Cognitive skills: clarification or quagmire?

Article Abstract:

''Acquisition and Performance of Cognitive Skills'' (1989) by Ann M. Colley and John R. Beech (Eds.) is the first edition of a new series intended to integrate theories of cognition with research related to human performance and behavior. Discussions focus on the developmental cognitive changes that occur with the acquisition of skilled behaviors. After an inclusive discussion covering a diverse range of cognitive theories, newer models of cognition - derived from very recent neurological and neuropsychological evidence - are presented and described. Methodological issues are also discussed. Although basically well written, grammatical and stylistic errors make the text clumsy and difficult to follow at times. As suggested by its title, the work focuses on cognitive skills (such as mathematical problem solving) rather than on perceptual motor skills (such as skilled piano playing). However, separating cognitive from noncognitive skills is a difficult task. For example, a perceptual-motor skill such as piano playing involves cognitive components as well as acquired physical skill. The authors' attempt to segregate cognitive from perceptual-motor skills does not lead to a coherent body of facts and insights. Instead, the clarification of principles which underlie the cognitive acquisition of skills may have proved to be a more illuminating focus for this introductory text. A direct discussion of language acquisition and production was also omitted. Despite such criticisms, this volume does contribute to the skills literature, in that it presents clear and well organized summaries of a variety of research endeavors. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Models, Identification and classification, Cognition, Cognitive psychology, Cognition in children, Cognitive development, Cognitive styles in children, Childhood cognitive styles

---

More clinical child psychology advances

Article Abstract:

Volume 11 of ''Advances in Clinical Child Psychology''(1988) by Benjamin B. Lahey and Alan E. Kazdin (Eds.) focuses on children's mental health problems and offers chapters by qualified theoreticians in related fields who provide assessments of their own work and general overviews of current theory and research. Chapter topics reflect an increasing focus on anxiety and depression in children (internalizing disorders) and on the developmental aspects of conduct and attention-deficit (externalizing) disorders. In particular, this volume integrates ideas of normal social and emotional developmental processes with research on childhood and adolescent disorders. Normal and pathological developmental processes are linked to adult disorders. Various conditions such as Down's syndrome, failure-to-thrive disorder, and depressive disorder in children are discussed in terms of environmental forces such as the impact of maternal depression and maltreatment. Biological and environmental interactions are analyzed in relation to their impact on developmental issues such as attachment, peer relations, early behavioral and emotional difficulties, and how they relate to subsequent problems such as delinquency and substance abuse. The chapter related to findings on physical attractiveness and children's development lacks empirical backup, while the chapter on children with epilepsy ignores relevant psychological issues. However, the majority of chapters present up-to-date research within a historical context, summarize the current knowledge base coherently, and provide useful recommendations for future research and clinical work. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Child psychiatry

---

Progress and propaganda in learning assessment

Article Abstract:

Dynamic assessment is a relatively recent term for describing various procedures used to simultaneously assess and improve learning ability. Chiefly influenced by the work of the Russian psychologist Vygotsky in the 1930s, this approach uses multiple testing methods along with coaching and tutoring aimed at boosting the performance of the child being tested. The goal is to achieve an optimal assessment of a child's ability, which is often above the level ascertained by the traditional means of testing alone. In ''Dynamic Assessment: An Interactional Approach to Evaluating Learning Potential'' (1987) by Carol Schneider Lidz (Ed.), the basic concepts of this approach, related research findings, a historical overview of the field, and practical applications for dynamic assessment are presented by a variety of theoreticians. The discussions should prove especially useful for readers not yet familiar with Vygotsky's theories. A chapter is also devoted to the psychometric problems inherent in this type of approach. The review of methodological issues leads to the conclusion that a foundation exists in measurement theory upon which future research endeavors related to dynamic assessment can be built. Overall, this book provides rich descriptions of human cognitive performance and its ability to respond to applicable dynamic intervention. Unfortunately, it ignores the interim years between traditional testing and dynamic assessment. By doing so, years of misuse of test interpretations and subsequent problems such as negative labeling and negative assumptions about a child's ability are never discussed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Influence, Children, Intelligence tests, Human information processing in children, Childhood information processing, Vygotsky, Lev Semyonovich

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Training and supervision practices in clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs. Becoming an adaptive new professional: going beyond Plante's principles
• Abstracts: Dissociative experiences in the general population. Dissociation and childhood trauma in psychologically disturbed adolescents
• Abstracts: Remediation of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Gender, social competence, and symptomatology in schizophrenia: a longitudinal analysis
• Abstracts: Psychiatrists' beliefs about gender-appropriate behavior. Medical education: a commentary on historical and contemporary issues
• Abstracts: Prediction of adult-onset schizophrenia from childhood home movies of the patients. part 2 Biological priority and psychological supremacy: a new integrative paradigm derived from process theory

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.