In sound symbolism, a word's sound induces expectations about the nature of a salient aspect of the word's referent. P. Walker (2016a) proposed that cross-sensory correspondences can be the source of these expectations, and the present study assessed three implications flowing from this proposal. First, sound symbolism will embrace a wide range of…

This study investigates the acquisition of integrated object manipulation and categorization abilities through a series of experiments in which human adults and artificial agents were asked to learn to manipulate two-dimensional objects that varied in shape, color, weight, and color intensity. The analysis of the obtained results and the…

Seven- to 12-month-olds were trained to press levers that contingently activated lights. Infants had the choice of turning on either a light an adult interaction partner was looking at or a light that she turned away from. By 9 months, infants reliably turned on the light that the adult was looking at. In a second study, 9- and 12-month-old…

Predicting the consequences of actions is fundamental for skilled motor behavior. We investigated whether motor prediction is influenced by the fact that some movements are easier to perform and stabilize than others. Twelve subjects performed a bimanual rhythmical task either symmetrically or asymmetrically (the latter being more difficult and…

This study tests whether the detrimental effects of strong diversity faultlines on team performance can be counteracted by combining 2 managerial strategies: task role crosscutting and superordinate goals. We conducted a 2 (crosscut vs. aligned roles) x 2 (superordinate vs. subgroup goals) experimental study. Seventy-two 4-person teams with…

Primary somatosensory maps in the brain represent the body as a discontinuous, fragmented set of two-dimensional (2-D) skin regions. We nevertheless experience our body as a coherent three-dimensional (3-D) volumetric object. The links between these different aspects of body representation, however, remain poorly understood. Perceiving the body's…

Adults are skilled at perceiving subjective contours in regions without any local image information (e.g., [Ginsburg, 1975] and [Kanizsa, 1976]). Here we examined the development of this skill and the effect thereon of the support ratio (i.e., the ratio of the physically specified contours to the total contour length). Children (6-, 9-, and…

Developmental changes in learning from peers and adults during the second year of life were assessed using an imitation paradigm. Independent groups of 15- and 24-month-old infants watched a prerecorded video of an unfamiliar child or adult model demonstrating a series of actions with objects. When learning was assessed immediately, 15-month-old…

Two experiments examined how 10- and 12-year-old children and adults intercept moving gaps while bicycling in an immersive virtual environment. Participants rode an actual bicycle along a virtual roadway. At 12 test intersections, participants attempted to pass through a gap between 2 moving, car-sized blocks without stopping. The blocks were…

Two experiments examined the flexibility and stability with which children and adults organize locations into categories on the basis of object relatedness. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-olds and adults learned the locations of 20 objects belonging to 4 categories. Displacement patterns revealed that children and adults used object cues to organize the…

Performance-based measures of hand preference have been developed as an objective method of examining handedness. Previous research using this method by Bryden, Roy, and Mamolo (2003) showed that both skill demands and the position of the object in working space affect preferential hand reaching. Specifically, preferred hand reaches predominated…

Investigates the exploratory behavior of young children as it relates to individual differences in curiosity, the novelty of the objects explored, and the interactive style employed by an adult experimenter. (Author/MP)

In this study self-concept, as measured by subjects' self-ratings of mechanical ability, was correlated to scores on the Pourchot Mechanical Manipulation Test of bilateral hand tool dexterity. Significant relationships were found. Subjects, ages 10-84, differed in results by age, sex, and mechanical experience. (SJL)

The purpose of this study was to explore how children use location and distance cues to reproduce movements as compared with adults. Subjects were three groups of children, aged 6, 8, and 10, and one group of adults. A linear slide was used by the blindfolded subjects to indicate one of two experimenter-defined stops. Distance and location were…

Depending on age and the demands of the task, people may use different processing strategies in object categorization. Three-year-olds used a wholistic approach with strong effects of object typicality on three categorization tasks. Older children and adults showed differential effects of typicality, suggesting various strategies including…