Web-based technology has evolved to include interactive software that allows learners to prepare for real-life situations in the workforce. Educators and learners perceive interactive software, such as web-based scenarios, as a tool to support instructional content. Knowledge acquisition, enjoyment, and group discussions are just a few attributes…

Self-derivation of new factual knowledge through integration of separate episodes of learning is one means by which children build knowledge. Content generated in this manner becomes incorporated into the knowledge base and is retained over time; successful self-derivation predicts academic achievement. Yet the component processes on which…

Mathematical achievement is an early predictor of students' academic outcomes, and mathematics achievement continues to be important throughout life. Thus, it is essential to examine instructional methods that enhance mathematical learning. One method that may impact mathematical learning is the use of gestures, yet a comprehensive methodical…

The capacity to plan ahead and provide the means for future ends is an important part of human practical reasoning. When this capacity develops in ontogeny is the matter of an ongoing debate. In this study, 4- and 5-year-olds performed a future planning task in which they had to create the means (a picture of a particular object, e.g., a banana)…

Four experiments tested the forgetting fixation hypothesis of incubation effects, comparing continuous vs. alternating generation of exemplars from three different types of categories. In two experiments, participants who listed as many members as possible from two different categories produced more responses, and more novel responses, when they…

"Fos" induction during learning labels neuronal ensembles in the hippocampus that encode a specific physical environment, revealing a memory trace. In the cortex and other regions, the extent to which "Fos" induction during learning reveals specific sensory representations is unknown. Here we generate high-quality brain-wide…

The factors influencing resiliency to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remain to be elucidated. Clinical studies associate PTSD with polymorphisms of the FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5). However, it is unclear whether changes in FKBP5 expression alone could produce resiliency or susceptibility to PTSD-like symptoms. In this…

This review evaluates two recent anthologies that survey research at the intersection of cognitive psychological investigations of (working) memory and issues in second language (L2), and bilingual processing and acquisition. The volumes cover similar ground by outlining the theoretical underpinnings of models of (working) memory as well as…

Fear extinction-based exposure therapy is the most common behavioral therapy for anxiety and trauma-related disorders, but fear extinction memories are labile and fear tends to return even after successful extinction. The relapse of fear contributes to the poor long-term efficacy of exposure therapy. A single session of voluntary exercise can…

Recent research has demonstrated that consolidated memories can enter a temporary labile state after reactivation, requiring restabilization in order to persist. This process, known as reconsolidation, potentially allows for the modification and disruption of memory. Much interest in reconsolidation stems from the possibility that maladaptive…

Chuderski and Jastrzêbski (2017) found a positive relationship between working memory capacity and insight problem solving, and concluded that "people with less effective cognition" are therefore "less creative" (p. 2003). This interpretation discounts substantial evidence that devoting less executive control facilitates…

One experiment with rats explored whether an extinction-cue prevents the recovery of extinguished lever-pressing responses. Initially, rats were trained to perform one instrumental response (R1) for food in Context A, and a different instrumental response (R2) in Context B. Then, responses were extinguished each in the alternate context (R1 in…

Depolymerizing actin in the amygdala through nonmuscle myosin II inhibition (NMIIi) produces a selective, lasting, and retrieval-independent disruption of the storage of methamphetamine-associated memories. Here we report a similar disruption of memories associated with amphetamine, but not cocaine or morphine, by NMIIi. Reconsolidation appeared…

Students often are overconfident when they predict their performance on classroom examinations, and their accuracy often does not improve across exams. One contributor to overconfidence may be that students did not have enough experience, and another is that students may under-use their knowledge of prior exam performance to predict performance on…

Recent upgrades to cognitive load theory suggest that evolutionary processes have shaped the way that working memory processes cultural and social information. According to evolutionarily educational psychologists, some forms of information are processed with lower working memory loads than other forms. The former are evolutionarily salient and…