Patterning, Reading, and Executive Functions.

Detecting a pattern within a sequence of ordered units, defined as patterning, is a cognitive ability that is important in learning mathematics and influential in learning to read. The present study was designed to examine relations between first-grade children's executive functions, patterning, and reading abilities, and to examine whether these relations differ by the type of pattern. The results showed that working memory correlated with reading fluency, and comprehension measures.

The Relations Between Patterning, Executive Function, and Mathematics.

Patterning, or the ability to understand patterns, is a skill commonly taught to young children as part of school mathematics curricula. It seems likely that some aspects of executive function, such as cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory, may be expressed in the patterning abilities of children. The primary objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between patterning and executive functioning for first grade children.

Response to stimulus relations by a dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

A malamute-husky mixed-breed dog was trained to distinguish one object that differed from three others that were identical to each other. The dog progressed rapidly after an effective shaping procedure, requiring 37 training sessions to master 20 such problems to a criterion of 90 %. The dog subsequently scored 80 % correct on the first trials with new problems that required a reversal of previously correct choices.

Abstracting Sequences: Reasoning That Is a Key to Academic Achievement.

The ability to understand sequences of items may be an important cognitive ability. To test this proposition, 8 first-grade children from each of 36 classes were randomly assigned to four conditions. Some were taught sequences that represented increasing or decreasing values, or were symmetrical, or were rotations of an object through 6 or 8 positions.

Object and size awareness in preschool-age children.

Self-awareness is a skill developed during the first few years of life. Although some research demonstrates that this ability may be incomplete in toddlers, there is little to no literature relating to preschoolers. This study tested 44 preschool-age children on 8 tasks to assess their awareness of the structural characteristics of their own size and weight as well as the size and weight of external objects.

Preschoolers' knowledge about the appearance of proper names.

Preschoolers' knowledge of the appearance of proper names was tested in three experiments with 25 boys and 22 girls from low-income families. Children from a Head Start program, whose parents signed a permission letter, participated. Their ages ranged from 3 yr.

Using developmental principles to assist preschoolers in developing numeracy and literacy.

In a yoked control design, 4-yr.-olds (N = 39) in a Head Start program played numerous structured games involving either the oddity principle or letter identification and letter sounds. The children's mean age was 53.

Enhancing academic performance by strengthening class-inclusion reasoning.

Class inclusion is an early form of abstract thought that requires logical rather than perceptually based inferences plus an appreciation of part-whole relationships (B. Inhelder and J. Piaget, 1959/1964).

Applying principles of development to help at-risk preschoolers develop numeracy.

In a yoked control design, multicultural Head Start 4-year-olds played numerous games involving either numeracy or the oddity principle and insertions into series. Children showed better mastery of oddity and insertions after playing games directed at those two concepts. Numeracy scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (D.

Mastery of number conservation by a man with severe cognitive disabilities.

An autistic 21-yr.-old with a mental age of four years was taught number conservation. Mastery of this concept requires concrete operational thought and has not been thought to be possible for persons with severe disabilities.

Hierarchical categorization by bilingual Latino children: does a basic-level bias exist?

Research has shown that children classify most easily at the basic level where objects in the same category look similar enough to each other to be grouped together but are distinct enough from objects in other categories to be discriminated (e.g., animal/bird/duck).