations. The procedure was divided into two phases. In the first phase, a collective introduction was offered using four example items aimed at familiarizing the pupils with the tasks and the different formats of the matrices. Immediately after, a pre-test combined with training (after each item an explanation was given about the transformations applied) was administered using the first set. The second phase was a static post-test administered a few days after the pre-test/training using the parallel forms of the pre-test/training items. For each degree, a series of items was defined, according to level of difficulty, varying between 12 (1^st grade) and 20 items (6_th grade) for each phase of the test.

We administered the HART to 117 pupils of a primary public school (mean age 8;11). In addition, these pupils took the Standard Progressive Matrices of Raven (SPM) and an arithmetical test in a static and collective administration. Teachers of each class completed a rating scale for each of his pupils about three noncognitive variables (participation in the lessons, application in schoolwork, and behavior in class) and two cognitive variables (school success in French and mathematics).

The results showed that the training caused great inter- and intraindividual variation, explained by the learning process taking place during this phase. Due to this variation, internal consistency was low for this phase. Thus, for subsequent analysis, we only considered the reliable results of the post-test. Of main interest were the correlations between the HART and the other variables measured. The noncognitive factors given by the teacher’s judgments showed lower correlations with the HART than with the SPM. For instance, the HART showed a correlation of .08 (ns) with pupil’s behavior, whereas the SPM showed a correlation of .21 (p<.05). This result means that the score offered by the HART is more independent of behavior in class. Moreover, the arithmetic test is more correlated with the learning test than with the SPM. Finally, a stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that the SPM predicted 14.2% (F_1,116=19.151; p<.01) of the variance of success in mathematics; the HART predicted an extra 4% (F_1,115=5.557; p<.05). For French, the stepwise regression analysis shows that the HART has a slightly superior predictive validity.

These first results show that the instrument can be used in a group situation and has promising properties. The research will be extended to different populations, with variations in the procedures and methods.

Nyborg (1993) opened his book with the statement: “Pedagogy usually reflects and mediates the culture within which it has been generated.” According to Nyborg, a main purpose of pedagogical activity is to mediate the culture to each new generation, which refers to the transmission of the content of a given culture to successive generations. Central in this regard is the mediation of knowledge and skills, including language skills, which serve as tools for the mediation of the knowledge and skills acquired by many preceding generations. One can infer from Nyborg’s theory of learning that the quality of mediation differs in the extent to which teachers or mediators are able “to provide optimum conditions of learning for persons who may differ widely in prerequisites for learning,” operationally and generally expressed.

Further, Nyborg’s notion of “intelligent teaching and corresponding learning,” referring more specifically to what should be taught and why, is also of interest from a mediational point of view. Intelligent teaching should be taken to mean teaching that contributes significantly to learning that transfers positively to future learning. Nyborg arguesd that such transfer may be in terms of knowledge and skills as well as emotional and motivational dispositions towards learning situations and towards oneself as a learner.

In order to facilitate these kinds of learning Nyborg recommended that children from the age of 5-6 are taught Basic Conceptual Systems, including basic concepts, to a verbalized, generalized and transferable level (e.g., color, shape, size, position, place, direction, number, pattern, substance, up to approximately 20 BCSs) by means of his Concept Teaching Model. According to this model, language skills are used in a unique way in order to help children to learn and organize their experiences into Basic Conceptual Systems (BCSs). This is done by repeated use of, for instance, the subordinate label “round” in close connection with the superordinate label “SHAPE” = Round SHAPE. In this way BCSs in many children are formed years ahead of what would have happened without this kind of verbal mediation. Among other things this model also challenges children to come up with inductive conclusions regarding what they have learned. In the next stage BCSs will serve as tools for performing analytic coding or multiple abstractions. In this way they function as pre-requisites for the learning of more complex concepts and conceptual systems, for the learning of school subjects and skills of different kinds, rendering a greater likelihood of positive transfer.

In this system one may find many examples of ways to direct children’s attention, by means of names for Basic Conceptual Systems, towards characterizing features when teaching the children about such different phenomena as the letter L and the solar system. Readers are given 7 points that will help observers to recognize or identify whether or not a teacher is mediating from Nyborg’s perspective.

The educational approach of Concept Teaching according to Nyborg may be characterized as “domain-general,” aiming at teaching both content and processes, with emphasis on generalization and transfer, focusing on inductive teaching/learning in the beginning changing to more deductive teaching/learning later on. L’ouvrage de Nyborg (1993) s’ouvre sur la réflexion suivante : « La pédagogie reflète et médiatise généralement la culture au sein de laquelle elle s’est développée. » Selon Nyborg, l’objectif principal de l’action pédagogique est de médiatiser la culture pour la nouvelle génération, c’est-à-dire de transmettre le contenu de la culture aux générations successives. De ce point de vue, la médiation des connaissances et des habiletés est centrale, y compris celle des habiletés langagières qui servent d’outils pour la médiation des connaissances et des habiletés acquises par les générations précédentes. On peut inférer de la théorie de l’apprentissage de Nyborg que la qualité de la médiation diffère selon la capacité des enseignants à « fournir des conditions d’apprentissage optimales à des apprenants dont les compétences varient fortement. » De plus, la notion proposée par Nyborg « d’enseignement intelligent et d’apprentissage correspondant » qui réfère à ce qui doit être enseigné et comment, présente également un intérêt du point de vue de la médiation. On doit concevoir cet enseignement intelligent comme un enseignement qui contribue significativement aux apprentissages futurs. Nyborg soutient que ce transfert peut être en terme de savoir, d’habiletés et de dispositions émotionnelles et motivationnelles.

Afin de faciliter ces types d’apprentissages Nyborg recommande d’enseigner aux enfants à partir de 5-6 ans les systèmes conceptuels de base - de leur niveau élémentaire - à celui de leur verbalisation consciente (couleur, forme, position, place, direction, nombre, substance etc, c’est-à-dire une vingtaine de systèmes conceptuels) au moyen du modèle d’enseignement de concept. Selon ce modèle, les habiletés langagières sont utilisées d’une manière spécifique pour aider les enfants à apprendre et à organiser leurs expériences en systèmes conceptuels de base. Cela est par exemple atteint par l’utilisation répétée de l’étiquette subordonnée « rond » en étroite relation avec l’étiquette « forme », c’est-à-dire en amenant l’enfant à les associer systématiquement (« c’est une forme ronde »). L’emploi de cette médiation verbale permet à certains enfants d’acquérir les systèmes conceptuels de base avec plusieurs années d’avance. Un autre aspect de cette méthode invite les enfants à faire des inférences à propos de ce qu’ils ont appris. A l’étape suivante, ces systèmes conceptuels de base peuvent servir d’outils pour le codage analytique et les abstractions multiples. Ils fonctionnement alors comme des pré requis pour les apprentissages de concepts et de systèmes conceptuels plus complexes et les différentes matières scolaires et renforce la probabilité de leur transfert.

