Students (N =102) from communication courses at a Southern regional university was divided into two groups. Each group listened to a 10-minute taped lecture about personality types. One group listened to a lecture that included self-disclosures by the lecturer. The other group listened to a lecture that covered the same material but without the…

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &…

In an effort to understand cognitive foundations of oral language comprehension (i.e., listening comprehension), we examined how inhibitory control, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring are uniquely related to listening comprehension over and above vocabulary and age. A total of 156 children in kindergarten and first grade from…

The connection between human cognitive development and motor functioning has been systematically examined in many typical and atypical populations; however, only a few studies focus on people with Down syndrome (DS). Twelve adolescents with DS participated and their cognitive control, measured by the Corsi-Block tapping test (e.g., visual working…

Project-based learning may enhance students' cognitive skills and knowledge construction. Online discussion stimulates the social interactions of project-based learning, and appropriate cognitive tools (such as concept maps) facilitate the coordination, planning, and implementation of projects. Currently, related studies on project-based learning…

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &…

As business e-mail volumes continue to grow and employees spend increasingly larger portions of their day processing e-mail, there is strong evidence of the negative impacts of e-mail processing, especially with respect to e-mail overload. This study sought to determine whether a training program focused on select e-mail features and processing…

With the present research, the authors examined whether reminders could maintain 18-month-olds' memories generated from picture books and videos. Infants (N = 98) were shown a series of target actions in a picture book or on video. Either 24 hr or 2 weeks prior to a 4-week deferred imitation test, they were exposed to a reminder, a partial…

Beginning with the assumption that young children are capable of producing unprecedented knowledges about science phenomena, this paper explores the complexities of children's inquiries within open-ended investigations. I ask two central questions: (1) how can we (teachers, researchers, and children themselves) use and build upon…

Struggling learners and students with Learning Disabilities often exhibit unique cognitive processing and working memory characteristics that may not align with instructional design principles developed with typically developing learners. This paper explains the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and underlying Cognitive Load Theory, and…

Additive and interactive effects of word frequency, stimulus quality, and semantic priming have been used to test theoretical claims about the cognitive architecture of word-reading processes. Additive effects among these factors have been taken as evidence for discrete-stage models of word reading. We present evidence from linear mixed-model…

The assessment of young children's thinking competence in task performances has typically followed the novice-to-expert regimen involving models of strategies that adults use when engaged in cognitive tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making. Socio-constructivists argue for a balanced pedagogical approach between the adult and child that…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the supportive effects of conceptual change texts documented in science education (1) can also be demonstrated in the domain of social cognition and (2) are moderated by the structure of the text and the learner's central executive capacity. In two experiments, participants were presented…

Cognitive research proposes that social cognition (SC), executive functions (EF) and local processing style (weak CC) may be fruitful areas for research into the familial-genetic underpinnings of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The performance of 140 children with ASD, 172 siblings and 127 controls on tasks measuring SC (face recognition,…

Promoting mathematical creativity is one of the aims of mathematics education. This study investigates the tasks teachers chose when their aim was to occasion mathematical creativity in the classroom. Five cases are described in depth, and general trends found among these cases as well as in additional data are discussed. Findings indicated that…