Visual scene displays (VSDs) are becoming an increasingly popular method of message representation within augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports; however, design factors can influence the effectiveness of these images as communication supports. One issue that has come to light in recent years is the fact that selecting…

We aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of five muscle strength and physical function tests in healthy children. Forty-one children (6--9 years) were tested three times 4-10 days apart. The test protocol included maximal isometric leg press, hand grip strength, squat jump, long jump, and a 30-sec sit-to-stand test (STST). When comparing…

The prefrontal cortex is larger than would be predicted by body size or visual cortex volume in great apes compared with monkeys. Because prefrontal cortex is critical for working memory, we hypothesized that recognition memory tests would engage working memory in orangutans more robustly than in rhesus monkeys. In contrast to working memory, the…

Infants are able to use the contexts in which familiar words appear to guide their inferences about the syntactic category of novel words (e.g. 'This is a' + 'dax' -> dax = object). The current study examined whether 18-month-old infants can rapidly adapt these expectations by tracking the distribution of syntactic structures in their input. In…

Magnetic resonance imaging is widely used for different diagnostic examinations involving autistic patients. The noisy, narrow, isolating magnetic resonance imaging environment and long scan times may not be suitable for autistic individuals, given their communication challenges, sensory sensitivities and often heightened anxiety. This systematic…

This research aimed to examine the differential effects of simile and metaphor on creativity. In the main study, 123 participants were recruited from a university in Taiwan. A within-subjects experimental design was used to investigate how variables related to simile and metaphor influenced these participants' fluency and originality scores. As…

The author of this article describes a new undergraduate course where students use Python programming for macroeconomic data analysis and modeling. Students develop basic familiarity with dynamic optimization and simulating linear dynamic models, basic stochastic processes, real business cycle models, and New Keynesian business cycle models.…

In order to explore the development mechanism of construction theory in the field of moral judgment, this study investigated the influence of age and social distance on such moral expectations in positive moral context and negative moral context. In both positive and negative moral contexts, 5-6-year-old children had the highest moral expectations…

Adolescents with elevated social anxiety commonly experience peer-related impairments--particularly with same-age, unfamiliar peers--stemming from their "avoidant behaviors." Yet, peer-related impairments are not unique to social anxiety. For example, adolescents who experience social anxiety may also experience symptoms of attention…

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the mechanisms involved in phonetic learning of an unfamiliar accent, focusing on understanding what processes underlie changes to phonetic category structure, how such learning affects subsequent online lexical processing, and whether the same mechanisms that underlie learning for a single speaker…

Individuals differ in their ability to perceive and learn unfamiliar speech sounds, but we lack a comprehensive theoretical account that predicts individual differences in this skill. Predominant theories largely attribute difficulties of non-native speech perception to the relationships between non-native speech sounds/contrasts and…

School and medical settings often use different identification criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disability affecting social-communication, behavioral patterns, and sensory experiences. Further, individual states may use varied definitions for special education eligibility. On January 1, 2019, the State of Oregon…

Understanding emotions based on false beliefs is a necessary component of theory of mind. Previous research has indicated a lag in children's understanding of belief-based emotions as compared to false beliefs. Experiment 1 involved 83 Chinese 3- to 5-year-old children who were tested for the developmental change of the belief-emotion lag.…

Open Access Repositories (OARs) are viewed as a new channel of scholarly communication and a way for scholars to disseminate their work faster to a broader audience. Finding a solution to low faculty participation in OARs is an intricate task that requires a deeper understanding of faculty perceptions of OARs. Previous studies have investigated…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of an immersive learning (IL) course in which university students planned, developed, and implemented a 2-week day camp for children with disabilities. To assess perceptions and associated dispositional constructs, university students completed reflection activities before, during, and post camp…