Ce cadre offre de nombreuses manière de diriger l’attention des enfants à partir des noms des systèmes conceptuels de base jusqu’au caractéristiques distinctives en jeu dans les apprentissages comme par exemple celles de la lettre L ou du système solaire. Dans cet article on indique sept points qui permettent de savoir dans quelle mesure un enseignant met en oeuvre la médiation selon Nyborg.

L’approche de Nyborg est centrée sur les contenus et les processus généraux et insiste sur les processus de généralisation et de transfert, et il passe d’une approche inductive à une approche plus déductive de l’enseignement/apprentisage. Nyborg (1993) begann sein Buch mit der Feststellung: “Pädagogik reflektiert und vermittelt üblicherweise die Kultur innerhalb derer sie entwickelt wurde”. Nach Nyborg liegt ein wesentliches Ziel der pädagogischen Aktivität darin, jeder neuen Generation diese Kultur zu vermitteln. Hiermit gemeint ist die Übertragung des Inhaltes einer gegebenen Kultur auf die nachfolgenden Generationen. Zentral in dieser Auffassung ist die Vermittlung von Wissen und Fertigkeiten einschließlich von Sprachfertigkeiten, die als Werkzeuge für die Mediation von Wissen und Fertigkeiten, welche von vielen vorausgegangenen Generationen erworben worden sind, dienen. Generell und operational formuliert kann man aus Nyborgs Theorie des Lernens schließen, dass die Qualität der Mediation in dem Maße differiert, in dem Lehrer oder Mediatoren fähig sind, “optimale Konditionen des Lernens für Personen bereitzustellen, die in ihren Lernvoraussetzungen unterschiedlich sind”. Weiterhin ist Nyborgs Konzept des “intelligenten Lehrens und entsprechenden Lernens”, wo er sich spezifischer darauf bezieht, was gelehrt werden sollte und warum, auch von einem Mediationsstandpunkt aus von Interesse. Intelligentes Lehren sollte Lehren bedeuten, das in signifikanter Weise zu einem Lernen beiträgt, das auf künftiges Lernen einen positiven Transfer hat. Nyborg argumentiert, dass ein solcher Transfer in Begriffen von Wissen und Fertigkeiten wie auch von emotionalen und motivationalen Dispositionen bezüglich der Lernsituation und der Person des Lerners selbst verstanden werden kann.

Um diese Art von Lernen zu erleichtern, empfahl Nyborg, dass Kinder ab dem Alter von 5 – 6 Jahren Basale Konzeptuelle Systeme (BCSs) gelehrt werden, wobei mit Hilfe seines Konzeptlehrmodells ein verbalisiertes, generalisiertes und transferierbares Niveau (z. B. Farbe, Form, Größe, Position, Ort, Richtung, Anzahl, Muster, Substanz, bis zu annähernd 20 BCSs) erreicht werden soll. Nach diesem Modell werden Sprachfertigkeiten in besonderer Weise benutzt, um Kindern beim Lernen zu helfen und ihre Erfahrungen in das BCS zu organisieren. Dies geschieht beispielsweise durch die wiederholte Verwendung des untergeordneten Merkmals “rund” in enger Beziehung mit dem übergeordneten Merkmal “Form” (= runde Form). Auf diese Weise werden in vielen Kindern basale kognitive Systeme entwickelt, die jenen um Jahre voraus sind, die ohne diese Art verbaler Mediation entstanden wären. Unter anderem fordert dieses Modell die Kinder auch dazu heraus, induktive Schlussfolgerungen bezüglich dessen was sie gelernt haben, anzustellen. Auf der nächsten Stufe dienen BCSs dann als Werkzeuge für die Durchführung analytischer Kodierungen oder multipler Abstraktionen. In dieser Beziehung funktionieren sie als Prerequisiten des Lernens komplexer Konzepte und Systeme, des Erlernens von Schulfächern und Fertigkeiten von unterschiedlicher Art, und vermitteln so eine größere Wahrscheinlichkeit positiven Transfers.

In diesem System kann man viele Beispiele von Möglichkeiten finden, die Aufmerksamkeit der Kinder mittels verbaler Bezeichnungen für basale konzeptuelle Systeme auf charakterisierende Merkmale zu lenken, beispielsweise wenn die Kinder solche unterschiedlichen Phänomene wie den Buchstaben L oder das Solarsystem unterrichtet werden. Den Lesern werden 7 Punkte zur Verfügung gestellt, die dabei helfen herauszufinden, ob ein Lehrer Mediation aus der Nyborg’schen Perspektive betreibt oder nicht.

