Child Development

ers have resulted in a limited number of active
abortion providers, especially in rural areas of the
United States. In 1996 out of all U.S. counties only 14
percent had practicing providers, and the number
appeared to be declining. Nearly one-third (32%) of
women aged fifteen to forty-four were living in coun-
ties without local abortion services.

The majority of medical residents specializing in
obstetrics and gynecology are not required to per-
form first-trimester induced abortions as part of their
training. In 1995 only 12 percent of obstetrics and gy-
necology residency programs routinely offered abor-
tion training, though nearly half (46%) reported
provision of routine training in 1998 subsequent to
new guidelines from the Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education. Family practice resi-
dents have limited experience with either contracep-
tion or abortion. The approval in 2000 by the Food
and Drug Administration of pharmaceutical agents to
induce abortion medically rather than surgically
could increase the number of providers. At the time
of approval, however, both women and doctors indi-
cated the importance of maintaining a range of abor-
tion choices, since preferences are influenced by
many practical, physiological, and psychological fac-
tors.

See also: BIRTH; REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Bibliography
The Alan Guttmacher Institute. ‘‘Facts in Brief.’’ In the Alan Gutt-
macher Institute [web site]. New York, 2000. Available from
http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html; IN-
TERNET.
Almeling, Rene, Laureen Tews, and Susan Dudley. ‘‘Abortion
Training in U.S. Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Pro-
grams, 1998.’’ Family Planning Perspectives 32 (2000):268–320.
American Civil Liberties Union Freedom Network. ‘‘Reproductive
Rights: Public Funding for Abortion.’’ In the American Civil
Liberties Union [web site]. New York, 2000. Available from
http://www.aclu.org/library/funding.html; INTERNET.
The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. The New Our Bodies,
Ourselves. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.
Henshaw, Stanley K. ‘‘Abortion Incidence and Services in the Unit-
ed States, 1995–1996.’’ Family Planning Perspectives 30
(1998):263–270, 287.
Koonin, Lisa K., Lilo T. Strauss, Camaryn E. Chrisman, and Wilda
Y. Parker. ‘‘Abortion Surveillance—United States, 1997.’’
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 49 (SS11) (2000):1–44.
MacKay, H. Trent, and Andrea P. MacKay. ‘‘Abortion Training in
Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Programs in the United
States, 1991–1992.’’ Family Planning Perspectives 27
(1995):112–115.
Steinauer, Jody E., Teresa DePineres, Anne M. Robert, John West-
fall, and Philip Darney. ‘‘Training Family Practice Residents
in Abortion and Other Reproductive Health Care: A Nation-
wide Survey.’’ Family Planning Perspectives 29 (1997):222–227.
Trude Bennett
Dennie Nadeau

Planned Parenthood, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts,

provides abortion counseling at satellite offices across the country.

(AP/Wide World Photos)

ABSTRACT REASONING

A child who has developed good abstract reasoning

skills easily uses symbols instead of concrete objects

when learning new information. The beginning

learner usually needs concrete aids. To represent the

number ‘‘five,’’ for example, the teacher or child

might put out five blocks. A child who has made the

shift to abstract reasoning, however, understands the

concept of ‘‘quantity’’ without relying on objects. So

in mathematics, abstract reasoning enables the child

to understand that the abstract character ‘‘5’’ might

stand for five of any specific object—or just the nu-

merical idea of five.

In reading, abstract characters (letters) are

grouped in specific patterns to represent the concrete

world. Abstract reasoning allows the child to use pho-

nics to sound out words (e.g., ‘‘rock’’); form a mental

image of a rock; and use that information to under-

stand what is being read. While children can always

be taught concretely, the leap to abstract reasoning

results in more rapid, efficient learning.

See also: THEORY OF MIND

Bibliography

Cegelka, Patricia Thomas, and William H. Berdine. Effective In-

struction for Students with Learning Disabilities. Boston: Allyn

and Bacon, 1995.

Susan Setley

ABSTRACT REASONING 3