Smaragda Kazi

Universals and Specificities in the Structure and Development of Quantitative-relational Thought: A Cross-cultural Study in Greece and India

This study investigates the structure and development of quantitative thought in Greece and India. A total of 297 Indian subjects and 269 Greek subjects, aged from 10 to 16 years, were examined by a battery addressing their ability to execute arithmetic operations, a battery addressing their proportional reasoning, and a battery addressing algebraic reasoning. The items in each battery addressed four developmental levels. Confirmatory factor analysis showed, as predicted, that the same model is able to account for the performance of both cultures. Some differences were observed in the relative strength of the various abilities. However, the developmental inter-patterning of abilities was generally the same in the two cultures. There were no differences in capacity-dependent sequences but there were some differences in strategy-dependent sequences. These findings are discussed in the context of our theory of cognitive development.

Intellectual assessment of children and adolescents: The case of Greece

The article reviews the history of intellectual assessment of children and adolescents in Greece, as well as procedures, current practices, and future directions. Although the history of special education is long in Greece, there has been very sporadic and incoherent legislation and decision making on the subject. Currently, intelligence tests are used by Greeces Diagnosis, Differential Diagnosis, and Support Centers for individuals with special needs to assess eligibility for special education, as school psychologist positions are sparse. Since the tests used in Greece are standardizations of those developed in the United States, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory appears to be the main basis of test interpretation.

The developmental trinity of mind: Cognizance, executive control, and reasoning

This paper summarizes research on how cognizance, that is, awareness of mental processes, interacts with executive control and reasoning from childhood to adolescence. Central positions are that (a) cognizance changes extensively with age; (b) it contributes to the formation of executive control, and (c) mediates between executive control and reasoning. Cognizance recycles with changes in executive and inferential possibilities in four developmental cycles: it registers their present state, yielding insight into their operation, allowing their better management; this catalyzes their transformation into the next level. Implications for theory of intellectual development and practical implications for education are discussed. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Neuroscience > Cognition Neuroscience > Development Philosophy > Consciousness.