Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Abstract/Notes: In two independent experiments, the performance of 4-year-old children drawn from Montessori classrooms was compared with that of children attending traditional preschools. It was speculated that the Montessori children might excel in social cognitive reasoning and in memory—both indirect consequences of the cognitive skills targeted by the curriculum. In Experiment 1, there were three social cognitive tasks—referential communication, speech differentiation, and identifying emotions. In Experiment 2, there were two memory problems—recognition of logically related objects, and free recall. There was no evidence of a difference in the level of performance of children from the two types of schools on social cognitive tasks, and both groups recoded messages more effectively to explicit requests from the listener than to implicit ones. For memory, the Montessori children excelled on the recognition problem, but there was no difference between groups on free recall. It was concluded that the Montessori curriculum does influence cognitive development beyond the narrow bounds of the cognitive skills ostensibly taught in the classroom, but the impact is greatest where there is a close relation between the specific concepts learned in class and the skill in question.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/0361-476X(80)90033-8

ISSN: 0361-476X

Language: English

Published: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970

Abstract/Notes: A widely advocated idea in education is that people learn better when the flow of experience is under their control (i.e., learning is self-directed). However, the reasons why volitional control might result in superior acquisition and the limits to such advantages remain poorly understood. In this article, we review the issue from both a cognitive and computational perspective. On the cognitive side, self-directed learning allows individuals to focus effort on useful information they do not yet possess, can expose information that is inaccessible via passive observation, and may enhance the encoding and retention of materials. On the computational side, the development of efficient “active learning” algorithms that can select their own training data is an emerging research topic in machine learning. This review argues that recent advances in these related fields may offer a fresh theoretical perspective on how people gather information to support their own learning.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/1745691612454304

ISSN: 1745-6916, 1745-6924

Abstract/Notes: 62 English-speaking preschool children were divided into three groups, a Montessori group (n = 21), a traditional preschool group (n = 21), and a homestaying group (n = 20) to compare their relative cognitive and social-emotional development. Significant differences in favour of the school groups were found for vocabulary, language comprehension, ability to judge the correctness of figural stimuli, visual memory, and perceptual organization. No differences were found for social-emotional development, and no relationship existed between type of preschool and level of development.

Language: English

DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1989.65.2.480

ISSN: 0033-2941

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.3280/RIP2019-003005

ISSN: 1972-5620, 0391-6081

Abstract/Notes: Proceeding of a national conference on the evaluation of Montessori and open classrooms.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: American Montessori Society, 1977

Abstract/Notes: The extent to which early childhood programs produce long-term benefits in children's cognitive development, socialization, and school success is a matter of some controversy. This article reviews 36 studies of both model demonstration projects and large-scale public programs to examine the long-term effects of these programs on children from low-income families. The review carefully considers issues related to research design. It includes studies of preschool education, Head Start, child care, and home visiting programs, and focuses primarily on the effects of program participation on children's cognitive development. Results indicate that early childhood programs can produce large short-term benefits for children on intelligence quotient (IQ) and sizable long-term effects on school achievement, grade retention, placement in special education, and social adjustment. Not all programs produce these benefits, perhaps because of differences in quality and funding across programs. The article concludes with recommendations for future action.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-8289, 1550-1558

Abstract/Notes: Objectives: Alzheimer's is the most prevalent cognitive disturbance, with a high spread among the elderly. The current research aims to investigate the impact of cognitive rehabilitation on the memory improvement of Alzheimer's disease patients. | Methods: The current research used a semi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test designs. The statistical population in Baghdad in 2021 included 60 patients with Alzheimer's illness, all considered a statistical sample and separated into two experimental and control groups (30 people in each group). The patient's cognitive abilities were assessed prior to the intervention (pre-test), straightly after the intervention (post-test), and two months later (follow-up). The experimental group had twenty-eight 45-minute sessions of training based on the Montessori Method (two sessions per week). The data were analyzed in SPSS version 19 using the independent t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results have a P-value of less than 0.05. | Results: The findings of the independent t-test demonstrated that there is no significant differ between the scores of the both groups during the pre-test stage (P>0.05) but that this difference is significant during the post-test and follow-up stages (P<0.001). In addition, the findings of repeated measures ANOVA indicated a significant differ between the both groups' mean scores in post-test and follow-up (P<0.001). | Conclusion: Cognitive rehabilitation can help patients with memory disorders and positively affect their memory performance.

Language: English

DOI: 10.32598/irj.21.2.2066.1

ISSN: 1735-3602, 1735-3610

Abstract/Notes: Alternative schools such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia or Waldorf emerged on the educational scene over a century ago but have proliferated internationally in the last 15-20 years. In addition to being considered as educational alternatives to conventional approaches, these schools are often associated with enhanced benefits in cognitive, social, emotional, and personal development of attending children. This assumption stems from the fact that these approaches are aligned with the basic principles of child development, especially because in these schools, daily practices are organized according to children's developmental strengths and considering individual learning rhythms. However, empirical research on this assumption is scarce and little is known about the type of schools studied and the aspects of development analyzed. Thus, this systematic review aims to address two objectives: to identify which types of alternative schools have captured the interest of researchers and to explore the most studied areas of cognitive and socioemotional development during childhood, along with the main findings. The review includes studies conducted in the last decade that compare the effects of attending alternative schools versus conventional preschools, elementary schools, or high schools. Twenty-four articles were included, most of them focused on Montessori and, to a lesser extent, Waldorf schools. Other types of alternative schools (democratic, Freinet) had limited representation. Executive function, creativity and academic achievement have received more attention in research compared to well-being, social competence, or independence. Overall, the results show a better performance in children from alternative schools or no differences with their counterparts in conventional schools. However, this study provides a critical perspective on these findings, highlighting limitations that should be considered when interpreting them and guiding future research endeavors.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107480

ISSN: 0190-7409