Der unterrichtliche Ansatz des Konzeptlehrens nach Nyborg kann als bezüglich der Domäne generell bezeichnet werden. Er zielt auf die Vermittlung sowohl von Inhalt als auch Prozessen ab, betont Generalisierung und Transfer, fokussiert zu Beginn auf induktives Lehren und Lernen und wechselt später auf einen eher deduktiven Lehr- und Lernansatz. Magne Nyborg (1927-1996), difunto profesor de la Universidad de Oslo (Noruega), llevó a cabo una amplia investigación sobre la educación y las dificultades de aprendizaje a lo largo de 30 años. Estuvo especialmente interesado en cómo mejorar la enseñanza con el fin de mejorar y optimizar el proceso de aprendizaje de todos los niños. En el curso de su cuidada investigación, elaboró un complejo y consistente marco teórico ecléctico acerca de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Ese marco teórico también incluye detalladas propuestas y prescripciones para el tratamiento educativo. Su contribución central fue la elaboración de su Modelo Conceptual de la Enseñanza, el cual es un modelo para la enseñanza de conceptos, organizado en un sistema conceptual a través de la observación y de la inferencia de definiciones. El título del capítulo de apertura del principal libro de Nyborg en Inglés (1993) es “La Pedagogía usualmente refleja y mediatiza la cultura con la cual ha sido generada”. Parece razonable inferir, a partir de los escritos de Nyborg, que la calidad de la mediación difiere en función de que un profesor o mediador “provea condiciones óptimas de aprendizaje para las personas que poseen muy diferentes prerrequisitos para dicho aprendizaje”, operacional y generalmente expresado. Además, la noción de Nyborg acerca de “la enseñanza y el aprendizaje inteligente”, la cual se refiere más específicamente a lo que debería ser enseñado y al por qué, es también de interés desde un punto de vita mediacional. La enseñanza inteligente debe ser entendida como el medio para enseñar lo que contribuye significativamente al aprendizaje, el cual se transfiere positivamente para aprendizajes futuros. Nyborg argumenta que dicha transferencia puede ser en términos de conocimiento, habilidades, y disposiciones emocionales y motivacionales. Con el fin de facilitar esos tipos de aprendizaje, Nyborg recomienda que a los niños, desde la edad de cinco años, se les enseñen Sistemas Básicos Conceptuales, incluyendo conceptos básicos para lograr un nivel verbalizado y consciente (por ejemplo: color, forma, tamaño, posición, dirección, número, patrones, sustancia, etc, hasta aproximadamente 20 SBC) por medio del Modelo de Enseñanza Conceptual previamente mencionado. En el siguiente estadio, esos Sistemas Básicos Conceptuales pueden servir como herramientas para mejorar la codificación analítica o para realizar múltiples abstracciones. En ese sentido, tales herramientas funcionan como prerrequisitos para el aprendizaje de conceptos más complejos y de sistemas conceptuales para el aprendizaje de contenidos escolares y de habilidades de diferentes tipos. Nyborg (1993) apriva il suo libro con la seguente affermazione: “Solitamente la pedagogia riflette e media la cultura all’interno della quale è stata generata.” Secondo Nyborg, uno degli scopi principali dell’attività pedagogica è mediare la cultura alle nuove generazioni, il che si riferisce alla trasmissione del contenuto di una cultura data alle generazioni successive. Centrale da questo punto di vista è la mediazione di conoscenze e abilità, incluse quelle relative al linguaggio che fungono da strumenti per mediare la conoscenza e le abilità acquisite dalle molte generazioni precedenti. Dalla teoria dell’apprendimento elaborata da Nyborg potremmo inferire che la qualità della mediazione differisce nella misura in cui insegnanti e mediatori sono in grado di “fornire ottime condizioni di apprendimento per persone che possono differire in misura significativa dal punto di vista dei prerequisiti dell’apprendimento”, espresse in termini sia generali sia operativi. Inoltre, anche il concetto di “insegnamento intelligente e apprendimento corrispondente”, che si riferisce in modo più specifico a che cosa dovrebbe essere insegnato e perché, riveste un certo interesse dal punto di vista della mediazione. Infatti per insegnamento intelligente si intende un insegnamento che contribuisce significativamente all’apprendimento e può essere trasferito ad apprendimenti futuri: a parere di Nyborg, tale transfer può essere considerato sia in termini di conoscenze e abilità sia in termini di disposizioni emotive e motivazionali verso le situazioni di apprendimento e verso noi stessi come soggetti che apprendono.

Per facilitare questi tipi di apprendimento, Nyborg suggerisce che dall’età dei 5-6 anni vengano insegnati ai bambini i Sistemi Concettuali di Base, inclusi i concetti elementari, a un livello verbale, generalizzato e trasferibile ( ad esempio, colore, forma, dimensione, posizione, luogo, direzione, numero, modello, sostanza, fino a una ventina circa di SCB) utilizzando il Concept Teaching Model. Secondo tale modello, le competenze linguistiche vengono impiegate in un modo particolare per aiutare i bambini ad apprendere e organizzare le esperienze in Sistemi Concettuali di Base. Questo scopo, ad esempio, viene ottenuto con un uso ripetuto della etichetta subordinata “rotonda” in stretta connessione con l’etichetta sovraordinata di “FORMA” = FORMA rotonda. Procedendo così, si ottiene la formazione dei SCB con anni di anticipo rispetto a quanto accade a bambini che non abbiano ricevuto questo tipo di mediazione verbale. Tra l’altro, il modello stimola la produzione da parte dei bambini di conclusioni induttive rispetto a quanto hanno imparato, mentre nella fase successiva i SCB saranno utilizzato come strumenti per effettuare codifiche analitiche e astrazioni multiple. I Sistemi Concettuali di Base potranno dunque funzionare come prerequisiti per l’apprendimento di concetti e sistemi concettuali più complessi, per la conoscenza di discipline scolastiche e l’acquisizione di altre competenze, offrendo maggiori probabilità di transfer positivo.

Il sistema mette a disposizione numerosi esempi di come i nomi dei diversi SCB possano essere impiegati per orientare l’attenzione del bambino verso gli aspetti che caratterizzano i diversi fenomeni, sia che l’oggetto del nostro lavoro sia la lettera L o il Sistema Solare. L’articolo propone al lettore 7 punti utili per valutare se l’insegnante stia mediando o meno, secondo l’approccio di Nyborg. A parere del suo autore, il Concept Teaching è un approccio educativo “domain-general”, orientato a insegnare sia il contenuto sia i processi, con attenzione particolare alla generalizzazione e al transfer. La focalizzazione iniziale sull’insegnamento/apprendimento induttivo lascia il posto nelle fasi successive a un approccio di carattere deduttivo.

The theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) comprises a set of concepts that seek to describe and explain specific forms of adult-driven interventions, which are considered to account for both individual cognitive development and cultural transmission. MLE theory is based on the notion of Structural Cognitive Modifiability, which argues that development of the tools of human learning and problem solving, is a process which is amenable to modifiability, involving plasticity of the structures of the brain and functional adaptability which is life-long, transformative and self-perpetuating. By examining Feuerstein’s work on MLE from his earliest English language publications until the most recent and drawing on many lectures delivered by Feuerstein on MLE theory and practice, the author suggests that whilst the basic theoretical formulations have undergone little change over the past 50 years or so since the theory was first proposed, there has been an ever increasing diversity of practical applications of MLE, in order to test and apply MLE to a wide variety of target groups, some quite far from Feuerstein’s original clinical population.

The article is an expanded version of the author’s contribution to a symposium on Mediation from four perspectives, delivered at the biennial Conference of International Association of Cognitive Education and Psychology, Jyväskylä, Finland, June 2001. The author’s goal is to set out the constituent elements of MLE theory and briefly allude to its practical features, so that a comparison can be made between Feuerstein’s concepts and their applications and other forms of intervention which are described as mediational. La théorie de l’expérience d’apprentissage médiatisé (EAM) comporte un ensemble de concepts qui visent à décrire et à expliquer les spécificités des interventions dirigées par un adulte censées rendre compte du développement cognitif de l’individu et des transmissions culturelles. La théorie de l’EAM est fondée sur la notion de la modifiabilité cognitive structurale qui assume que : le développement des processus d’apprentissage et de résolution de problème est susceptible d’être modifié, les structures cérébrales sont plastiques, l’adaptabilité reste fonctionnelle tout au long de la vie, l’individu participe à sa transformation et à sa construction. De l’examen des réflexions de Feuerstein sur l’EAM à partir de ses publications en Anglais (des premières aux plus récentes) et du contenu de ses conférences sur la théorie et la pratique de l’EAM, il ressort que si ses formulations théoriques initiales ont peu changées au cours des quelques cinquante dernière années, en revanche, les applications pratiques se sont grandement diversifiées dans le souci de tester et d’appliquer l’EAM à un large éventail de populations, certaines très éloignées de la population cliniquement étudiée par Feuerstein.

