Several different methodological approaches that have been used in studying language in children with autism are outlined. In classic studies, children with autism are compared to comparison groups typically matched on age, IQ, or mental age in order to identify which aspects of language are uniquely impaired in autism. Several methodological…

This article provides a tutorial overview of cognitive architectures that can form a theoretical foundation for designing multimedia instruction. Cognitive architectures include a description of memory stores, memory codes, and cognitive operations. Architectures that are relevant to multimedia learning include Paivio's dual coding theory,…

This study investigated whether participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Preschool Program associated with higher educational attainment (high school completion, highest grade completed, and college attendance) at age 22. The study sample included 1,334 youth (869 in the preschool group and 465 in the comparison group) from the…

Fluid/spatial intelligence, crystallized intelligence and their relationships to verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) were studied. A total of 120 Finnish Air Force recruits participated in this study. Fluid/spatial intelligence was assessed using four different tasks, while crystallized intelligence was defined with the help of test scores…

Complex working memory span tasks have been shown to predict performance on a number of measures of higher-order cognition including fluid abilities. However, exactly why performance on these tasks is related to higher-order cognition is still not known. The present study examined the patterns of errors made on two common complex span tasks. The…

Three studies, all on student populations, looked at the relationship between a recently psychometrised measure of General Knowledge [Irwing, P., Cammock, T., & Lynn, R. (2001). Some evidence for the existence of a general factor of semantic memory and its components. "Personality and Individual Differences," 30, 857-871], both long…

Data from over 3400 individuals ranging from 5 to 93 years of age were analyzed to investigate the structural organization of cognitive variables, and to use that structure to examine relations between cognitive abilities and neuropsychological variables. The results indicated that the variables could be organized into the same cognitive ability…

The relations among early cumulative medical risk, cumulative environmental risk, attentional control, and brain activation were assessed in 15-16-year-old adolescents who were born preterm. Functional magnetic resonance imaging found frontal, temporal, and parietal cortex activation during an attention task with greater activation of the left…

This paper gives an account of a project exploring 12- and 13-year-old children's uses of strategies while solving reading and writing test tasks in English as a foreign language EFL. The study was conducted to provide insights into how learners go about solving tasks and what they think and rely on while doing them. The first part provides an…

In this article we describe the nature of attention deficit disorders (ADDs) within an individual differences model of abilities. In so doing, a model-based explanation for the sources of learning and performance difficulties among individuals identified with ADDs is provided. Earlier models of ADDs are discussed, and the proposed loci of ADDs…

Having taught both mainstream and special needs middle school students and in an alternative high school, the author resists the concept that all children are capable of doing the same work. She contends that there is no one best teaching style any more than there is any one best learning style. She suggests that a teacher needs to find his or her…

Adults learned the meanings of rare words (e.g., gloaming) and then made meaning judgments on pairs of words. The 1st word was a trained rare word, an untrained rare word, or an untrained familiar word. Event-related potentials distinguished trained rare words from both untrained rare and familiar words, first at 140 ms and again at 400-600 ms…

Drawing on relevant literature and a study carried out by the author and colleagues, this article reviews the evidence about children's expressed views on methods used by adults to obtain children's views. It identifies key considerations deployed by children to account for those preferences. Children are normally passive with respect to method…

In a 6-wave longitudinal study, children (Grades 4-6, n=648), adolescents (Grades 7-9, n=1,489), and their parents completed child-adolescent or parent versions of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; M. Kovacs, 1981). Using structural equation modeling, the authors conducted latent trait-state analyses to distinguish between a stable trait…

This study examined the factors that constrain the working memory span performance and reading ability of individuals with generalized learning difficulties. In the study, 50 individuals with learning difficulties (LD) and 50 typically developing children (TD) matched for reading age completed two working memory span tasks. Participants also…