The ability to learn cause-effect relations from experience is critical for humans to behave adaptively -- to choose causes that bring about desired effects. However, traditional experiments on experience-based learning involve events that are artificially compressed in time so that all learning occurs over the course of minutes. These paradigms…

Knowledge tracing (KT), the task of tracking the knowledge state of a student over time, has been assessed actively by artificial intelligence researchers. Recent reports have described that Deep-IRT, which combines item response theory (IRT) with a deep learning method, provides superior performance. It can express the abilities of each student…

Understanding the relationship between executive functioning and its connection to working memory and adaptive functioning can inform planning and employment efforts. This study explored the relationship between memory and adaptive functioning with a sample of Autistic youths/young adults. Participant mean age was 21.3 (SD = 3.0). Of the 22…

It is well documented that exercise plays a critical role in maintaining physical health. More recently, a growing body of research has begun to focus on the mental benefits of exercise ranging from reducing depression to enhancing various cognitive abilities like memory and attention. These abilities are paramount for learning to occur, and thus,…

Early mathematical skills contribute to later school performance and socio-economic status. Working memory is related to mathematical skills, but spatial and language skills have independent effects on separate areas of mathematical skills such as solving word problems or arithmetic skills. In this study, 9- to 10-year-old children's (N = 57)…

Background: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) employs a hierarchical model of general intelligence in which index scores separate out different clinically-relevant aspects of intelligence; the test is designed such that index scores are statistically independent from one another within the normative sample. Whether or not the…

Working memory (WM) is a critical cognitive system that supports processing a variety of information. Remembering different types of objects may impose different levels of cognitive demands on WM performance. In the present study, we examined 205 children's WM in representing different types of content and its developmental trajectories in early…

Background: Effective translation practice requires a profound understanding of source and target languages. Previous research acknowledges the role of context in translation, but few explore this through analysis of cognitive load translations. Purpose: This study aims to address a gap in educational research by investigating how contextual…

Many researchers agree that information residing in the focus of attention in working memory benefits from a boost in memory strength and activation, as well as heightened accessibility. However, recent studies have questioned this heightened accessibility. More specifically, these recent studies found reduced accessibility for an item in the…

Attention allows us to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions. Effective suppression of distracting information is crucial for efficient visual search. Recent studies have developed two paradigms to investigate attentional suppression: cued-suppression which is based on top-down control, and learned-suppression which is based on…

The Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) aims to foster learning productively under optimal cognitive loads. Students across all ages and stages of learning have limited capacity due to the human brain's functionality. Therefore, an effective learning design allows for knowledge acquisition that will minimize the loading effect on the working memory and…

Ancient as well as modern writers have promoted the idea that bizarre images enhance memory. Research has documented bizarreness effects, with one standard technique finding that sentences describing unusual, implausible, or bizarre scenarios are better remembered than sentences describing plausible, every day, or common scenarios. Not…

In this evaluation study, we investigated the extent to which Solitaired.com's online game, Solitaire, could be used to model players' performance on several validated cognitive tests commonly associated with mental acuity (i.e., memory and processing speed). Prior research found that Solitaire gameplay is affected by mild cognitive impairment and…

Short-term memory (STM) challenges are often observed in children with Down syndrome (DS), but existing early STM measures introduce measurement confounds in this population. To address the need for valid early STM measures for future DS interventions, this study evaluated the psychometric properties of a modified Corsi Span task, administered to…

Objective: Neurotypical individuals can prioritize particularly valuable information in working memory. This is a well-replicated effect, demonstrated across a wide variety of task factors and age groups. However, it is not clear if individuals with symptoms of ADHD are able to do this effectively, as there is some evidence this group struggle to…