Within the domain of associative learning, there is substantial evidence that people (and other animals) select among environmental cues on the basis of their reinforcement history. Specifically, people preferentially attend to, and learn about, cueing stimuli that have previously predicted events of consequence (a predictiveness bias). By…

To what degree does our representation of the immediate world depend solely on its relevance to what we are currently doing? We examined whether relevance per se can cause "blindness," even when there is no resource limitation. In a novel paradigm, people looked at a colored circle surrounded by a differently colored ring--the task…

D. R. Proffitt and colleagues (e. g., D. R. Proffitt, J. Stefanucci, T. Banton, & W. Epstein, 2003) have suggested that objects appear farther away if more effort is required to act upon them (e.g., by having to throw a ball). The authors attempted to replicate several findings supporting this view but found no effort-related effects in a variety…

In 4 experiments, the authors explored the role of visual layout in rule-based syntactic judgments. Participants judged the validity of a set of algebraic equations that tested their ability to apply the order of operations. In each experiment, a nonmathematical grouping pressure was manipulated to support or interfere with the mathematical…

Recent research indicates that by 4.5 months, infants use shape and size information as the basis for individuating objects but that it is not until 11.5 months that they use color information for this purpose. The present experiments investigated the extent to which infants' sensitivity to color information could be increased through select…

Different effects of instructional strategies on recall and comprehension of terms frequently used in formal analysis of art were examined. The study looked at a synthesis of three theoretical positions: dual-coding theory, schema theory, and elaboration theory. Two-hundred and fifty sixth-grade students were randomly assigned to three groups:…

The performance of instructor pilots and student pilots was compared in two visual scanning tasks. In the first task both groups were shown slides of T-37 instrument displays in which errors were to be detected. Instructor pilots detected errors faster and with greater accuracy than student pilots, thus providing evidence for the validity of the…

Discusses the size-weight illusion that occurs when a person lifts two equal-weight objects differing in size and perceives the larger object as lighter than the small object. Describes several inexpensive techniques for demonstrating the size-weight illusion and reviews some relevant issues concerning this phenomena. (MJP)

Maintains that having students estimate the size and width of a class waste paper can (placed on a desk) is a simple and effective way of illustrating perceptual distortion. Tests show that people will consistently overestimate the height of the can, allowing for a useful discussion on sensory distortion. (MJP)

This report describes an experiment concerned with a possible relationship between the inability to learn basic educational skills, such as reading and writing, and the inability to organize incoming stimuli for communication purposes, in spite of adequate intellectual potential. The study had three main tasks. The first problem was to develop a…