Research has shown that spatial memory for moving targets is often biased in the direction of implied momentum and implied gravity, suggesting that representations of the subjective experiences of these physical principles contribute to such biases. The present study examined the association between these spatial memory biases. Observers viewed…

The project studied the on-time behavior of 35 students with intellectual disabilities (ID) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) under three conditions--times and tasks list, paper planner, and two different personal data assistants (PDAs). Students participated for two 4-week periods, receiving one morning reminder during Period 1 and no reminders…

In three experiments we explored the mental representation of morphologically complex words in French. Subjects were asked to perform a gender decision task on morphologically complex words that were of the same gender as their base or not. We found that gender decisions were made more slowly for morphologically complex words made from a base with…

We distinguish between grasping gestures associated with using an object for its intended purpose (functional) and those used to pick up an object (volumetric) and we develop a novel experimental framework to show that both kinds of knowledge are automatically evoked by objects and by words denoting those objects. Cued gestures were carried out in…

It has been argued that numbers are spatially organized along a "mental number line" that facilitates left-hand responses to small numbers, and right-hand responses to large numbers. We hypothesized that whenever the representations of visual and numerical space are concurrently activated, interactions can occur between them, before response…

Cognitive control adjusts information processing to momentary needs and task requirements. We investigated conflict adaptation when participants are performing two tasks, a Simon task and a SNARC task. The results indicated that one congruency effect (e.g., Simon) was reduced after conflict in the other task (e.g., SNARC), but only when both tasks…

Reinstatement refers to the return of previously extinguished conditioned responses to test trials of a conditional stimulus (CS) when presentations of the unconditional stimulus (US) alone are given following extinction. Four experiments were conducted to determine whether reinstatement could be found in a conditioned suppression task with humans…

This paper offers a brief review of the use of metacognition by proficient and poor performers in academic and psychomotor tasks as well as highlights the parallels and provides directions for future research. Metacognition is knowledge about one's own cognitive processes [Flavell, J.H. (1979). "Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area…

In three experiments, children aged between 3 and 5 years (N = 38, 52, 94; mean ages 3-7 to 5-2) indicated their confidence in their knowledge of the identity of a hidden toy. With the exception of some 3-year-olds, children revealed working understanding of their knowledge source by showing high confidence when they had seen or felt the toy, and…

This study shows the impact and results of implementing three cognitive strategies in science teaching in English. The three-month study was carried out with 144 second grade students at a public school of Bogota's Bilingualism program, but only 40 students contributed in the data collection process. Data collected from observations and…

This dissertation tests a grammatical structure, differential object marking (DOM), which is particularly difficult for L2 learners to acquire. DOM is a phenomenon in which some direct objects are morphologically marked to distinguish them from subjects (Comrie, 1979). In Spanish, animate and specific direct objects are marked with the preposition…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of grade-aligned math instruction on math skill acquisition of four middle schools with moderate intellectual disability. Teachers were trained to follow a task analysis to teach grade-aligned math to middle school students using adapted math problem stories and graphic organizers. The teacher…

Research on bilingual word recognition suggests that lexical access is nonselective with respect to language, i.e., that word representations of both languages become active during recognition. One piece of evidence supporting nonselective access is that bilinguals recognize cognates (words that are identical or similar in form and meaning in two…

For several decades, research in instructed second language acquisition (SLA) has focused on identifying the facilitative role that interaction plays in second language (L2) development (e.g., Gass, 1997; Long, 1996; Pica, 1996). Within this area of interest, a considerable amount of attention has been directed toward the feedback that learners…

The main purpose of this paper is to present an ongoing research study on the evolution of pre-numerical and pre-inductive levels of ordinal thought in students from three to seven years old. Our methodology is based on multimedia technology, an automatic and objective record of the data and minimal interaction between students and researcher. A…