Cet article constitue une version développée de la contribution de l’auteur à un symposium de la conférence de l’Association Internationale pour l’Education et la Psychologie Cognitive (Jyväskylä, Finlande, Juin 2001) sur la médiation considérée selon quatre perspectives. L’objectif de l’auteur est de présenter les éléments constitutifs de l’EAM et de signaler brièvement ses applications de manière à comparer les concepts et les applications de Feurestein aux autres formes d’intervention qui se décrivent comme médiationnelles. Die Theorie der vermittelten Lernerfahrung (MLE) umfasst einen Satz von Konzepten, die spezifische Formen von erwachsenengenerierten Interventionen beschreiben und erklären sollen. Es wird angenommen wird, dass diese sowohl individuelle kognitive Entwicklung als auch kulturelle Veränderung bewirken. Die MLE-Theorie basiert auf dem Konzept der Strukturellen Kognitiven Modifizierbarkeit. In dieser Theorie wird die Position vertreten, dass die Entwicklung von Instrumenten menschlichen Lernens und Problemlösen ein Prozess ist, der der Modifizierbarkeit zugänglich ist, wobei die Plastizität der Strukturen des Gehirns und funktionale Adaptibilität als lebenslanger, transformativer und sich selbst perpetuierender Prozess involviert sind. Basierend auf einer Überprüfung von Feuersteins Arbeit über MLE und beginnend mit seinen frühesten englischsprachigen Publikationen bis zu den neuesten Veröffentlichungen und unter Einbeziehung vieler Vorträge, die Feuerstein über die MLE-Theorie und -Praxis gehalten hat, kommt die Autorin zu der Auffassung, dass, wenngleich die basalen theoretischen Formulierungen in den letzten ca. 50 Jahren wenig Veränderung erfahren haben, es doch eine zunehmende Vielfalt von praktischen Anwendungen des Ansatzes gibt. Diese zielen auf die Überprüfung und Anwendung der MLE bei einer Vielzahl von Zielgruppen, von denen einige von Feuersteins ursprünglicher klinischer Population weit entfernt sind.

Der Artikel ist eine erweiterte Version des Beitrags, den die Autorin auf einem Symposium über Mediation aus vier verschiedenen Perspektiven anlässlich der zweijährigen Konferenz der International Association of Cognitive Education and Psychology, Jyväskyla, Finland, Juni 2001 gehalten hat. Das Ziel der Autorin ist es, die konstitutiven Elemente der MLE-Theorie herauszustellen und ihre praktischen Merkmale kurz anzusprechen, so dass ein Vergleich zwischen Feuersteins Konzepten und ihren Anwendungen sowie weiteren, als mediational beschriebenen Formen von Intervention angestellt werden kann. La teoría de la Experiencia del Aprendizaje Mediado (EAM) abarca un conjunto de conceptos que pretenden describir y explicar las formas específicas en que los adultos llevan a cabo intervenciones cuyo objetivo es describir el desarrollo cognitivo y la transmisión cultural. Dicha teoría está basada en la noción de Modificabilidad Estructural Cognitiva, la cual defiende que el desarrollo de herramientas para el aprendizaje humano y para la resolución de problemas es un proceso que es susceptible de ser modificado, dada la plasticidad de las estructuras cerebrales y la adaptabilidad funcional que se produce a lo largo de la vida, como asimismo debido a la autoperpetuación transformativa. Tomando como referencia los trabajos de Feuerstein sobre la EAM desde sus más tempranas publicaciones en lengua inglesa hasta las más recientes y utilizando muchas referencias de los trabajos de dicho autor sobre la teoría y la práctica acerca de la EAM, el autor sugiere que mientras que las formulaciones teóricas básicas han sufrido pocos cambios a lo largo de los últimos cincuenta años, sin embargo ha habido un notable incremento de los contextos prácticos en que se ha evaluado y aplicado dicha teoría, algunos de ellos bastante alejados de las poblaciones clínicas originales con las que trabajó Feuerstein.

El artículo es una versión ampliada de la contribución de su autor al Symposium sobre Mediación en la Conferencia Bianual de la Asociación Internacional de Educación Cognitiva y Psicología, celebrada en Jyväskylä en Junio de 2001. El propósito del autor es presentar los elementos constituyentes de la teoría de la EAM y, de forma breve, aludir a sus posibilidades prácticas, intentando hacer una comparación entre los conceptos elaborados por Feuerstein y sus aplicaciones, junto con otras formas de intervención que son consideradas como mediacionales. La teoria dell’Esperienza di Apprendimento Mediato (EAM) include una serie di concetti volti a descrivere e illustrare forme specifiche di interventi guidati dall’adulto considerati responsabili sia dello sviluppo cognitivo individuale sia della trasmissione culturale. La teoria dell’ EAM si fonda sul concetto di Modificabilità Cognitiva Strutturale, secondo la quale lo sviluppo degli strumenti dell’apprendimento e del problem-solving umani è un processo riconducibile alla modificabilità che, a sua volta, comporta la plasticità delle strutture del cervello e un’adattabilità funzionale osservabile per tutto l’arco della vita, soggetta a trasformazione e ad auto-perpetuazione. Esaminando il lavoro di Feuerstein sull’EAM dalle prime pubblicazioni in lingua inglese fino alle più recenti, e riferendosi alle numerose conferenze che l’autore ha tenuto sul tema della teoria e della pratica dell’EAM, l’articolo suggerisce che mentre le formulazioni teoriche non hanno subito cambiamenti di grande entità nell’ultima cinquantina d’anni – vale a dire dal momento in cui la teoria è stata per la prima volta avanzata – si è assistito a una proliferazione di applicazioni pratiche, volte a sperimentare ed applicare l’EAM a un’ampia gamma di gruppi target, alcuni dei quali piuttosto distanti dalle popolazioni cliniche a cui Feuerstein si era inizialmente rivolto.

L’articolo è una versione ampliata del contributo presentato dall’autore a un simposio sulla Mediazione da quattro diverse prospettive tenuto in occasione della Conferenza Biennale della IACEP a Jyvaskyla, Finlandia, nel Giugno 2001. Obiettivo dell’autore è presentare gli elementi costitutivi della teoria dell’EAM e fare brevi cenni agli aspetti pratici, così da poter operare un confronto tra i concetti di Feuerstein e le relative applicazioni e altre forme di intervento che si qualificano come orientate alla mediazione.

Innovative design of new products proceeds by way of cognitive processes of analysis, critical thinking, creativity, conceptualization, cognitive modeling, synthesis, prototyping, and evaluation. Design phases invariably consist of divergence, transformation, and convergence operations. Designing is a creative faculty of the mind, akin to the conceptual faculty of learning arts, sciences, and languages. The author dwells briefly on cognitive, graphical communication, morphological, philosophical, and psychological aspects of design, together with educational imperatives, and proposes that designing new products requires the same cognitive processes regardless of their size, shape, and complexity.

