Think3d!: Training Spatial Thinking Fundamental to STEM Education

This article describes the initial implementation of an innovative program for elementary-age children involving origami and pop-up paper engineering to promote visuospatial thinking. While spatial ability measures correlate with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) success, a focus on spatial thinking is all but missing in elementary school education. Fourth-grade students took part in the program and then completed spatial thinking assessments or completed the assessments prior to program participation. All students completed assessments at three points in time—before, during, and after the intervention. Results suggest the program's promise in promoting spatial thinking, showing both spatial thinking gains and extensive engagement in the program. Questionnaire responses suggest the program may have particular appeal for girls, which could play a role in reducing gender disparities in spatial reasoning and in situations where spatial thinking can be applied.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Treatise on Nature and Grace by Nicolas Malebranche, translated with an introduction and notes by Patrick Riley Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. Pp. xviii + 226. £30.00. ISBN 0–19–824832–6

Queen Christina of Sweden and Her Circle. The Transformation of a Seventeenth‐century Philosophical Libertine by Susanna Akerman, Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 21 Leiden, E. J. Brill 1991, Pp. xv + 339. $82.86

John Locke: A Letter Concerning Toleration in Focus edited by John Horton and Susan Mendus, London: Routledge, 1991. Pp. viii + 196. Cloth £35.00 ISBN 0 415 02205 3. Paperback £10.99 ISBN 0 415 06082 6

The Pillars of Priestcraft Shaken: The Church of England and its Enemies, 1660–1730 J. A. I. Champion Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History, Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. 268. £35.00 ISBN 0–521–40536 X.

Philosophy, Religion and Science in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries edited by John W. Yolton, Rochester, New York: Rochester University Press, 1990. Pp. xx + 539. ISBN 1–878822–02–2.

Philosophy, Science and Religion in England 1640–1700 Edited by Richard Kroll, Richard Ashcraft and Perez Zagorin Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xv + 287. £37.50 ISBN 0–521–41095–9.

Opinion and Reform in Hume's Political Philosophy by John B. Stewart Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. ISBN 0–691–08626–5.

The Enlightenment by Roy Porter (Studies in European History) London: Macmillan, 1990. Pp. xi + 95.

Adam Smith and His Legacy for Modern Capitalism by Patricia H. Werhane New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Pp. xiv + 219. £27.50.

D'Artagnan und die Urteilstafel: über ein Ordnungsprinzip der Europäischen Kulturgeschichte (1, 2, 3/4) by Reinhard Brandt Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3–515–05905–0

Frege Philosophy of Mathematics by Michael Dummett London: Duckworth, 1991. Pp. xiii + 331. Price £35. ISBN 0 7156 0886 X.

Pierre Duhem: Philosophy and History in the Work of a Believing Physicist By R. N.’D. Martin La Salle: Open Court, 1991. ISBN 0–8126–9160–1. (Paper) $19.95. ISBN 0–8126–9159–8. (Cloth) $44.95.     

Structuring the Acquisition and Retrieval Environment to Facilitate Learning in Individuals with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Three experiments using variations of the Subject Performed Task (SPT) paradigm examined whether structuring the learning and retrieval environment would improve learning in individuals with mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). Experiment 1 examined the role of enactment at encoding and retrieval, and found that with appropriate retrieval support DAT volunteers do benefit from enactment at encoding. Experiment 2 showed that recall was further enhanced when the list of SPTs formed a cohesive, goal-directed sequence of actions. In Experiment 3, DAT subjects acquired a more complex action-based sequence and maintained it accurately over a short period of time. It is concluded that the provision of contextual support at encoding and at retrieval can enhance residual memory in individuals with DAT.     

Collaborative Empiricism in Cognitive Therapy for Psychosis: A Practice Guide

We outline our understanding of collaborative empiricism (CE) as used in cognitive therapy (CT) for psychosis. We discuss how CE can be thought of as a technique for facilitating cognitive change in the service of a client's goals, but also as an expression of respect for client autonomy, recognizing the ethical imperative to empower clients by involving them in decisions about their care. Taking a CE approach is therefore consistent with user-led conceptualizations of recovery, and the related movements of “shared decision-making” and “evidence-based patient choice.” We discuss how CE can aid with engagement, assessment, formulation, and intervention in CT, illustrating this with case material. We focus on how CE can help with distressing intrusive experiences and beliefs, and also consider its role in helping clients achieve wider life goals. Adaptations to CE for working with people with problems with learning, attention, and memory are discussed, as are considerations for working with high conviction and conceptual disorganization.     

VALUE SYSTEMS OF STUDENTS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND AUSTRALIA

The Rokeach Value Survey was administered to 12 groups of indigenous respondents fluent in the English language and enrolled in tertiary institutions and training programmes in Papua New Guinea (over 1,100 subjects). Average value systems of these respondents were compared with those of three Australian student groups (secondary and tertiary). Marked differences were found in the relative importance assigned to particular values. Values assigned relatively high importance by the Papua New Guinea groups were discussed in relation to lower-order safety and security needs that may become salient in a developing country, and in terms of the traditional culture and the history of Papua New Guinea, especially the missionary influence, the extended family and wantok (”one-talk”) systems, possible expatriate influence on occupational roles, and present concern with emerging nationhood. Values assigned relatively high importance by the Australian groups were discussed in relation to higher-order needs that might become prepotent in a more affluent society. Factor analyses indicated that all 12 groups in Papua New Guinea were fairly similar in their average value systems.     

Body elimination attitude family resemblance in Kuwait

The purpose of the present study was to determine the family resemblance of attitude toward body elimination in Kuwaiti participants. This study was conceptualized in the context of the theories of moral development, importance of cleanliness in the Muslim religion, cross-cultural differences in personal hygiene practices, previous research reporting an association between family attitudes and body elimination attitude, and health implications. The 24-item Likert-type format Body Elimination Attitude Scale-Revised was administered to 277 Kuwaiti high school students and 437 of their parents. Females scored higher, indicating greater disgust, than the males. Moreover, sons' body elimination attitude correlated more strongly with fathers' attitude (r = .85) than with that of the mothers (r = .64). Daughters' attitude was similarly associated with the fathers' (r = .89) and the mothers' attitude (r = .86). The high correlations were discussed within the context of Kuwait having a collectivistic culture with authoritarian parenting style. The higher adolescent correlations, and in particular the boys' correlation with fathers than with mothers, was explained in terms of the more dominant role of the Muslim father in the family. Public health and future research implications were suggested. A theoretical formulation was advanced in which "ideal" body elimination attitude is relative rather than absolute, and is a function of one's life circumstances, one's occupation, one's culture and subculture, and the society that one lives in.     

Short-term memory and working memory as indices of children's cognitive skills

In the current literature, empirical and conceptual distinctions have been drawn between a more or less passive short-term memory (STM) system and a more dynamic working memory (WM) system. Distinct tasks have been developed to measure their capacity and research has generally shown that, for adults, WM, and not STM, is a reliable predictor of general cognitive ability. However, the locus of the differences between the tasks has received little attention. We present data from children concerning measures of matrices reasoning ability, reading, and numerical skill along with forward and backward order serial recall of WM, STM, and STM with articulatory suppression tasks. As indices of children's cognitive skills, STM and WM are shown to be rather similar in terms of memory per se. Neither the opportunity for rehearsal nor task complexity provides satisfactory explanations for differences between memory tests.