Evaluating the relation between evidence and theory should be a central activity for science learners. Evaluation comprises both hypothetico-deductive analysis, where theory precedes evidence, and inductive synthesis, where theory emerges from evidence. There is mounting evidence that induction is an especially good way to help learners grasp the…

Evaluating the relation between evidence and theory should be a central activity for science learners. Evaluation comprises both hypothetico-deductive analysis, where theory precedes evidence, and inductive synthesis, where theory emerges from evidence. There is mounting evidence that induction is an especially good way to help learners grasp the…

The N400 ERP is an electrophysiological index of semantic processing. Its amplitude varies with the semantic category of words, their concreteness, or whether their meaning matches that of a preceding context. The results of a number of studies suggest that these effects could be markedly reduced or suppressed for stimuli that are repeated.…

Across languages, onsets with large sonority distances are preferred to those with smaller distances (e.g., "bw greater than bd greater than lb"; Greenberg 1978). Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 2004) attributes such facts to grammatical restrictions that are universally active in all grammars. To test this hypothesis, here we…

This study tested the effect of the phoneme's linguistic affiliation (Standard Arabic versus Spoken Arabic) on phoneme recognition among five-year-old Arabic native speaking kindergarteners (N=60). Using a picture selection task of words beginning with the same phoneme, and through careful manipulation of the phonological properties of target…

A diminished top-down influence has been proposed in autism, to account for enhanced performance in low-level perceptual tasks. Applied to perceptual categorization, this hypothesis predicts a diminished influence of category on discrimination. In order to test this hypothesis, we compared categorical perception in 16 individuals with and 16…

Studies suggest motor deficit asymmetry may help predict the pattern of cognitive impairment in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). We tested this hypothesis using a highly validated and sensitive spatial memory task, spatial delayed response (SDR), and clinical and neuroimaging measures of PD asymmetry. We predicted SDR performance would be…

Pseudoneglect is traditionally viewed as reflecting right hemisphere specialization for processing spatial information, which brings about relatively greater activation of the right hemisphere and orienting towards the contralateral space. Such interpretation implies that the leftward attentional bias is a population trait. Animal studies,…

Both emotional reactivity and categorization have long been studied within the framework of hemispheric asymmetry. However, little attempt has been made to integrate both research areas using any form of neuropsychological research, despite behavioral data suggesting a consistent relationship between affective and categorization processes. The…

The experience of empathy has been described as involving both emotional and cognitive components. The primary hypothesis tested in this study is that cognition and emotion are integrated within 2 distinct types of abilities--control and perspective taking--and that interactions between emotional and cognitive control and between affective and…

Evaluated the effect of using the mastery learning techniques of self-directed feedback, reinforcement, and remediation of knowledge on the performance of a work-related task involving transfer of training. Supports the hypothesis that mastery learning would have a positive effect on transfer of knowledge from the classroom to a work-related task.…

Two alternative hypotheses can be used to explain how young children acquire the cardinal meaning of small-number words. The first stresses the role of counting and predicts better performance when the items are presented in succession. The second considers the role of subitizing and predicts better performance when the items are presented…

This study tested the hypothesis that memory is a major source of variance in temporal processing. Participants categorized intervals as short or long. The number of base durations and interval types mixed within blocks of trials varied from 1 session to another. Results revealed that mixing 2 base durations within blocks increased categorization…

To test the hypothesis that level of neural complexity explain the relative level of performance and brain activity in autistic individuals, available behavioural, ERP and imaging findings related to the perception of increasingly complex auditory material under various processing tasks in autism were reviewed. Tasks involving simple material…

The aim of the present study was to examine differences among "regular" and dyslexic adult bilingual readers when processing reading and reading related skills in their first (L1 Hebrew) and second (L2 English) languages. Brain activity during reading Hebrew and English unexpected sentence endings was also studied. Behavioral and…