In this study, predictive classification accuracy was used to select those tasks from a kindergarten screening battery that best identified children who, three years later, were classified as educable mentally handicapped or as having a specific learning disability. A subset of measures enabled correct classification of 91% of the children in…

This study explored the effect on vocabulary retention of vocalizations involving three cognitive processing depths ("repetition," "manipulation," and "generation"). Eight participants in an English for academic purposes (EAP) context encountered five unknown words when working alone and five different words when working in pairs. In each…

Children's first-language perception base takes shape gradually from birth onwards. Empirical research has confirmed that children may continue to fall short of age-based expectations in their speech perception. The purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of various perception processes in both reading and learning disabled children.…

This paper looks at the acquisition of articles and related nominal functional properties (the status of classifier, the singular-plural distinction) in English and French by native speakers of Hong Kong Cantonese. Two experimental studies are reported. In the generative SLA literature, there is disagreement as to which properties of the grammar…

Objective: To compare neglectful and non-neglectful mothers on information processing tasks related to child emotions, behaviors, the caregiving relationship, and recall of child-related information. Method: A natural group design was used. Neglectful mothers (N = 34) were chosen from active, chronic caseloads; non-neglectful comparison mothers (N…

The purpose of this article is to explore the relevance of Plato's "Sophist" in the context of coaching. The "Sophist" dialogue focuses upon the role of the philosopher as a therapist of the soul rather than simply a conveyer or wholesaler of knowledge. This article provides a rationale for the coach to be more than a technical conveyer of skill…

This article addresses a pervasive need in the area of videoconference-supported distance language learning: task design. On the basis of Chapelle's (2001) criteria for CALL task appropriateness, this article proposes a set of criteria for evaluating videoconferencing-based tasks which examine such aspects of a task as practicality,…

Children's reported use of single and multiple search strategies during a matching numbers task, along with accompanying verbal (private speech, self-talk) and motoric (finger pointing, place-holding) strategic behaviors were examined with a large, nationally representative cross-sectional sample ("n"=1,979) of children between the ages of 5 and…

A surprising validation of expectation experienced during a recognition test induces the perception of discrepancy and a feeling of familiarity. The authors investigated whether that perception also affects memory performance when it is experienced in the original encounter with a stimulus. Target words were presented in a study phase, half in…

Stuttering has been considered a heritable disorder since the 1930s. There have been different models of transmission that have been proposed most involving a polygenic component with or without a major locus. In spite of these models, the characteristics being transmitted are not known. This study used two different tasks--a tapping task that is…

We consider human performance on an optimal stopping problem where people are presented with a list of numbers independently chosen from a uniform distribution. People are told how many numbers are in the list, and how they were chosen. People are then shown the numbers one at a time, and are instructed to choose the maximum, subject to the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of various external orienting tasks on learning, learner attitudes, and en route behaviors in the use of an educational hypertext system. Thirty-one sophomore students enrolled in three honors sections of an introductory military history course at the United States Air Force Academy served as…

Using nonword repetition tasks as an experimental approach with both adults and children has become quite common in the past 10 to 15 years for studying lexical learning and phonological processing (e.g., Bailey & Hahn, 2001; Gathercole, Frankish, Pickering & Peaker, 1998; Munson, Edwards, & Beckman, 2005; Storkel, 2001; Vitevich & Luce, 2005). In…

A metalinguistic deficit in the awareness of phonological aspects of spoken language has long been assumed to be the single most important cause of reading failure among developmental dyslexics. Majority of this proposal's empirical support has come from examination of reading problems in irregular language like English and it's relation to the…

This paper extends and develops theories of mathematical learning to provide a framework for the analysis of classroom video data of students working at a computer in a task aimed at increasing understanding of multiple representations of quadratic functions. Student interactions are coded using novel software tools in the process of analysis, and…