The Role of Central Conceptual Structures in the Development of Children's Thought (Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development)

This monograph presents a new theory of conceptual development, the main construct of which is the "central conceptual structure." These structures are defined as networks of semantic nodes and relations which represent children's core knowledge and which can be applied to a full range of tasks in a given domain. Comprehensive cross-cultural testing of model structures and a six-year program of instructional research show how the transformation of these central conceptual structures have a powerful influence on subsequent knowledge acquisition. The extensive support that the authors provide for their theory will interest cognitive scientists, educational psychologists, and child development specialists.