Discusses research related to identifying early predictors of school success or intelligence. Reports on a study that suggested correlations exist between how babies process information (visual attentiveness) in the first six months of life and the child's performance on intelligence tests in school. (ML)

Describes a modified alphabet for beginning readers based on psychologies of reading and visual perception. The Graphophonic Alphabet (GP) is explained, motivations for modifying the alphabet are discussed, and possibilities for teaching phonics and second languages as well as reading with the GP and microcomputers are considered. (16 references)…

States that by considering necks in a literal sense it may be possible to envision new metaphors for understanding minds, bodies, and ways of knowing. Discusses necks as important signs for such ideas as beauty or fragility. Focuses on views of epistemology, such as the disembodied way of knowing. (CMK)

States that isolation of small portions of life can result in revelation, the power of metaphor occurs when connections are viewed and meaning is derived from the whole, and at times the question of meaning has been translated into a search for order. (CMK)

Focuses on Carolee Schneeman, one of many artists, dancers, and musicians who combine visual art media and methods with dance, poetry, and music. Explains that Schneeman focuses on the body as object and subject and discusses some of her performances. (CMK)

Digital literacy involves more than the mere ability to use software or operate a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological, and emotional skills, which users need in order to function effectively in digital environments. The tasks required in this context include, for example, "reading" instructions…

The authors examined the effects of suboptimally presented facial expressions on emotional and attentional responses and memory among 39 young adults viewing video (business news) messages from a small screen. Facial electromyography (EMG) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were used as physiological measures of emotion and attention, respectively.…

Viewers who study photographs of scenes tend to remember having seen beyond the boundaries of the view ["boundary extension"; J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 15 (1989) 179]. Is this a fundamental aspect of scene representation? Forty undergraduates explored bounded regions of six common (3D) scenes, visually or haptically (while blindfolded)…

D. M. Shaffer and M. K. McBeath (see record 2002-02027-006) plotted the optical trajectories of uncatchable fly balls and concluded that linear optical trajectory is the informational basis of the actions taken to catch these balls. P. McLeod, N. Reed, and Z. Dienes (see record 2002-11140-016) replotted these trajectories in terms of changes in…

This article examines how the human visual system represents the shapes of 3-dimensional (3D) objects. One long-standing hypothesis is that object shapes are represented in terms of volumetric component parts and their spatial configuration. This hypothesis is examined in 3 experiments using a whole-part matching paradigm in which participants…

Boundary extension is a tendency to remember close-up scenes as if they extended beyond the occluding boundaries. The authors explored the contributing factors using brief retention intervals and computer-generated images. Boundary extension turns out to be more complex than previously thought and is not linked to the effects of image…

If learning took the form of a vehicle, skills should be considered the gears that allow it to operate. Essential skills like keen observation and active listening are, according to this author, the first and second gears in the learning process. Yet in the age of information, where the name and likeness of a product is typically repeated five to…

Reviews research done on the nature of vision from a neurologic perspective. Proposes a multiplex filter model to explain patterns in the signals transmitted to the brain from the retina. Describes experiments done to test the model. (CW)

An alternative way of attempting to understand visual hemispheric specialization is presented. A theory of certain high-level processing subsystems is formulated in light of an analysis of problems that must be solved by the visual system and the constraints on the solutions to these problems. (Author/LMO)

A pediatric optometry clinic teaches students how to provide appropriate services for school-aged children who present, because of reduced visual acuity, unstable binocularity and perceptual skill disorders, and teaches about half the students the fundamentals of care of preschool children and strabismics. (Author/MSE)