Developments within education, psychology and the neurosciences have shed a great deal of light on how we learn while, at the same time, confirming for us all that learning is a profoundly complex process and far from understood. Against this background, and in this position article, we consider the recent rise in interest in the concept of…

We respond to the commentary of Franklin, Wright, and Davies ("Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102", 239-245 [2009]) by returning to the simple contrast between nature and nurture. We find no evidence from the toddler data that makes us revise our ideas that color categories are learned and never innate. (Contains 1 figure.)

We comment on Goldstein, Davidoff, and Roberson's replication and extension ("Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102", 219-238 [2009]) of our study of the effect of toddlers' color term knowledge on their categorical perception (CP) of color ("Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90", 114-141 [2005]). First, we discuss how best to…

Responds to comments made by Rhemtulla and Xu on the current authors' original paper Concepts of individual objects (e.g., a favorite chair or pet) include knowledge that allows people to identify these objects, sometimes after long stretches of time. In an earlier article, the authors set out experimental findings and mathematical modeling to…

The question of innateness, which naturally arises in respect of the method of category construction proposed by vantage theory, is notoriously difficult. Discusses some of the problems inherent in this type of issue, along with attendant assumptions. Then, turns to what might constitute possible grounding for vantage theory. (Author/VWL)

This paper questions whether affordances are allied exclusively to dorsal stream processing within the visual system, or whether in fact different affordances are subserved by functionally independent neural pathways. Using case study evidence from patients with various visual pathologies, I argue that affordances can be categorised into type…

Reviews the problems of classifying gaming techniques and suggests a heuristic approach as one solution. Definitions of simulation, models, role, and game and play are discussed to help develop a classification based on a technique called gaming simulation. (Author/LRW)

Reflects on Needham's findings on infants' object recognition and segregation. Examines the role for perceptual bias in explaining infant performance, places Needham's studies in historical perspective, and assesses their theoretical significance. Discusses the merits of positing different kinds of information sources for object segregation, and…

This collection of essays makes some attempts to define the humanities and explore the social role they might play. Part 1 examines the role of the humanist in society and suggests that the humanist can perform a function when "justification" (the determination of what is right and wrong) is necessary. In part 2, the topic "the…

Discusses Needham's findings that infants individuate objects by feature, within the framework of brain mechanisms that index or track individual objects, drawing upon theories of attention and working memory developed in the study of adults. Considers Needham's work as contributing to an understanding of categorization and the effect of object…

Presents a part of a larger study attempting to retrieve the versions of the child implicit in the everyday life of a literature classroom. Focuses on a children's novel, "Magpie Island" (Thiele, 1974), and the classroom talk about that novel. Findings reveal that the version of the child implicit in the novel and that enacted in the classroom…

V. M. Sloutsky and A. V. Fisher reported 5 experiments documenting relations among categorization, induction, recognition, and similarity in children as well as adults and proposed a new model of induction, SINC (similarity, induction, categorization). Those authors concluded that induction depends on perceptual similarity rather than conceptual…

The empirical study of knowledge representation is the focus of this paper, which observes that language as the cognitive instrument in the communication of phenomena must be capable of expressing relations of the observer-observation kind. The paper points out that this implies a coopeartive process at work in the production of a text, of which…

A model of three types of experiential learning is presented, showing significant differences in learning objectives, designs, and means for evaluation among them. Emphasis is noted on the importance in program design of clarity regarding matching experiential learning type with specifically identified objectives. (Author/MLW)

For purposes of allied health education applicability, the perceptual domain was examined in terms of (1) its own taxonomy and (2) its relationship to taxonomies in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. All these taxonomies are hierarchical in style; perception involves extraction of information from presenting stimuli and there is…