Examined development of infants' relational coding in spatial orientation problems. Found that 6-month-olds performed poorly in a peekaboo task in which they had to turn to a target after displacement to a novel position and direction. Twelve- month-olds solved the tasks whether or not target was located between two landmarks; 8.5-month-olds…

Claims that classroom lighting may have an influence on children's learning experiences because children experience the world primarily through sensory and motor experiences. Describes a preschool teacher's experience of adjusting an overbright classroom with full-spectrum bulbs and how, as a result, the children appeared to be more relaxed and…

Discussion of performance improvement focuses on the effect of emotions on performance. Topics include the emotional intelligence of the performers; how people deal with emotional demands and the stress of their performance; and emotional states that affect attention, focus, perception, and time on task. (LRW)

Identifies Leader Master Teachers' (LMTs) perceptions of restraining and driving forces in the implementation of an elementary-level science systemic reform initiative. A group process technique utilizing Lewin's force-field analysis concept provided the framework for professional development activities for 124 LMTs. Categories of supporting and…

Three-dimensional model building can help superintendents understand and monitor alternative perceptions of the school organization. Using simple models to depict district leadership or supervision plans (using nails in a board or other simple materials) can bring tangible meaning to abstract visions. (MLH)

Two studies examined the ability of typically developing children and children with phonological disorders to discriminate consonant-vowel- consonant words that differ only in the final consonant in whole word and gated conditions. Results suggest there is a complex relationship among word learning skills, ability to attend to fine phonetic…

Presents the author's views and philosophies in reflection as a former dean of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Considers how form guards against the arbitrary use of power, but imaginative power is necessary to overcome the tyranny of mere rules and the inertia of disciplinary structures. (SG)

Discusses graphical user interfaces used for instructional purposes in educational environments, which promote learning goals, and in support environments, which promote performance goals. Explains three key principles of perception and gives guidelines for their use, including the figure/ground principle, the hierarchy principle, and the gestalt…

Tested 8 individuals with mental retardation or autism and 16 individuals without either condition for their ability to detect a form in a random-dot kinematogram. The presence and generalization of training effects in those who initially did not meet criterion performance suggests that initial failures may be due in part to postperceptual…

Four experiments examined the perceptual features used by 4.5- to 11.5-month olds to individuate objects involved in occlusion events. Results indicated that 4.5-month olds used shape and size features to individuate objects in occlusion events. By 7.5 months, infants used pattern, and by 11.5 months, they used color to reason about object…

Argues that phonemes play a central role in speech recognition. Presents simulations showing how the recognition of nonsense syllables can be very well predicted from the recognition of their component phonemes. Suggests that a model in which syllables are factored into their phonemes can account for the results of multidimensional phonetic…

Assessed perception of phonemic contrast based on voice onset time (VOT) and a nonspeech analog of VOT contrast among children and adolescents with reading disability (RD), ADHD, RD and AHDH, or no impairment. Found that RD children had difficulty processing speech and nonspeech stimuli containing similar auditory temporal cues. Phoneme perception…

Compared the recognition, perceptual saliency, and naming of color to that of other perceptual object attributes in 2- to 5-year-olds as a function of language age. Found that although color was perceptually salient relative to other visual attributes, no selective impairment to color cognition was found relative to motion, form, and size.…

Examined adolescents' perceptions of discipline in intact families and stepfamilies. Forty-five adolescents, ages 15 to 19, completed the Adolescent Discipline Perception Survey (ADPS). Results indicated adolescents from intact families and stepfamilies identified loss of privileges and grounding as primary discipline methods. Both groups reported…

Positron emission tomography imaging was used to evaluate the brain's response to auditory stimulation, including speech, in deaf adults (five with cochlear implants and one with an auditory brainstem implant). Functional speech processing was associated with activation in areas classically associated with speech processing. (Contains five…