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Findings from five related studies carried out in Tasmania, Australia in 1979-80 are summarized. The first study attempted to determine the memory capacity of a cross-sectional population of children aged 4-7, while the second study was designed to portray differences on a variety of mathematically related developmental tasks for the same population. Data from these two studies were used to form six groups differing in cognitive capacity, and the remaining three studies each used a sample of students from these groups. The third study examined the performance and strategies used to solve a structured set of verbal addition and subtraction problems. The fourth study involved repeated assessment of performance on a set of items measuring objectives related to addition and subtraction. In the last study, the children and their teachers were observed to see how addition and subtraction were taught and whether instruction varied because of the children's cognitive capacity. Differences in capacity were reflected in performance, but instruction did not vary. The capacity of children for processing information, the procedures students have invented to solve a variety of problems, and the way in which instruction is carried out in schools did not appear to be related to each other. (Author/MNS)

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