The author has drawn upon his own experience of designing a variety of things and has quoted references to design of household artifacts, office equipment, and industrial products. Reference is made to the ‘Design and Technology’ subject being taught at junior and senior secondary schools in Botswana and elsewhere. Examples are also drawn from some recent world-class designs. These establish the belief that human design cognition is the same for all products, small or large.

An accurate differential diagnosis of children adopted from foreign language situations that include challenging conditions (e.g., neglect) often rests upon accurate measurement of cognitive abilities in the context of low English proficiency, specifically, and may also include generally poor linguistic skills in the native language. In addition, because the goal of any adoption program is ultimately to generate effective intervention supports when needed and measurable progress in function as the child assimilates into his/her new home, it is essential that these programs be designed within the context of valid measurement. Given the particular confluence of low language ability and entrée into a culture that may have differing social interactive norms than the previous culture, one can imagine that identifying disabilities generally, but social-interactive based disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders specifically, could be problematic. Thus, assessment and treatment in these children is difficult and fraught with potential pitfalls. Moreover, recent advances in the measurement of cognitive abilities have out-paced changes in diagnostic classification and treatment methods, and it appears that applications to international adoption cases have lagged even further. This suggests that diagnosis should not be guided solely by available subtests on an intelligence battery or on clinical ascertainment instruments, because these could be confounded by language ability and cultural background. The purpose of this paper is to review measurement of cognitive abilities and diagnosis in international adoption situations and discuss methods for ensuring that diagnosis and treatment include consideration of potential pitfalls. In addition, potential confounds on clinical instruments are discussed.

Despite young children's increasing access to electronic books (e-books) and the evidence indicating their effectiveness for promoting language and literacy, no study has yet explored the e-book's effect in this area among students with intellectual disability (ID). Motivated by this challenge, the current study sought to investigate the effect of an educational e-book on vocabulary acquisition among students with ID. The effect on vocabulary of five repeated readings of an e-book among students with ID was measured and compared with that of children with learning disability (LD). The findings indicate that whereas two independent rereadings with the e-book were enough to promote vocabulary acquisition among the students with LD, at least five rereadings were required to make a difference in the group with ID. Explanations and implications of the findings are discussed.

In this study we examined the relationship between stress and social problem-solving skills in student teachers. Results did not show any significant increase in social problem skills at the end of student teaching in 117 primary education student teachers at Laval University in Quebec City. Similarly, stress did not significantly increase. Our results suggest that the more student teachers increase their social problem-solving skills over the course of their student-teaching experience, the less their stress increases. The training of certain social problem-solving skills (problem orientation, generation of alternative solutions, cognition and emotion strategies) could be a promising method for reducing student teachers’ stress. The more we teach student teachers to manage their emotional stress and relax after school or work (relaxation potential), the more they will succeed in reducing their anxiety and overcoming depression.

The construct of social competence encompasses a set of discrete skills considered important for the formation of positive relationships with others (Raver & Zigler, 1997). Despite the importance of social competence, little is known about its developmental course through early childhood. In addition, little is known about the influence of preschool classroom-level peer characteristics on the developmental trajectory of social competence.

In this study, we fit multilevel models of change to explore children’s trajectories of social competence in early childhood. We investigated whether critical features of children’s trajectories differed systematically by observed aggregate differences in the externalizing behaviors of their preschool peers—a salient aspect of one of the first social contexts in which children engage. We found that children’s social competence grows over time in early childhood and has a statistically significant, positive relationship with the classroom level of externalizing behaviors. Evidence of this relationship disappears when the quality of the classroom relational climate is controlled for in the multilevel regression model.

Interoceptive awareness is linked to emotional and social cognition, which are impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is unknown how this ability is associated with age in either typical or atypical development. We used a standard test of interoceptive accuracy (IA) to investigate these questions in children and adults with and without ASD. Perceived number of heartbeats over 4 time intervals was compared with actual heart rate to determine IA. Effects of group, age, IQ, heart rate, and mental counting ability on accuracy were assessed using multiple regression. Post hoc correlations were performed to clarify significant interactions. Age was unrelated to IA in both groups when IQ ≥115. When IQ <115, this relationship was positive in typical development and negative in ASD. These results suggest that cognitive ability moderates the effect of age on IA differently in autism and typical development.

The aim of this study is to examine how a structured intensive training period with a phonological multisensory reading training method, at the end of Grade 1, can develop pupils' ability to connect phonemes with the corresponding graphemes as well as their ability to decode. A total of 38 pupils in Grade 1 from four elementary schools participated in this randomized controlled trial (RCT) study. Of the 38 pupils 19 were randomly assigned to be part of the intervention group, the other 19 were included in the control group. The intervention involved 30 minutes of intensive training on a total of 20 sessions. The control group participated in regular reading lessons in the classroom. The study included pre- and posttesting of phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and decoding. The result shows that intensive phonological awareness training with articulation, during 20 sessions spread over 4–5 weeks, stimulates pupils' decoding ability in a positive direction.

Multidimensional Play Therapy is an integrative, multidimensional metatheoretical approach to the use of play in working with clients’ different modalities, with specific focus on the provision of mediated learning experiences through play. It is an attempt to fill in the gap and act as a bridge to integrate different ideas and practices in the fields of cognitive education and play therapy. Specifically, Multidimensional Play Therapy expands the use of play therapy to include providing mediated learning experience, based on Feuerstein’s theory of structural cognitive modifiability and mediated learning experience. The use of play as mediation, proposed by Vygotsky, is integrated with Feuerstein’s systematic application of Vygotsky’s idea of a more competent human being (the play therapist) as mediator in the context of Multidimensional Play Therapy.

The meaning, theoretical context, and practices related to mediation from four different perspectives are examined selectively. The similarities and differences among the perspectives are considered, with some reference to the common historical bases of these varying points of view. A possible restructuring of the criteria associated with one such perspective, that of the MLE model, is suggested, with particular regard for the distinctiveness of these criteria in general educational methodology. Questions are raised about the lack of evidence supporting the relevance of mediation-based methods for important consequences in everyday life. An appeal is made for more stringent empirical study of mediational methods when they are applied in practice. Finally, an argument is made against any possible inclinations to seek reconciliation of differences among these perspectives, with the suggestion that any such reconciliation would be premature. La signification du concept de médiation ainsi que les contextes théorique et les pratiques qui en dérivent sont examinées selon quatre perspectives différentes. Les similitudes et les différences entre ses perspectives sont examinées en relation avec leurs origines historiques communes. Une possible réorganisation des critères relatifs à la perspective du modèle de l’expérience d’apprentissage médiatisé (EAM) est suggérée en tenant compte de la visibilité de ces critères dans les méthodes générales d’éducation. On se demande pourquoi la pertinence des méthodes médiationnelles ne semble pas validée dans les situations quotidiennes. On propose de conduire des recherches empiriques plus exigeantes quand les méthodes médiationnelles sont utilisées dans la pratique. Enfin, on met en garde contre la tentation de chercher à réconcilier les différences entre perspectives en suggérant que cela semble prématuré. Bedeutung, theoretischer Kontext und Praktiken in Bezug auf Mediation werden selektiv aus vier unterschiedlichen Perspektiven überprüft. Es werden die Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen den Perspektiven betrachtet, wobei auf die gemeinsame historische Basis dieser unterschiedlichen Sichtweisen Bezug genommen wird. Eine mögliche Restrukturierung der mit einer dieser Perspektiven verbundenen Kriterien wird vorgeschlagen, wobei besonders Bezug auf die Destinktivität dieser Kriterien im Rahmen der allgemeinen Methodologie von Erziehung genommen wird. Sodann werden Fragen aufgeworfen bezüglich des Mangels an empirischer Evidenz zur Bedeutung mediationsbasierter Methoden für relevante Konsequenzen im Alltagsleben. Es wird eine stringentere empirische Untersuchung mediationaler Methoden in ihrer praktischen Anwendung gefordert. Abschließend wird gegen mögliche Neigungen argumentiert, Unterschiede zwischen diesen Perspektiven zu verwischen, da nach Auffassung des Autors eine solche “Aussöhnung” verfrüht wäre. En el artículo se analiza de forma diferenciada el significado, el contexto teórico y las prácticas relacionadas con la mediación desde cuatro perspectivas diferentes. Se consideran las similitudes y las diferencias entre dichas perspectivas, tomando como referencia las bases históricas comunes de esos diferentes puntos de vista. Se sugiere una posible reestructuración de los criterios asociados con tales perspectivas en relación con el modelo de la “Experiencia del Aprendizaje Mediado” (EAM), haciendo especial mención a la particularidad de esos criterios con respecto a la metodología educacional. Asimismo, se plantean algunas cuestiones acerca de la falta de evidencia con respecto a la relevancia de los métodos basados en la mediación por las importantes consecuencias que tienen para la vida diaria. También se hace una llamada de atención sobre la rigurosidad de los estudios empíricos de los métodos mediacionales cuando son aplicados en la práctica. Finalmente, se argumenta contra algunas posibles inclinaciones que piden reconciliación entre las diferencias de tales perspectivas, ya que algunas de esas reconciliaciones pueden ser prematuras. Si propone un esame selettivo del significato, del contesto teorico e delle prassi legate alla mediazione vista secondo quattro diverse prospettive. Si analizzano analogie e differenze, facendo brevemente riferimento alle basi storiche comuni dei diversi orientamenti considerati. Si suggerisce una possibile ristrutturazione dei criteri associati a una di queste prospettive, legata al modello dell’Esperienza di Apprendimento Mediato, con attenzione particolare per la peculiarità di tali criteri nella metodologia educativa generale. Si sollevano quesiti in merito alla mancanza di evidenza capace di supportare la rilevanza dei metodi basati sulla mediazione per la vita quotidiana, invitando a un maggior rigore negli studi empirici sulla applicazione pratica dei metodi ispirati alla mediazione. Infine, si mette in discussione la tendenza a cercare di riconciliare le differenze esistenti tra le prospettive considerate, nell’ipotesi che una riconciliazione di tale natura risulterebbe prematura.

The current study examined the effects of a computerized training program on reading comprehension, confidence ratings, and calibration of comprehension in adolescents with poor and good reading comprehension. Ninety 10th graders participated in the study and completed three training sessions. In each session, participants read two expository texts and answered multiple-choice questions. For each answer they gave, participants also rated their confidence. Participants were assigned to one of three online training conditions that differed in the type of immediate feedback provided after each question: (a) Feedback on performance; (b) Feedback on performance and on calibration; (c) Feedback on performance with scaffolding (a cue for correcting wrong answers). Results demonstrated that scaffolding feedback was the most effective training condition, leading to improved comprehension performance and calibration, especially for poor comprehenders. These findings highlight the necessity of developing theoretical and practice models of online feedback interventions for reading comprehension and self-evaluation abilities.

The aim of the present study was to explore the support system that immigrant parents from Ethiopia can provide to their children who experience difficulties in school. One hundred and thirty seven families from five Israeli cities were interviewed by a specially trained team of veteran immigrants from Ethiopia who received further education in Israel. The results of the study indicate that there is a dramatic gap between the parents’ aspirations for the education of their children and the amount of support that immigrant families can or are willing to provide. Recommendations are made regarding the necessary changes in the educational support system provided to new immigrant students.

The objective of this study was to examine in what ways and to what extent preschoolers (5–6 years of age) manifest early Engineering Habits of Mind (EHoM) while engaging in an open-ended problem-solving construction task. The study comprised 228 children (120 boys and 108 girls). The study implemented a quantitative approach. The main research tool was an open-ended LEGO problem-solving play-like construction task (bridge building). All participants and their problem-solving processes were video-recorded. Micro-analysis of videos was conducted using a detailed coding scheme. The results of this study revealed evidence of all six EHoM during participants' execution of the open-ended Bridge Task. Most EHoM were performed by participants to a medium-low extent, based on the coding scheme. Significant positive correlations were found among five EHoM measures: systems thinking, problem-finding, creative problem-solving, visualizing, and improving. The children's scores on the adapting measure did not correlate with any of the other EHoM measures. Significant correlations were found between four of the EHoM and the three measures of the quality of the construction product (length, height, stability) and the time-on-task. To conclude, young children demonstrate nascent EHoM with great enthusiasm. They invent, design, construct, and evaluate like young engineers.

The four articles presented in the JCEP special issue on the Vygotskian approach to instruction provide the readers with examples of how Vygotsky's ideas have been used by his followers in different countries to improve educational practices in various subject domains and for students of different age groups. The articles cover the following topics: preschool instruction that results in the development of children's self-regulation; second language instruction organized as an implementation of Vygotsky's ideas about teaching scientific knowledge; teaching math to elementary school children that results in their high level and meaningful acquisition of knowledge and development of their ability to reflect on their knowledge; and education of teachers aimed at the development of their reflection. The articles are intended to help English-speaking educators better understand the Vygotskian ideas and methodology and adopt them into their practices.

This study examines seasonal change in child aggressive behavior over 2 calendar years and explores the role of classroom composition on developmental trajectories. Four waves of data were collected in the fall and spring of 2 academic years from a sample of children attending New York City public elementary schools. Using the school calendar year as a reference point, we estimate average rates of change in aggression during the periods in which schools are in session as well as for the summer break. Employing centering strategies, we also explore the effect of different individual and classroom-level distributional positions on the estimated trajectories. Findings support the existence of an important “summer drop” in aggression that contrasts with positive growth during the school year. We also find main and moderated differences in these trajectories associated with the position students and classrooms occupy within the school and sample distribution of aggressive behavior.

