Why is instructional gesture ineffective in some contexts? And what is it about learners that predicts whether they will learn from gestures? This between-subjects linear measurement training study compares gesture instruction to two controls--operant action and transient action--in a diverse sample of first-grade students (N = 174, M[subscript…

Neural specialization for print can be indexed by the left-lateralized N1 response as a tuning gradient to visual words, indicated by sensitivity (character vs. visual control) and selectivity (character vs. character-like stimuli). Forty-five Chinese children (20 boys) were recorded with EEG twice with a 2-year interval during a character…

Experts claim that individual differences in children's formal understanding of mathematical equivalence have consequences for mathematics achievement; however, evidence is lacking. A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted with a diverse sample of 112 children from a midsized city in the Midwestern United States (M[subscript age] [second…

Previous research has shown that children aged 4-5 years, but not 2-3 years, show adult-like interference from a partner when performing a joint task (Milward, Kita, & Apperly, 2014). This raises questions about the cognitive skills involved in the development of such "corepresentation (CR)" of a partner (Sebanz, Knoblich, &…

This study used a cross-lagged twin design to examine reading achievement and independent reading from 10 to 11 years (n = 436 twin pairs). Reading achievement at age 10 significantly predicted independent reading at age 11. The alternative path, from independent reading at age 10 to reading achievement at age 11, was not significant. Individual…

Although the research literature regarding language growth trajectories is burgeoning, the shape and direction of English Language Learners' (ELLs) language growth trajectories are largely not known. This study used growth curve modeling to determine the shape of ELLs' language growth trajectories across 12,248 oral narrative language samples…

Investigated the relationship between psychometrically defined brightness and cognitive development within Piaget's stage theory. Subjects were fifth- and seventh-grade boys. (SDH)

The present study, involving 112 sixth graders, explored the effect of self- and other-directed negative affect on the subsequent helping behavior of high- and low-empathic children. (MP)

Interperceptual experiences of teachers with eighth grade boys (indentified as either internally or externally controlled) were investigated and compared. (ST)

Fourth through eleventh grade students evaluated single personality trait descriptions of hypothetical persons of their own sex. Results are discussed in terms of person-perception and social desirability theories of personality. (ST)

A referential communication task was used to compare the effects of linguistic structure on the encoding and decoding performances of 120 five- and seven-year-old children. Results suggested that differences in adjective ordering rules and stylistic variation affect encoding and decoding accuracy. (Author/MP)

Among 120 fourth and sixth graders, correlations between intelligence scores and agency beliefs for effort decreased with increasing levels of reasoning about effort and ability. Correlations between intelligence scores and agency beliefs for ability increased with increasing levels of reasoning. (RH)

This study was designed to determine the extent to which (speech) motor timing control, as defined by a statistical model, improves in consistency with age and the degree to which peripheral feedback is used by children to maintain this consistency. Clinical applications and possible genetic implications are discussed. (Author/ED)