The original impetus for this work was to characterize the extent to which olfactory experience can be incorporated into cognitive processes. The finding is that there is a respectable but limited verbal association learning and retention capability for odor stimuli in man. (Author)

This study investigated whether people engaged in high risk-taking occupations would seek or prefer highly stimulating activities of a nonvocational nature more than people engaged in low risk-taking occupations. The high risk-taking group scored significantly higher than the low risk-taking group on all five dimensions of the Zuckerman Sensation…

Three severely mentally retarded adolescents who exhibited repetitive hand movements were assessed during baseline (reinforcement for on-task behavior) and sensory change (rings on fingers of both hands, rings and reinforcement, and faded rings) conditions. Sensory change effectively reduced the target responses for up to four hours. (Author/JDD)

Described is the discovery that oscillations of electric potential at 40 hertz hold the key to how the brain assembles sense impressions into a single object. Potential implications from this research are discussed. (CW)

Four- and seven-year olds were asked to make and explain predictions about their abilities to solve perceptual problems, perform the tasks, and explain their success or failure. Results indicated that young children have some clear-cut knowledge, and misconceptions, about their senses. Between four and seven years, children become increasingly…

Examines the nature of mother-child bonding from the prenatal stage through early infancy, discussing how the mother's actions, even before birth, stimulate her child's senses. Explains the crucial role that physical contact, breastfeeding, and visual stimuli have on mother-child bonding in human and animal newborns. (MDM)

Discusses the philosophical importance to adventure education of enchantment, ecstasy, and the mystical. Argues against a positivistic approach. Recommends the works of Eric Shipton and Bruno Bettelheim. Suggests that adventure education theorists must give thought to the existential and phenomenological aspects of the social worlds if adventure…

Presents classroom learning activities to help elementary teachers and students learn about and experiment with the sense of taste. One involves tasting an apple while smelling an onion; another involves locating areas of the tongue that respond to salt, sweet, bitter, and sour. (SM)

Maria Montessori considered the hand to be the agent of interaction between mind and body. Montessori advocated an environment for children that would encourage and enhance children's experiences through the use of objects that facilitated their learning but freed them from the need for adult direction. Montessori designed materials to facilitate…

Fifteen students, ages three to six years, were presented with materials traditionally used in Montessori preschools to teach seriation. Children who were presented the materials with limited discussion or with frequent discussion showed greater interest in the materials but did not score higher on seriation tests than children who were presented…

Describes several ways to demonstrate the relationship between various aspects of auditory stimulation and sensation. Discusses the equipment required to hear and to visualize simultaneously a variety of auditory signals. States that these demonstrations allow students to learn more about sensory processing in general and auditory function in…

Outdoor education experiences have the power to stimulate physical, intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual development and can lead to greater understanding of environmental consequences of one's actions. Describes various lifestyles' connection or disconnection to environmental consequences. Discusses recognition of one's spiritual involvement…

Empiricism is culturally defined in that culture shapes sensory knowledge. Hawaiians recognize senses beyond the five that Western culture recognizes. Hawaiians are not unempirical; they draw conclusions of their own from their empirical experiences. It is time to validate other ways of knowing, long suppressed in the U.S. educational system. (TD)

A study developed a systematic functional assessment package to reduce the stereotypy and self-injurious behaviors maintained by nonsocial reinforcement in two individuals with mental retardation. Differential reinforcement of zero rates of responding (DRO) procedures using stimuli within the targeted sensory classes were successful in eliminated…

Describes a multisensory approach to making science accessible to students with profound learning disabilities. (WRM)