Eight newborn babies were tested to see whether they could make discriminating head-turn responses to the sound of a 9-second recording of a human voice coming 15 degrees, 30 degrees, and 80 degrees from the midline, from either the right or left side. Journal availability: see EC 113 765. (Author)

Seven main experiments and three pilot studies were conducted to develop and test theories of transfer of training in children. Initial tests failed to support an incentive model for learning and transfer, but a new model given strong emphasis to the role of context in learning was developed which accounted for a wide range of learning and…

Two experiments investigated the role of children's spontaneous conceptual "biases" in pictorial discrimination learning. The results suggested that such biases may serve either to facilitate or to interfere with discrimination learning. Moreover, in each experiment, age by treatment interactions revealed that in comparison to the behavior of…

The relationship between conceptual complexity and stimulus saliency was explored in a 3 x 4 factorial design using 144 undergraduates. Levels of complexity were represented by varying the ratio of relevant-to-irrelevant dimensions (1:3, 2:2, and 3:1). The saliency factor varied according to the discriminability between each attribute within…

Retardates, primary students, and college students were given either a reversal or an intradimensional shift after either a criterion of five or twenty correct on a pre-transfer problem. An automated two-choice apparatus projected planometric color and form cues from the rear onto panels that the subject was instructed to press. Both the…

Forty students, grades 4 and 8, were given match-to-sample tests on Western art, to gauge their ability to recognize paintings by the same artist. Eighth-graders performed reliably better than fourth-graders, and their matching justifications were more advanced. Prior artistic experiences improved style sensitivity. (SJL)