Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), University of Hong Kong, April 30, 1992. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1997. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 8, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Graham A. Jones, John A. Dossey (co-chairs), Robert L. Fisher, Cynthia W. Langrall, Jane O. Swafford. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-257) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1987. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [179]-196.

The research reported here investigated the nature of young children's understanding of a novel symbol-a scale model. Children witnessed the hiding of a small toy in a scale model of a room and were then required to search for an analogous larger toy that had been surreptitiously hidden in the actual room. At issue was whether children succeed by attending to the target location (object strategy), to the spatial location of the target location (spatial strategy), or to both types of information. It has been suggested that at three years of age (the age at which children first succeed on the task) children succeed by recognizing the correspondence between analogous objects in the two spaces (Bence & Presson, 1997; Blades & Cooke, 1994; Perner, 1991; Lillard, 1993) but that an understanding of the model as a whole as a representation of the room necessitates also attending to the spatial relations between the objects (Perner, 1991; Lillard, 1993). In five Experiments, children participated in versions of the model task that varied in the type of information (object and/or spatial) available to solve the task. The results revealed that although, in general, children rely primarily on the identity of the individual objects to find the hidden toy, the spatial relations between the objects may also influence task success. Furthermore, there was strong evidence of individual differences in children's strategies which appeared to be linked to sex, with girls attending primarily to the identity of the objects and boys demonstrating a fledgling ability to approach the model spatially. Some children also appeared to label the target object but the labeling strategy could not account for girls' tendency to attend to the objects more than boys. It is suggested that characterizations of an abrupt shift between three and four years of age in the ability to interpret the model as a whole as a representation of the room may be misleading. There may be multiple developmental routes to the gradual acquisition of an explicit understanding of a scale model as a symbol for the space it is intended to represent.

A poorly consolidated concept base creates considerable difficulty amongst adolescents when it comes to the higher order task of analyzing complex, abstract and scientific weather phenomena as they appear on synoptic charts. The nature of the difficulties which they experience tends to encourage them to resort to the rote memorisation of concepts rather than understanding them. Kuhn (1962) avers that concepts, not enquiry methods, are at the core of rational thought. A well taught concept becomes a well developed mental construct which encourages understanding. It is the author's firm belief that in order for pupils to come to a thorough understanding of senior secondary meteorology - climatology and the synoptic chart, teaching of basic concepts should be graded and sequential. This thesis attempts to show the difficulties inherent in synoptic climatology. It relates these difficulties to adolescent cognitive development. Within this framework, the syllabus and past examinations of the Cape Education Department, and textbooks are examined. Teachers' views and pupils' understanding are gauged through the analyses of questionnaires and worksheets respectively. Conclusions are drawn and the problems which teachers and pupils encounter are addressed.

This research focuses on answering the question of whether a child with a learning problem, or more specifically, a learning disability, functions at a lower cognitive level than the non-learning disabled child. Performance on certain memory tasks and tasks that require the withholding of attention from distractors is measured and compared. In the literature study, an overview of the neurological, the cognitive and the ecological approaches to remediation is given. The concepts of attention deficits and memory problems are investigated, as well as the theories of cognitive development as propounded by Piaget and Santostefano. No significant difference in the cognitive functioning, as measured by the test used in this research, was found between these two groups of children. The implication of this is that where children experience learning problems, the explanation for this difficulty is possibly at an ecological level. More specifically, it may relate to a lack of stimulation during the pre-school years. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The ability to infer the invisible displacement of objects has long been thought to elude most species with the exception of humans and great apes. However, in recent years, a number of researchers have proposed that this elusive capacity, rather than reflecting profound differences in the conceptual abilities of monkeys and other nonprimates, may instead reflect differences in processing capacities (such as inhibition and working memory). This thesis investigated knowledge of occluded object movements involving gravity, in rhesus and stumptail macaques (Macaca mulatta and arctoides), and two- and three-year-old children (Homo sapiens). In the first part of the thesis, using manual search tasks, a behavioural analysis revealed a number of biases that influence search on invisible displacement tasks, but also showed that contrary to the contentions of some authors, these biases do not mask the existence of correct representations. One study did reveal how seemingly mundane differences between tasks might lead to markedly different patterns of search and emergence of biases. In the second part of the thesis, in the first direct test of the prediction-postdiction hypothesis, an analysis of anticipatory eye gaze suggested that an inability to predict the location of an object does not account for the looking-searching dissociation that has become so prevalent in both the developmental and comparative literature. In attempting to bring together the findings from all the chapters, a framework is suggested in which representations are viewed as differing in strength such that the strength of a representation may determine whether or not a pre-existing bias surfaces in behaviour.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Litt.et Phil. (Psychology) / This study took place within the field of cognitive psychology, at the interface between the differential and experimental traditions, thereby contributing towards an emerging trend of theoretical synthesis. A structural model of problem solving processes was developed and a methodological design strategy for the measurement of cognitive processes followed. Indications for further research in the area were made. The major predictions of the model were tested empirically with a multitrait-multimethod design. This required the development of a battery of psychometric tests based on task analytic procedures. These tests were administered to a sample of 117 white middle class, school-Ieavers. The data obtained was statistically analysed according to a linear structural equation modeling technique using confirmatory factor analytic procedures. The results show support for the construct validity of the processing tests in terms of convergent and discriminant validity and therefore also for the proposed structural model of problem solving processes and the underlying hypothesis that the structure of information processing can be differentiated.