Recent research indicates that the development of antisocial behavior among students is influenced by the behavioral characteristics of their classmates. However, not all peers in a given class may exert the same influence. Thus, we examined the extent to which individual development is predicted by the perceived proportion of all students with antisocial behavior in the classroom, socially dominant students, and friends. A short-term longitudinal study comprising 4 measurements was conducted on 7th-grade students. In total, 825 students completed self- and peer-reports on aggressive, delinquent, and disruptive classroom behavior. Longitudinal, multilevel negative binomial analyses showed that the perceived characteristics of the entire classroom, dominant students, and friends in one’s class significantly predicted self-reported aggressive and disruptive behavioral development but not delinquency. The impact of the 3 social groups under study in this regard did not differ significantly. Classroom effects were independent of students’ out-of-classroom friend influences.

Planning and conducting experiments require the application of the control of variables strategy (CVS). Research indicates that older children can learn the CVS by engaging in guided-inquiry activities. It has not been studied yet whether this is also the case for children as young as 6- to 7-years. 145 children aged 6–7 years participated in a study with a pre-, post-, follow-up test design comprising two experimental groups (EG 1, EG 2) and a control group (CG). EG 1 and EG 2 received a structured-inquiry lesson, thus, carrying out six predetermined experiments with an adult's implicit guidance. While the lesson in EG 1 was in the same physics domain as the test's physics domain, in EG 2 the lesson's physics domain differed from the test's domain. The CG did not experiment. We assessed children's CVS ability with a multiple-choice test. Results suggested that some children in the EGs learned the CVS, whereas in the CG, no learning effects occurred. However, most children in the EGs did not gain in the CVS ability, indicating that the small dose of six experiments in one physics domain was insufficient for learning the CVS.

This study examined the relationship between social withdrawal (isolation and unsociability) and peer victimization by exploring the moderating influences of gender, classroom norms of social withdrawal, individualism, and collectivism. One hundred fifty-eight adolescents (M_age = 14.11, SD = 1.10; 46.3% boys) in 7th and 8th grade from Curitiba, Brazil, completed peer assessments of isolation, unsociability, peer victimization, and self-reports of classroom individualism and collectivism. Isolation and unsociability were aggregated into classroom norms. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Isolation and unsociability positively predicted victimization. Unsociability was a positive predictor of victimization in low-unsociability classrooms. Isolation was negatively associated with victimization in low-isolation classes. The relationship between isolation and victimization was weaker in more collectivistic classes. The relationship between unsociability and peer victimization was strongest among boys in classes low in individualism. This study provides further support that social withdrawal has consequences for adolescents’ socioemotional development which vary by classroom context.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate the effects of preschool children’s mathematical engagement in multimedia collaborative learning (MCL) on various skills of mathematical knowledge; and (b) to examine the differential effects of MCL on mathematical knowledge of younger (M = 4.5) vs. older (M = 5.5) preschoolers. Participants were 76 preschoolers from four kindergartens who were assigned randomly to two learning conditions. One group was exposed to a multimedia environment with collaborative learning (MCL), and the second group was exposed to collaborative learning without multimedia (CL). Findings indicated that the MCL preschoolers improved significantly on various skills of procedural and conceptual knowledge regarding numbers and operations over the CL preschoolers. Positive effects of the MCL condition were found on both the younger and older preschoolers. However, the younger MCL preschoolers improved their mathematical knowledge more than the older ones. The theoretical and practical implications of collaborative and multimedia learning are discussed.

The author presents and discusses typical (traditional) modalities of parent-child interaction based on proverbs, sayings and maxims, and on participant observation, informal talks, and personal experience working with Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Although the author’s assumptions are clear that there is no direct causal link between a single proverb/saying and the behavior associated with it, he also assumes that all the tens of sayings presented combined with the relevant ethnographic data may reveal some patterns of the psychological theories of the caretakers and something of their “native” theories of how children should be socialized in order to become ideal children. Some core values in child growth and development, learning, and parenting that may have great influence on children’s preparedness for formal schooling,, hence their success in scholastic achievement, are also suggested. The principal conclusion drawn from this study underscores the significance of cultural meaning systems and meta-communicative frameworks in which proverbs and sayings are embedded and highlights the largely unconscious effect they can have on socialization processes and various cognitive activities. This may also shed some light on problems related to group-based inequalities in scholastic achievement. Further, there is a need for heightened awareness of intercultural education in order to bridge the broad gap between the culture of the Ethiopian home and the Israeli school culture.

45 adults who had suffered traumatic brain injuries were examined, using a group form of dynamic assessment. The purposes were (a) to determine the applicability of group dynamic assessment in this population, and (b) to determine whether even short-term and transient gains in performance would be possible in persons who are years past the acute phase of their brain injuries. Three principal instruments were used: Rey’s Complex Figure (CF), Haywood’s Test of Verbal Abstracting (TVA), and the Representational Stencil Design Test (RSDT) from the Learning Potential Assessment Device of Feuerstein et al., plus a series of verbal memory tests that we attached to the TVA. 21 of the participants were given group mediation of basic cognitive and metacognitive operations, between pre-testing and post-testing, whereas the 24 participants in the control condition were given no mediation beyond that necessary to understand what was required in the tasks. Instead, they worked on alternative tasks. In all cases the sequence was Introduction and Instructions, Pretest (no mediation), Period of Training (mediation of essential cognitive and metacognitive strategies) or alternative activities, Posttest (no mediation). In addition to the interposed cognitive mediation, administration of the TVA included 2- and 5-exemplar versions of two forms, A and B, of the test, thus yielding four verbal abstracting scores: A-2 (Form A with 2 exemplars; “In what way are yellow and brown alike?”), A-5 (“In what way are yellow, brown, green, purple, and orange alike?”), B-2, and B-5. As expected, initial performance was quite low on all of these. The data revealed improved performance following intervention on all of these tasks for the participants in the mediated condition. On the average, participants in the control samples started out at a higher level of performance than did those in the mediated condition, making clear interpretation somewhat difficult.

On the TVA, the greatest improvement in verbal abstracting performance was observed between A-2 and A-5; that is, the addition of 3 more exemplars of each concept appeared to make a great difference in both groups. There was also significant differential improvement between A-2 and B-2, showing a positive effect of metacognitive mediation on verbal abstracting. There was no mediation for verbal memory, so little change was expected on the memory tests; however, data from the word memory tests suggested that mediation of metacognitive strategies can improve verbal memory performance, possibly by encouraging the use of categorizing strategies. On the CF, group mediation of organization, planning, and attention led to modest improvement in the copying score but a dramatic improvement in producing the figure from memory; i.e., production of the figure from memory after the period of mediation showed a great improvement both in number of elements recalled and placed in the drawing and in organization and sequence. On the RSDT, undoubtedly the most cognitively complex of these tasks, initial performance was poor, as expected, but there was substantial improvement following a period of mediational training.

