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= Rodney R. Cocking =

= Personal life/biography = RODNEY R. COCKING was born January 11, 1943, in Casper, Wyoming, to a family deeply rooted in the culture of the West. Shortly after his 59th birthday, Rodney was murdered. His death is a great loss to his family, his friends and colleagues, and the field Rodney grew up in Casper, Wyoming.

Rodney was a senior program officer at the National Research Council and director of the Board on Behavioural, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. Previously he was employed as a social science analyst in the Office of Special Populations at the National Institute of Mental Health. His research concentration is on cognition and cross-cultural issues in memory and learning and the higher-order cognitive processes of playful behaviour. He is cofounder and co-editor, with Irving E. Sigel, of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. Rodney is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (developmental psychology). Rodney received a PhD in developmental psychology and cognition from Cornell University. Rodney life tragically came to an end in 2002.

= Education and academic career = An accomplished musician, his concert debut was as an organist in a local church. Music remained an abiding interest throughout his life, but after graduating from high school, Rodney went to Boston University, where he discovered psychology. Ahead of his time, Rodney favoured a multidisciplinary approach, earning both Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in psychology (1965). He then earned a master's degree (1967) in clinical psychology at the University of Wyoming, publishing papers on the predictability of the movement response of the Rorschach with his mentor, Richard Dana and undertaking a comparative study of Arapaho Indian children's fantasy confessions about moral transgressions. This excursion into the study of a non-European cultural group provides a second example of Rodney's early predilection for multifaceted approaches to developmental studies. Rodney went on to earn his doctorate in developmental psychology from Cornwell University in 1972. There, his interests shifted to language acquisition, culminating in publications with Marion Potts (e.g., R. R. Cocking & M. Potts, 1976 M. Potts, P. Carlson, R. R. Cocking, & C. Copple, 1979).

Rodney accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Georgia, evaluating preschool interventions in Charles Smock's Planned Interventions Program. In 1973, he joined Irving Sigel's early childhood experimental program at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). As director of research and development, Rodney studied the outcomes of an intervention model that fostered the children's representational competence. In addition to charming pre-schoolers, their parents, and his colleagues at ETS with his quick wit, irreverent sense of humour, and generous nature, Rodney had several scholarly accomplishments, including a book on cognitive development (I. E. Sigel & R. R. Cocking, 1977) and several publications in drawings and language. He also joined Irving Sigel in establishing a developmental journal dedicated to bringing the applied aspect of research to scientific and service constituencies. Rodney continued to serve the integrative role he had begun early in his career through his responsibilities as editor of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology at the time of his death.

In 1981, Rodney continued on his unusual but successful career path by becoming a visiting scholar at the National Institute of Education until 1985, then serving for two years as a faculty member at the University of Delaware before becoming chief of the Cognition, Learning, and Memory Program in the Behavioural Research Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1987. Throughout this period, he developed a portfolio of programs that reveal continuity in his vision and concern for bringing multiple perspectives to bear on the study of cognitive development among children and adults. While at NIMH (1987- 1995), Rodney also initiated several unique collaborations that were consistent with his increasingly broad, multidisciplinary perspective.

In 1995, Rodney was appointed programme officer of the National Academy of Science, where his expertise in learning and educational environments enabled a group of eminent scholars to Rodney use an outstanding volume (J. D. Bransford, A. L Brown, &R. R Cocking 1999). Thanks to Rodney's careful management and writing, this book reflects a significant synthesis of the research in the field of learning with recommendations for future work.

On intergovernmental leave to the National Science Foundation since 1999, Rodney had shaped a program of research that reflected the synergy of his multidisciplinary perspective, rigorous scientific standards, and talent for creative and innovative thinking. One of his noteworthy achievements was to create three centres with different programs that set the stage for additional big science research centres. Here, that forge close working relationships among the psychological, biological, and anthropological fields in the service of increasing our scientific knowledge to meet social needs. Tragically, Rodney's contribution to creating connections among the disciplines for innovative approaches to significant social and educational problems of the 21st century was cut short by the humble event that led to his death.

Rodney was active in the American Psychological Association (APA] fellow), the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, the Jean Piaget Society (vice-president 1983-1984), and the Society for Research in Child Development. He was heavily involved as a member of expert panels in a variety of initiatives (e.g. the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Department of Education Task Force on Minorities in Mathematics and Learning).

