Two experiments explore children's spontaneous labeling of novel objects as a method to study early lexical access. The experiments also provide new evidence on children's attention to object shape when labeling objects. In Experiment 1, the spontaneous productions of 21 23- to 28-month-olds (mean 26;28) shown a set of novel, unnamed objects were…

Objective: To investigate the effect of a nutrition education intervention and four hours of related teaching on the nutrition concepts of a sample of 9 year-old children. Design: Prepost test design. Children's food classification concepts were assessed before and after the intervention and nutrition teaching. Setting: Year 4 class of a suburban…

Contrary to empirical reports of inhibitory dysfunction in ADHD, parental reports suggest that when playing computer games, the inhibitory abilities of children with ADHD are unimpaired. This small-scale preliminary investigation into this phenomenon looks at inhibition of an ongoing response and activity exhibited by children with ADHD between 6…

Procrastination can have a negative effect on learning. Many previous studies have examined personality factors that contribute to procrastination. This study examines selected assignment characteristics controllable by the instructor that might influence student procrastination. Results found less procrastination on assignments that were…

This article describes how to construct a laser level. This laser level can be made using a typical 4' (or shorter) bubble level and a small laser point. The laser unit is detachable, so the bubble level can also be used in the conventional way. However, the laser level works better than a simple bubble level. Making this inexpensive device is an…

This valuable resource provides instructional designers with the guidance they need to meet the challenge of creating effective and efficient instruction. Maintaining a careful balance between theory and application, the Fifth Edition presents a practical, easy-to-follow approach to instructional design that can be applied to K-12 classrooms,…

Background: Rett syndrome (RS) is a pervasive developmental disorder with cognitive and neuromotor impairments (including loss of handiness and loss of communicative skills). Objective: To verify whether girls with RS use their gaze intentionally, by observing their performance in three cognitive tasks: (1) verbal instruction condition (look at…

This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of 30 hemodynamic experiments comparing first language (L1) and second language (L2) processing in a range of tasks. The results suggest that reliably stronger activation during L2 processing is found (a) only for task-specific subgroups of L2 speakers and (b) within some, but not all regions…

A six-month longitudinal study (N = 33) proved the influence of a diversified sport enrichment program on the development of creative thinking in team ball sports among gifted children. A contrast between a gifted control group and a non-gifted treatment group showed that the creative performance of the gifted children significantly improved…

We show how an interactive website can help first-year undergraduates acquire independent study skills, and provide a user-friendly way of approaching challenging material in introductory level evolution and ecology. Students embraced the opportunity to undertake self-assessment tasks online, which allowed them to gauge their understanding and…

Background: Depressed adults may show impairment in switching attention from one task to another. Rumination on negative thoughts is associated with the onset and persistence of depressive episodes. It is unclear if such mood-related ruminations are specifically associated with slowed ability in switching attention from one task to another.…

Research on conceptual change is still a powerful framework for empirical investigations on students' learning of science. During recent years, an increasing body of research has explored students' concepts prior and subsequent to instruction, leading to an extensive documentation of students' concepts including the difficulties and opportunities…

Workplace motivation historically has been an HR function, with ID as a training function. This division produces a split between motivation and training, leaving them isolated from one another. Intervention design needs to include motivation throughout its phases, to maximize motivating opportunities for performance improvement. The current…

This paper reports an experiment that addresses whether manipulating foreknowledge of output tasks leads to differences in reading behaviour, text comprehension and noticing of language form. Three tasks are used: reading for memorization, reading for retelling and reading for visualization. Reading for memorization and reading for retelling are…

The purpose of this project was to develop a prototype expert instructional design system (ID Expert) which would demonstrate the feasibility of a consultation system for use by inexperienced instructional designers. The prototype gathers information from the designer and then makes recommendations for instructional design decisions. The output of…