Some descriptions of learning represent the process as the development of organisations of elements. Various organisations have been proposed, for example, schemata and conceptual structures. Such representations assume that mental entities, such as concepts, are sufficiently stable and differentiated to be treated as units. We discuss these…

Judgments of learning (JOLs) refer to explicit predictions regarding the likelihood of remembering newly acquired information on a later test of memory. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in understanding the processes that underlie such judgments. Recent theorizing on this matter has characterized JOLs as inferential in…

Most studies on spatial memory refer to the horizontal plane, leaving an open question as to whether findings generalize to vertical spaces where gravity and the visual upright of our surrounding space are salient orientation cues. In three experiments, we examined which reference frame is used to organize memory for vertical locations: the one…

The roles of visual sonority and handshape markedness in sign language acquisition and production were investigated. In Experiment 1, learners were taught sign-nonobject correspondences that varied in sign movement sonority and handshape markedness. Results from a sign-picture matching task revealed that high sonority signs were more accurately…

Perceptual fluency manipulations influence metamemory judgments, with more fluently perceived information judged as more memorable. However, it is not always clear whether this influence is driven by actual experienced processing fluency or by beliefs about memory. The current study used an identity-priming paradigm--in which words are preceded by…

Faces are processed holistically, so selective attention to 1 face part without any influence of the others often fails. In this study, 3 experiments investigated what type of facial information (shape or surface) underlies holistic face processing and whether generalization of holistic processing to nonexperienced faces requires extensive…

Purpose/Objective: To develop and implement a "Tasting Challenge" activity that is feasible for schools to influence and measure the willingness of elementary students to try new foods. Methods: The Tasting Challenge was as part of a classroom activity. Children were individually offered jicama and edamame to taste and rate (yummy, ok,…

We first demonstrated analytic processing in ASD under conditions in which integral processing seems mandatory in TD observers, a pattern that is often taken to indicate a local default processing in ASD. However, this processing bias does not inevitably come at the price of impaired integration skills. Indeed, examining the same group of…

This study focuses on investigating how students make use of their bodily experiences in combination with infrared (IR) cameras, as a way to make meaning in learning about heat, temperature, and friction. A class of 20 primary students (age 7-8 years), divided into three groups, took part in three IR camera laboratory experiments. The qualitative…

Perception studies have shown similarities between humans and other animals in a wide array of language-related processes. However, the components of language that make it uniquely human have not been fully identified. Here we show that nonhuman animals extract rules over speech sequences that are difficult for humans. Specifically, animals easily…

Bipedal gaits have been classified on the basis of the group symmetry of the minimal network of identical differential equations (alias "cells") required to model them. Primary gaits are characterized by dihedral symmetry, whereas secondary gaits are characterized by a lower, cyclic symmetry. This fact was used in a test of human…

We examined the ability of young infants (3- and 4-month-olds) to detect faces in the two-tone images often referred to as Mooney faces. In Experiment 1, this performance was examined in conditions of high and low visibility of local features and with either the presence or absence of the outer head contour. We found that regardless of the…

Prior research shows that representational competencies that enable students to use graphical representations to reason and solve tasks is key to learning in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains. We focus on two types of representational competencies: (1) "sense making" of connections by verbally explaining how…

We present results from five search experiments using a novel "unpacking" paradigm in which participants use a mouse to sort through random heaps of distractors to locate the target. We report that during this task participants often fail to recognize the target despite moving it, and despite having looked at the item. Additionally, the missed…

We investigated oculomotor anticipations in 4-month-old infants as they viewed center-occluded object trajectories. In two experiments, we examined performance in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) dynamic occlusion displays and in an additional 3D condition with a smiley face as the moving target stimulus. Rates of anticipatory eye…