Rodney was a visionary with a strong belief in the role of the psychological sciences in contributing to the social good. His approach was grounded in scientific theory and research. He was recognised for his accomplishments by the National Institutes of Health Director's Award in 1996 and by the APA Board of Affairs posthumous award for meritorious research and service. Rodney's contributions will be celebrated in a particular volume of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology that will feature research that continues his grounded in scientific theory and research. He was in addition to his broad humanistic concern. Rodney had interests foremost in his family and also found joy in music, literature and travel. Rodney's death created a significant void in our professional world and the hearts and minds of his many friends. He leaves the echo of an infectious laugh and warm memories of kind acts to those who knew him personally and an enduring living legacy by his professional contributions to thousands of children who will benefit without ever knowing him. His sister Doreen Geis, and her children, Lisa Geis and John Geis, and family survive him.

= Research = Cocking focused his work on Cognitive Science. In particular, cross-cultural issues in memory and learning and the higher-order cognitive processes of playful behaviour. The significance of research in Cognitive Science to the focus of the handbook, Knowledge Engineering, is in its contribution to the understanding of problem-solving processes. Cognitive Science has links to Artificial Intelligence, to cognitive psychology, to information processing, to language-based information systems, and an assortment of other areas. For this Wikipedia circulate, the focus will be on Cognitive Science as a model for understanding the application of human skills toward efficient, practical problem-solving. Knowledge engineering questions lie within a framework of information processing and of how a comprehensives analysis of critical skills can assist in moving apprentice performance to expert performance in as competent a manner as possible.

The Cognitive Science model has been applied most generally at the variable level for analysing the scope of a problem and for specifying the performance skills that relate to each variable. To note, when a research team wanted to analyse the association between school performance on mathematics achievement and the students' language skills, the questions could have been addressed by considering specific topics that relate to math and language performance. Application of a cognitive science model, by contrast, began by addressing the problem state (what was known) and the goal state (what was to be learned) and then framing the problem broadly in terms of relevant variables (Cocking & Chipman, 1988).

Initially, this analysis was to take a systematic look at the relationships between math attainment and language grade variables. This approach required an assessment of the pertinent variables that relate to these children's conceptual, developmental, and linguistic status for receiving and utilising classroom teaching. The aspects of the problem were schematized along the lines of Input to the children and Output (i.e. child performance). On the input side are Cognitive Ability Patterns, Educational Opportunity, and Motivation to Engage (including cultural values, parental influence, expectations for reward, motivational nature of instruction interactions, equitable treatment).

= Publications and books =                       Children in the Digital Age: The Role of Entertainment Technologies in Children's Development The Development and Meaning of Psychological Distance

One of the paradoxes in developmental theory is the child's simultaneous intrapsychic and interpsychic development. While the child is growing in mental capacity and struggling to define self, behaviours are also being learned whose function is to integrate self into a social network, which often means that egocentric behaviours conflict with socio-centric ones. This theory draws upon processes that promote both individual and social growth into a unified theory of development.

Linguistic and Cultural Influences on Learning Mathematics

The combined impact of linguistic, cultural, educational and cognitive factors on mathematics learning is considered in this unique book. By uniting the diverse research models and perspectives of these fields, the contributors describe how language and cognitive factors can influence mathematical learning, thinking and problem-solving. The authors contend that cognitive skills are heavily dependent upon linguistic skills and both are critical to the representational knowledge intimately linked to school achievement in mathematics.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School

“Links research on the science of learning to actual practice in the classroom, and describes how teachers and schools use teaching methods, curricula, and classroom settings to help children learn.”

Children in the Digital Age: Influences of Electronic Media on Development

Television will be interactive, computers will provide feature-length motion pictures and TV programs, and information will be delivered like never before. Access to digital technologies is rapidly changing how children experience media and how technologies will impact children's development and is making media an increasingly active gateway for experiencing and learning about the world. This volume considers how children use media today, and how new media is emerging and merging with existing technologies. The distinctive features of both older and newer media are examined, along with why these technologies are attractive to children and adolescents.

Blueprints for Thinking: The Role of Planning in Cognitive Development

Planning is an essential human ability that guides behaviour and thereby complements instinctual fixed action patterns. How do people learn to plan? How do they develop the various skills that are implied by playfulness? This volume explores these questions as well as the concept of planning and its relationships to the concepts of problem-solving and organisational skills. The editors of this volume have drawn upon an international cadre of scholars to discuss the issues of planning and playful behaviours from a broad range of perspectives.

Bridging Cultures, Readings 4bk Set: Cross-Cultural Roots of Minority Child Development

Cross-cultural Roots of Minority Child Development

Interacting with Video

Category:Theorists