How children think and learn /

Insightful implications for the behavior of parents and teachers in the education of children are drawn by Wood from a number of theories of cognitive development. He accepts Piaget's position that the child actively constructs what he knows from his experience, and agrees with Vygotsky and Bruner that social interaction with others with more expertise helps the child in significant ways. More weight is given here to the teacher's role and the impact of instruction on the child's cognitive development. Vygotsky, Bruner, and information processing theories focus on process, which can be taught (rather than structure, as Piaget describes it); and they reject Piaget's notion that a child's cognitive ability is limited by the stage of development. Piaget proposes that formal logic is the end point, or goal, of cognitive development, while Burner questions whether logic is ever the norm even among well-educated adults. With this background in mind, Wood traces relevant aspects of the development of perception, memory, language, and mathematics. His intended audience is teachers in public schools; consequently, the author provides practical applications, suggests techniques for improving instruction, and discusses ways to correct common misconceptions. Advanced undergraduates interested in becoming teachers would find this book appealing as an interesting supplement to standard educational psychology texts. K. L. Hartlep California State University, Bakersfield