The authors define peer tutoring and describe the types of peer tutoring reported in the literature. An organizational typography of peer tutoring in school classrooms is presented, and the variables that influence patterns, nature and effectiveness of peer interaction are explored. Cognitive models of peer tutoring approaches that follow either Piagetian theories of cognitive conflict or Vygotskian theories of co-construction are compared and the similarities and differences of each model interrogated. The influences each model may have on cognitive and affective development, as well as metacognition, are illustrated. The authors discuss knowledge transfer issues to facilitate the development of effective models of peer tutoring in the classroom practice of teachers in schools. Finally, areas for future research and development are highlighted.

We suggest that it is a disservice to psychology and to our understanding of the minds of chimpanzees (as well as other species) to hold any one individual or small group of individuals responsible as representatives for the entire species. This is especially nonproductive in the case of reports of negative performance in various tests of cognitive skill. We focus on the issue of why some chimpanzees may imitate whereas others do not. We focus also on the role of early rearing and individual differences that emerge from such rearing. Accounting for these differences and what may have caused them is crucial in truly understanding the chimpanzee mind.

Mathematics teachers from elementary and secondary school settings reported that the main advantage of instructional software pertained to enhancing students’ motivation and educational experiences, whereas the main disadvantage pertained to the poor content and sequencing of much of the available software. Teachers typically used software as a supplemental activity but wanted more programs that encouraged students’ cognitive reasoning, problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills in mathematics. These findings support the notion that although use of computer software has the potential to motivate, provide practice, and facilitate students’ learning and thinking in mathematics, students still require appropriate teacher-led instruction to enhance their mathematics knowledge as they interact with the software.

The authors critically examine the issue of working memory in mental retardation. Different outcomes reported in the literature could be due to the different aspects of working memory tested. It was hypothesized that working memory functions can be distinguished according to a control continuum: a deficit of an individual with mental retardation in working memory tasks should be more evident to the extent to which they require higher control. 30 individuals with mental retardation, aged between 7 and 17, with a mean mental age of 5 years 6 months, and 30 children without mental retardation, matched for mental age, were given a battery of four working memory tests requiring different levels of control: low (forward word span), medium-low (backwards word span), medium-high (listening word span), and high (dual task span). Results confirmed the hypothesis that an increase in the gap between the two groups corresponds to an increase in the control required by the task. Results are discussed for their implications on working memory models and the role of working memory in intelligence.

The development of novel educational assessment models founded on item response theory (IRT), as well as software tools designed to implement these models, has contributed to the surge in computerized adaptive tests (CATs). The distinguishing characteristic of CATs is that the sequence of items on a test progressively adapts to the performance levels of students as they are taking it. An important advantage of CATs is that they can reduce the duration of the assessment by automatically excluding in real time those items that are either too easy or too hard for a student’s capabilities. Furthermore, a CAT can provide real-time feedback to students based on their ongoing performance on the test. More recently, dynamic CATs have emerged that include special features (e.g., graduated prompts, pretest and posttest assessment items, cognitive scaffolding items) to assess the proximal development zone of the students. This allows test administrators to obtain information about the kind and level of mediation required by the students to reach their optimal performance. The following article presents some initial results from the experimental application of a computerized adaptive dynamic assessment battery of reading processes in a sample of Spanish-speaking elementary school students. Specifically, the aim was to analyze the effect of the graduated prompts implemented in a syntactic awareness test on the results obtained. In addition, preliminary results regarding the predictive and incremental validity of dynamic scores on reading competence are presented and discussed.

A classroom-based program – COGENT^©, consisting of five learning modules developed for the enhancement of cognitive, language, and literacy skills, was administered to a group of 11 disadvantaged children living in an orphanage in India. Pre- and posttests of reading and cognitive measures showed that 88% of the children made modest gains at posttest in word reading. The gains in the cognitive test scores were also encouraging with 54% of children showing gains in all four cognitive processing domains on which they were tested. All children responded positively to program activities and the interactive learning ambience. Cross-cultural concerns are discussed regarding cognitive processes involved in learning to read in a foreign language.

Impaired insight is common in schizophrenia. Etiological models focusing on single determinants have not succeeded in explaining insight deficits. More complex models seem promising. This study tests Startup’s (1996) model of insight and cognition, predicting a curvilinear relationship and specific insight–cognition configurations. Patients with schizophrenia diagnoses (N = 248) were assessed with the Dynamic Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCSTdyn) and measures of psychopathology and premorbid intelligence. In a regression model connecting insight and WCSTdyn, the linear and quadratic term accounted for a small but significant proportion of variance. Cluster analysis yielded two cognitively high-functioning groups differing in insight and a group with impaired cognition and reduced insight. Results support Startup’s framework of multiple barriers to insight. Cognitive deficits seem to be one insight-limiting factor, but motivational influences on insight cannot be excluded. Research on therapeutic interventions should take these different pathways into account.

The present article reports on a study that extends Dynamic Assessment (DA) to the domain of second language (L2) writing instruction. As in general education, the L2 field has increasingly moved toward a process approach to writing that emphasizes the importance of multiple drafts, opportunities for feedback, and attempts at revision. The present study, undertaken collaboratively with an experienced classroom teacher of L2 Japanese, reformulated this process as three interrelated stages of mediated activity: an initial DA session in which the teacher prompted learners to identify and correct errors in order to identify knowledge and abilities that were in the process of emerging; a peer mediation session to collaboratively review, discuss, and correct exemplar sentences containing representative problematic constructions; and a whole-class discussion of the language constructions. Analysis of recorded and transcribed sessions indicates the value to learners of collaboratively discussing and correcting similar error types in their peers’ writing.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a widespread problem that affects many aspects of the academic and social system. The development of techniques aimed at cognitive remediation of attention disorders is one approach to helping deal with the high prevalence of ADHD in school-age children. In order to serve most efficiently students with attention deficits, these techniques should be implemented on an institutional level. We have developed a cognitive training program, the Attention Education Program (AEP), that uses techniques of visual-motor imagery to increase ADHD children’s attention control. In this study we examined the effects of AEP training on elementary school children with ADHD. Thirty children from the Quebec special education system, who were rated as having ADHD, participated in two testing sessions on the Conners CPT with sessions six months apart. Approximately one-half of the subjects received AEP training during the six-month interval between tests, while the other group received no training. AEP training led to improvement on CPT reaction times in ADHD children, and to a reduction in CPT errors in a subgroup of hyperactive subjects. These results suggest potential therapeutic value of cognitive remediation programs implemented in the school system.