Age-related changes in mental flexibility, in the form of task switching, were assessed in 292 children (58-156 months old). Task switching was examined with a new task for young children, the Switch Task for Children (STC). The STC consists of two easy, comparable games and does not require reading skills, which makes it suitable for children…

Traditional assessment methods are not always suitable for diagnosing learners' knowledge structures at different levels of their expertise. This paper describes an alternative schema-based rapid assessment technique and its application in the area of arithmetic word problem solving. The technique is based on an assessment of the extent to which…

Recent theoretical advances in working memory guided analyses of cognitive measures in 122 children with dyslexia and their 200 affected biological parents in families with a multigenerational history of dyslexia. Both children and adults were most severely impaired, on average, in three working memory components- phonological word-form storage,…

Cross-national stability in private speech (PS) and short-term memory was investigated in Saudi Arabian (n=63) and British (n=58) 4- to 8-year-olds. Assumed differences in child-adult interaction between the 2 nationality groups led to predictions of Gender ? Nationality interactions in the development of verbal mediation. British boys used more…

An experimental procedure was developed to investigate word-learning skills of children who use cochlear implants (CIs). Using interactive play scenarios, 2- to 5-year olds were presented with sets of objects (Beanie Baby stuffed animals) and words for their names that corresponded to salient perceptual attributes (e.g., "horns" for a goat). Their…

Two experiments examined the effects of reductions in cortical cholinergic function on performance of a novel task that allowed for the simultaneous assessment of attention to a visual stimulus and memory for that stimulus over a variable delay within the same test session. In the first experiment, infusions of the muscarinic receptor antagonist…

The adaptation of saccadic eye movements to environmental changes occurring throughout life is a good model of motor learning and motor memory. Numerous studies have analyzed the behavioral properties and neural substrate of oculomotor learning in short-term saccadic adaptation protocols, but to our knowledge, none have tested the persistence of…

There is little data available concerning the executive functions of children with dyslexia. The small number of existing studies in this field focus on single aspects of these functions such as working memory. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess a variety of aspects of executive functioning in children with dyslexia. Forty-two…

The acquisition of case and gender marking on the definite and indefinite article was studied in a sample of 6 normally-hearing children and 9 children with cochlear implants. Longitudinal spontaneous speech data are used. Children were matched by MLU, with 4 MLU levels: 1.8, 2.8, 3.6, 4.8. Age ranges for normally-hearing children were 1;4 to 3;8…

We investigated the effect of repetition on recognition of upright, inverted and contrast-reversed target faces in children from 8 to 15 years when engaged in a learning phase/test phase paradigm with target and distractor faces. Early (P1, N170) and late ERP components were analysed. Children across age groups performed equally well, and were…

In the dance studio, the mirror can play a large role in the dancer's learning process. Research on learning and memory shows that reducing the amount of feedback during training enhances long-term motor skill retention and that more externally focused attention may aid performance. Research testing the effectiveness of training with a mirror as a…

This study examined the interaction between working memory and language comprehension in children with specific language impairment (SLI), focusing on the function of the central executive component and its interaction with the phonological loop (A. D. Baddeley, 1986) in complex working memory tasks. Thirteen children with SLI and 13 age-matched…

Curriculum-Based Assessment for Instructional Design (CBA-ID) provides data used to ensure an appropriately challenging learning task. One aspect of appropriate challenge measured by CBA-ID, called the acquisition rate (AR), involves the amount of new information a student could acquire and retain during initial learning. Previous research…

The present study investigated the working memory abilities of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as measured by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SBV). In a retrospective causal-comparative design, the archival data of 46 ADHD children were compared to 59 nondiagnosed children. The ADHD children…

Aphasia implies the loss or impairment of language caused by brain damage. The key to understanding the nature of aphasic symptoms is the neuro-anatomical site of brain damage, and not the causative agent. However, because "Herpes simplex" virus (HSV) encephalitis infection usually affects the frontal and temporal lobes, subcortical…