ABSTRACT
In the last few years there has been a resurgence of interest by cognitive psychologists in the influence of context on development (see Dixon & Hertzog, this volume; Scribner, 1984). Evidence for this renewed interest can be found in the growing body of research concerned with functional or everyday forms of cognition. An implicit assumption underlying this research is the belief that the context in which cognition takes place is not simply an adjunct to the cognition, but a constituent of it. Adjunctive views of cognition have given way to a view that recognizes the importance of the physical and psychological setting in which cognition unfolds. The social and physical context has been shown to influence a subject’s perception of a problem as well as to shape his or her solution to it (Lave, Murtaugh, & de la Roche, 1984). This interest in context has been especially visible among memory researchers (Chi, 1978; Wagner, 1978), and at Cornell University our colleagues and ourselves have been part of this chorus (Ceci & Bronfenbrenner, 1985; Neisser, 1982).
