The authors examined the effects of a task-irrelevant sound on visual processing. Participants were presented with revolving clocks at or around central fixation and reported the hand position of a target clock at the time an exogenous cue (1 clock turning red) or an endogenous cue (a line pointing toward 1 of the clocks) was presented. A…

Reverse-scored items on assessment scales increase cognitive processing demands and may therefore lead to measurement problems for older adult respondents. In this study, the objective was to examine possible psychometric inadequacies of reverse-scored items on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) when used to assess…

This article aims to fill a gap in current studies on the semantics of branding. Through the analysis of a number of well-known international brand names, we provide ample evidence supporting the claim that a finite set of cognitive operations, such as those of domain reduction and expansion, mitigation, and strengthening, among others, can…

Recent research suggests that 9-month-old infants tested in a modified version of the A-not-B search task covertly imitate actions performed by the experimenter. The current study examines whether infants also simulate actions performed by mechanical devices, and whether this varies with whether or not they have been familiarized with the devices…

Art teachers are most successful when they teach the whole child, with an awareness of the student inside as well as the work that is being produced outside. Therefore, when teaching students about their own creativity and that of artists they study, it is helpful to understand complex neurological and emotional operations that are active during…

Recent studies have implicated anatomical differences in speech-relevant brain regions of adults who stutter (AWS) compared to normally fluent adults (NFA). The present study focused on the region of the corpus callosum (CC) which is involved in interhemispheric processing between the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Two-dimensional…

Imitation deficits observed among individuals with autism could be partly explained by the excessive speed of biological movements to be perceived and then reproduced. Along with this assumption, slowing down the speed of presentation of these movements might improve their imitative performances. To test this hypothesis, 19 children with autism,…

Selective processing of task-relevant stimuli is critical for goal-directed behavior. We used electrocorticography to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of cortical activation during a simple phonological target detection task, in which subjects press a button when a prespecified target syllable sound is heard. Simultaneous surface potential…

Behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament identified in early childhood, is associated with social reticence in childhood and an increased risk for anxiety problems in adolescence and adulthood. However, not all behaviorally inhibited children remain reticent or develop an anxiety disorder. One possible mechanism accounting for the variability in…

In 2 studies, beliefs supporting the use of violence moderated the association between normative masculine activities and aggressive behavior (Study 1) and normative masculine attitudes and aggressive and homophobic behavior (Study 2) among adolescent boys. These beliefs also moderated the association between normative masculine activities and…

In this review essay, Francis Schrag focuses on two recent anthologies dealing completely or in part with the role of neuroscience in learning and education: The "Jossey-Bass Reader on the Brain and Learning", edited by Jossey-Bass Publishers, and "New Philosophies of Learning", edited by Ruth Cigman and Andrew Davis. Schrag argues that…

The cerebral cortex has a central role in cognitive and emotional processing. As such, understanding the mechanisms that govern its development and function will be central to understanding the bases of severe neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly those that first appear in childhood. In this review, I highlight recent progress in elucidating…

To elucidate the mechanisms responsible for deteriorated postural control in children with hearing deficit (CwHD), we measured center-of-pressure (COP) variability, mean velocity and entropy in bipedal quiet stance (feet together) with or without the concurrent cognitive task (reaction to visual stimulus) on hard or foam surface in 29 CwHD and a…

The Stroop color-naming task is one of the most widely studied tasks involving the inhibition of a prepotent response, regarded as an executive function. Several studies have examined performance on versions of the Stroop task under conditions of acute sleep deprivation. Though these studies revealed effects on Stroop performance, the results…

Using a modified version of the Virtual Errands Task (VET; McGeorge et al. in "Presence-Teleop Virtual Environ" 10(4):375-383, 2001), we investigated the executive ability of multitasking in 18 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 18 typically developing adolescents. The VET requires multitasking (Law et al. in "Acta Psychol" 122(1):27-44,…