This experiment was designed to investigate the possibility that young children use syntax to constrain and focus verb meanings in their interpretations of novel scenes and novel verbs. Subjects were 24 children, 12 males and 12 females, of 23 to 27 months, all raised in English-speaking homes. Their mean productive vocabulary was 240 words. A…

Suggests that there exists a "finite" number of elementary concepts and distinguishable modes of thinking, that all human beings tend to acquire the same set of elements of thinking and the same strategies with which to understand and control their physical environment, and that the method of analysis used here is a standard scientific method.…

It was hypothesized that thought would result in greater attitude polarization than distraction and that this effect would be more pronounced with better developed "schemas" (naive theories) for thinking about the attitude object. (Editor)

In terms of Kagan's theory of the problem-solving process, this study explores the relationship between reflection-impulsivity, hypothesis generation and testing, and evaluation of the quality of one's own solutions among children approximately 8 to 12 years old. (JMB)

This research examines separately the cognitive and pharmacological effects of alcohol by manipulating subjects' expectancies. It was found that although alcohol is a pharmacologic sedative and reduces anxiety, the cognition that one is drinking alcohol increases anxiety. (Editor/RK)

Piaget has stated that the child's active manipulation of objects is a necessary part of teaching for intellectual development. But this appears to be contrary to empirical evidence. From a review of literature, it is concluded that Piaget's insistence on physical activity, and his dismissal of observation, are excessive. (Editor)

Rereading can improve the accuracy of people's predictions of future test performance for text material. This research investigated this rereading effect by evaluating 2 predictions from the levels-of-disruption hypothesis: (a) The rereading effect will occur when the criterion test measures comprehension of the text, and (b) the rereading effect…

During adolescence the body undergoes many physical changes. These changes necessitate an updating of internal models of action. Here, we tested the hypothesis that internal models undergo refinement between adolescence and adulthood. We investigated the chronometry of executed and imagined hand actions, which relies on internal models, in 40…

Within the last 10 years, there has been an upsurge of interest in face processing abilities in autism which has generated a proliferation of new empirical demonstrations employing a variety of measuring techniques. Observably atypical social behaviors early in the development of children with autism have led to the contention that autism is a…

In two experiments, recognition accuracy was compared between subjects who made frequency judgments and subjects who made recognition judgments. Results indicate that at least partially different information in memory is evaluated when judging frequency than when making recognition judgments and that this information facilitates recognition…