Interactions among Aptitudes, Strategies and Knowledge in Cognitive Performance

During the past two decades, a renewed interest in children's cognitive devel­ opment has stimulated numerous research activities that have been summarized in hundreds of books. In our view, the field of memory development provides a particularly nice example of the progress that has been made so far. Since John Flavell's landmark symposium on "What Is Memory Development the Development of?" in 1971, the question of what develops has been addressed in different ways, yielding a rather complex pattern of findings. A closer look at current research outcomes reveals that ways of describing and explaining de­ velopmental changes in memory performance have changed considerably during the past 20 years. That is, while individual differences in the use of cognitive strategies were conceived of as the most important predictors of individual dif­ ferences in memory performance in the 1970s, the crucial role of knowledge has been demonstrated in research conducted in the 1980s. More recent studies have repeatedly emphasized that neither changes in strategies nor knowledge alone is sufficient to explain general patterns of memory development: Here the claim is that strategies ahd different forms of knowledge (e. g. , world knowl­ edge, domain knowledge, or metacognitive knowledge) interact in rather com­ plex ways to achieve successful memory performance. We believe that this claim can be generalized to different fields dealing with intelligent information processing.

I Early Cognitive Development.- 1 Experiential Awareness and Children’s Episodic Memory.- Experiential Awareness.- Episodic Memory.- On Saying That: Monitoring Reality.- References.- Understanding Sources of Information: Implications for Early Strategy Use.- Understanding of Inference as Source of Knowledge.- Understanding How Perception and Communication Function as Sources of Knowledge.- Conclusions.- References.- 3 Discussion: Theory of Mind.- Comments on Perner: Three Questions.- Comments on Sodian: How Global Are the Effects.- References.- II Thinking, Reasoning, and Problem-Solving.- 4 The Entanglement of Knowledge and Process in Development: Toward a Tentative Framework for Understanding Individual Differences in Intellectual Development.- Some Definitional Issues.- A Brief Historical Excursion.- A Broadened View of Domain-Specificity.- Some Descriptive Data.- In Conclusion.- References.- 5 Cognitive Performance and Developmental Constraints.- A Tentative Set of Dimensions of Change.- Structural Similarity of Representations in Development.- Power of Organized Units in Inference Tasks.- Strategy Use and Information-Processing Capacity.- Prior Knowledge and Cognitive Performance.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 6 Understanding and Problem-Solving.- Problem-Solving Behavior Under Different Conditions (Study I).- Statable Knowledge About the Cognitive Demands of Different Problem-Solving Conditions (Study II).- Conclusions.- References.- 7 How Content Knowledge, Strategies, and Individual Differences Interact to Produce Strategy Choices.- Adaptive Value of Strategy Choices.- Models of Strategy Choice Based on Rational Calculations.- The Distributions of Associations Model.- Transitions in Strategy Use over Time.- Individual Differences in Strategy Choices.- References.- Explaining Children’s Problem-Solving: Current Trends.- The Influence of Metacognition Is Waning.- Processing Capacity Influences Strategy Choice.- Automatic and Controlled Processing.- Cognitive Style Is Back.- Focusing on the Individual in Context.- Issues Still out of Reach.- References.- III Interactive Roles of Strategies and the Knowledge Base in Memory Performance.- 9 Developmental and Individual Differences in Children’s Memory Strategies: The Role of Knowledge.- Efficiency of Mental Processing.- Nature and Organization of the Knowledge Base.- Effects of the Knowledge Base on Children’s Memory.- Memory Differences Between Children With Different Learning Abilities.- Knowledge Base and Novelty.- Conclusion and Implications for Education.- References.- 10 Conceptual Knowledge Processing: An Oxymoron.- Metaphors of Mind.- Conceptual Knowledge Processing.- Discussion.- References.- 11 Dynamics of Knowledge Structures: Some Underlying Strategies.- Conceptual Structures of Knowledge.- The Flexibility of Conceptual Knowledge Structures.- The General Approach.- The Developmental Approach.- The Differential Approach.- Conclusions.- References.- 12 Knowledge and Strategies: A Discussion.- Questions About Knowledge.- The Chapters.- An Overview.- References.- IV Impacts of Metacognitive Knowledge and Strategies on Cognitive Performance.- 13 Transsituational Characteristics of Metacognition.- A Model of Metacognition.- Executive Functioning.- Self-Regulation in Gifted Children.- General Strategy Knowledge, Self-Attributions, and Beliefs About Mind.- Executive Processes and Attributional Beliefs: An Integration.- References.- 14 Cultural Influences on Children’s Cognitive and Metacognitive Development.- Environmental Influences on Cognitive Development.- Research Perspectives.- Understanding How Children Learn.- References.- 15 Elaborative Interrogation and Facilitation of Fact Learning: Why Having a Knowledge Base Is One Thing and Using It Is Quite Another.- Adult Studies.- Child Studies.- Discussion.- References.- 16 The Role of Context and Development From a Life-Span Perspective.- Critical Tasks From a Life-Span Perspective.- Special Populations From a Life-Span Perspective.- References.- V Interactions Among Aptitudes, Strategies, and Knowledge in Cognitive Performance.- 17 Expert Knowledge, General Abilities, and Text Processing.- Expert Knowledge and Text Processing.- Relations Between Domain-Specific Knowledge and Metacognitive Knowledge.- General Abilities and Domain-Specific Knowledge.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 18 Exceptional Memory: The Influence of Practice and Knowledge on the Development of Elaborative Encoding Strategies.- Exceptional Memory.- Theoretical Analysis of Skilled Memory.- The Influence of Contextual Encodings on Serial Recall: An Experiment.- General Conclusions.- References.- 19 The Role of Knowledge, Strategies, and Aptitudes in Cognitive Performance: Concluding Comments.- Persistent Problems.- Major Accomplishments.- The Impact of Motivational, Educational, and Cultural Factors.- Individual Differences and Aptitude Issues.- Future Research Perspectives.- References.