This study investigated when the Bayesian cue combination of piloting and path integration occurs in human homing behaviors. The Bayesian cue combination was hypothesized to occur in estimating the home location or self-localization. In Experiment 1, the participants learned the locations of 5 objects (1 located at the learning position) in the…

From ancient times, the different features of planets and moons have created a huge interest. Aristarchus was one of the first to study the relative relations among Earth, Moon, and Sun. This interest has remained until today, and therefore it is always relevant to make this knowledge more appealing to the younger generations. Nowadays, smartphone…

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Power Walker® 610(PW) pedometer for step counting in children. The study sample was composed of 30 boys and 22 girls, from 8-13 years old. Participants were equipped with both a PW and a Digiwalker® SW-200(DW) pedometers and walked 400 m around an outdoor athletic track…

Teaching writing strategies based on writing processes has attracted wide attention as a method for developing writing skills. The writing process can be generally defined as a sequence of subtasks, such as planning, formulation, and revision. Therefore, instructor feedback is often given based on sequence patterns of those subtasks. For such…

Representations of the fingers are embodied in our cognition and influence performance in enumeration tasks. Among deaf signers, the fingers also serve as a tool for communication in sign language. Previous studies in normal hearing (NH) participants showed effects of embodiment (i.e., embodied numerosity) on tactile enumeration using the fingers…

Developing computational thinking (CT) skills at a young age is critical for preparing preschool children to engage with the technologies that have become central to nearly every occupation and for improving achievements in STEM, literacy, and other disciplines. This paper builds on foundational research in early childhood math and CT by reporting…

Previous studies suggest that tasks dependent on the mental number line may be difficult for Williams Syndrome (WS) and Down Syndrome (DS) groups. However, few have directly assessed number line estimation in these groups. The current study assessed 28 WS, 25 DS and 25 typically developing (TD) participants in non-verbal intelligence, number…

Males (n = 29) and females (n = 34) performed vertical jumps. Jump height was estimated from force platform data using five numerical methods and compared using intraclass correlation ([rho]), and linear and rank regression standard error of estimate ("SEE"). Take-off velocity plus center of mass height at take-off and mechanical work…

Making activities and environments have been shown to foster the development of computational thinking (CT) skills for students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subject areas. To properly cultivate CT skills and the related dispositions, educators must understand students' needs and build awareness of how CT informs a deeper…

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a multicycle survey of adult skills and competencies sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The survey examines a range of basic skills in the information age and assesses these adult skills consistently across participating…

The Rasch model is commonly used to calibrate multiple choice items. However, the sample sizes needed to estimate the Rasch model can be difficult to attain (e.g., consider a small testing company trying to pretest new items). With small sample sizes, auxiliary information besides the item responses may improve estimation of the item parameters.…

Observable data in empirical social and behavioral science studies are often categorical (i.e., binary, ordinal, or nominal). When categorical data are outcomes, they fail to maintain the scale and distributional properties of linear regression and factor analysis. Attempting to estimate model parameters for categorical outcome data with the…

This article offers some less-than-rigorous explanations for the notion of degrees of freedom, and for the particular formulae to be used when computing those values.

In 1961, Barbara Ringer published "Study No. 31: Renewal of Copyright," where she determined the renewal rate for fiscal year 1932 U.S. publications. In that study, she concludes that the renewal rate for Class A works for FY 1932 was 7 percent. This paper seeks to reassess Ringer's study by analyzing the copyright registrations for 1932…

Dynamic measurement modeling (DMM) is a recent framework for measuring developing constructs whose manifestation occurs after an assessment is administered (e.g., learning capacity). Empirical studies have suggested that DMM may improve consequential validity of test scores because DMM learning capacity estimates were shown to be much less related…