The beneficial effects of nature and natural environments have been extensively researched and the findings generally support that nature and natural environments can reduce stress and improve cognitive function. To evaluate if self-reported stress levels are reduced, or if cognitive functions are enhanced among adult learners in the presence of a…

Cognition is the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and senses. Based on Embodied Cognition theory, physical activities are an important manifestation of cognitive functions. As a result, they can be employed to both assess and train cognitive skills. In order to assess various cognitive measures,…

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may result in a wide array of cognitive deficits, including executive functions. A proposal by Ferretti and colleagues (2011 & 2013) has suggested that executive dysfunction caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI) impact navigation and discourse abilities in similar ways, suggesting that these skills may share…

Trauma can have deep impacts on children and the development of their frontal lobe. It is within the frontal lobe that executive functioning skills such as time management, work completion, and organization of materials are housed (De Bellis & Zisk, 2014; Kavanaugh et al., 2016). Symptoms outlined as executive functions are those that are also…

Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD) has been the focus of four decades of neuropsychological research. However, it has yet to be included as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., currently in its fifth edition, DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many of the characteristics associated…

Losing a close friend or family member is a common, but profoundly stressful life experience. For young adults in particular, bereavement is associated with depression, sleep difficulties, and other psychological sequelae of stress. An experience of loss commonly prompts some level of cognitive processing as an attempt to make meaning, but little…

Executive function (EF) is a term used to describe the processes responsible for purposeful, goal-directed behavior and has been described as the "air traffic controller" or "CEO" of the brain. EFs are an important factor in overall quality of life, including school and job success. EFs are measured predominately through two…

Smartphone ownership and use by adolescents have increased rapidly over the past decade and a half. Although some educators anticipated benefits of smartphones for learning, increasing smartphone use has raised numerous concerns in school environments, including the possibility that the mere presence of a smartphone reduces students' cognitive…

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students' performance on fraction story problems is a cause for concern given that knowledge of fractions in the elementary grades is essential for learning Algebra in secondary school and advanced mathematics in college. Using grounded theory, the current study investigated DHH college students' cognitive strategies…

The present study investigated the relationship between two major components of executive functioning (EF) and externalizing behavior problems (EBP) during the early elementary years. More specifically, Working Memory (WM) and Cognitive Flexibility (CF) measured in kindergarten through second grade were used to predict teacher ratings of EBP in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of executive function (EF) skills (i.e., working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) in supporting the development of reading fluency in elementary school students with dyslexia. Participants were 47 students (i.e., second to sixth grade) attending a private school in the Mid-South…

High level reading comprehension is a process that results in a reader's semantic interpretation of a text, or mental model of that text, referred to as the "reader's situation model." Individual differences in readers' verbal working memory resources, as measured by reading span tasks (RST), and operation span tasks (OST), have shown to…

Executive function skills have a direct link to reading comprehension (Carretti, Borella, Cornoldi, & De Beni, 2009). Specifically, cognitive flexibility and working memory have been shown as a significant contributor to reading comprehension (Cain, Oakhill, & Bryant, 2004; Cartwright, 2002). Understanding the link between cognitive…

People with acquired brain injury (ABI) present with impairments in working memory and executive functions, and these cognitive deficits contribute to difficulty self-regulating the production of expository writing. Cognitive processes involved in carrying out complex writing tasks include planning, generating text, and reviewing or revising text…

Though the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires secondary students with Asperger's syndrome (AS) to take high-stakes mathematical tests, many students with AS exhibit weaknesses in mathematical and executive functioning skills. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to explore the use of differentiated mathematical strategies with…