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Investigated, within a Piagetian framework, was the degree of abstract preferences exhibited by five different grade levels of science students as they completed eighteen problem solving tasks. Three hundred twenty-nine randomly selected students from five grade levels, ranging from eighth grade to college seniors, were given the Shipley Test of Abstract Reasoning. Groups of concrete and formal operational students were identified as were groups based on sex and grade level. Solutions for each task were ranked according to degree of abstraction represented. Correlations were completed to determine, for each group, the relationship between abstract ability and abstract preferences. Older groups demonstrated greater abstract reasoning ability. No significant differences were found between grade levels with respect to abstract preference scores. This study supported the assumptions that a student's level of reasoning is often below his capacity and that a student's preference toward a specific solution may, in part, be responsible for his below-capacity functioning. (LS)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert