Determined the effects of classroom music instruction featuring the keyboard on the spatial-temporal reasoning of 62 kindergartners assigned to keyboard or no music conditions. Found that the keyboard group scored significantly higher than the no music group on both spatial-temporal tasks after 4 months of lessons, a difference that was greater in…

Multiple (external) representations can provide unique benefits when people are learning complex new ideas. Unfortunately, many studies have shown this promise is not always achieved. The DeFT (Design, Functions, Tasks) framework for learning with multiple representations integrates research on learning, the cognitive science of representation and…

Current theories of environmental cognition typically differentiate between an online, transient, and dynamic system of spatial representation and an offline and enduring system of memory representation. Here the authors present additional evidence for such 2-system theories in the context of the disorientation paradigm introduced by R. F. Wang…

This report is the third in a series of research projects concerning abilities and performance processes, particularly in school mathematics. A theoretical scrutiny of traditional psychometric testing, cognitive processes, their interrelationships, and an empirical application of the theoretical considerations on the level of junior secondary…

This study examined the effects of mental practice (MP), slow motion mental practice (SMMP), and attention placebo control (APC) on the performance of the putting throw in Frisbee disc golf. Subjects were randomly assigned to the three groups and participated in a pre-treatment performance session, a five session treatment phase, and a…

This paper conjectures about motivational, behavioral, and contextual factors in the transferability of vocational skills--factors which will influence performance when and if movement into or across jobs occurs. It is assumed that skill transfer depends upon similarity within and among motivational, contextual, and behavioral factors, referred to…

Past research has suggested that reliance upon implicit theories may depend upon the ambiguity or salience of provided cues. Previously unexplored factors were investigated to further an understanding of implicit theories related to group processes, by: (1) utilizing a no feedback control group in addition to high and low feedback groups; (2)…

A study designed to test the Piagetian theory that distinct stages in the organization of memory relating to horizontality correspond to successive stages in operative level was conducted with 154 twelve- to fourteen-year-old subjects. Loglinear and path analysis models were used to describe the association between operative level and spatial…

Six experiments were conducted to determine whether idea checklists increased idea quantity and quality. College students were allowed 10 or 20 minutes or unlimited time to find ideas for product improvement problems. Results indicated that the only checklist which significantly stimulated productivity was composed of just seven general categories…

Ninety-eight undergraduate education majors received a battery of ability tests, measuring general reasoning, associative memory, and trait anxiety and were randomly assigned to three groups--no feedback, feedback, and learner control--for a computer-assisted instruction course on Xenograde systems (an imaginary science). Four state anxiety…

A total of 160 second-grade children were assigned on the basis of a free-recall pretest to four instructional conditions and were given a series of lists of pictures for free recall. Results focused on different levels of recall displayed by experimental and control groups. (Author/CI)

Explored the influence of hemispheric specialization on cognitive processes in a sample of 119 Israeli economics students and 65 creative arts students who took a test battery designed to assess hemispheric dominance. Significant differences between the groups were found, suggesting implications for matching individual abilities with job demands.…

Investigated whether examining materials from several perspectives had greater effect on development of projective spatial abilities than examining materials from a single perspective. Results using 105 students (56 females, 49 males) favored the former approach. Also, sex was determined to have no direct effect on development of projective…