Silence is a common phenomenon in language learning where students stay silent, and it is potentially frustrating to instructors and not conducive to the foreign language input and output necessary for ongoing classroom-based language learning. Silence has been investigated initially in the face-to-face classroom and discussed thoroughly over the…

In the present study, we investigate how spatial attention, driven by unisensory and multisensory cues, can bias the access of information into visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM). In a series of four experiments, we compared the effectiveness of spatially-nonpredictive visual, auditory, or audiovisual cues in capturing participants' spatial…

Following a review of the literature on responses of autistic persons to environmental stimulation, three experiments are detailed which examine the relationship between modality preference and rate of acquisition of a discrimination task. First, seven autistic children's preference for colored lights and/or simple tones was assessed in a sensory…

When presented with the option to use a new instructional technology, students often face an approach-avoidance conflict. This study explored promotion and prevention orientations, concepts linked to approach and avoidance in Higgins's regulatory focus theory, in the choice to attend lectures or watch them online. Openness, a core disposition in…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of applying the "Swassing/Barbe Modality Index" (SBMI), an instrument for identifying a student's strongest learning modality, to achieve higher accuracy on spelling lessons and tests. The SBMI was administered to 17 special education students in a class of seven second grade and ten third…

In a study of attending behavior during the crossover period (12-13 years), when preferences shift from auditory to visual stimuli, females switched their preferences significantly earlier than did males. Besides biological factors, these sex differenes were attributed to differential conditioning of attitudes, reinforcement, and discrimination…

Using 170 ninth-grade rural students, the study examined (1) whether modality preferences are a factor in student learning styles; (2) whether male and female students and students at different achievement levels expressed differing learning style preferences; and (3) how learning style characteristics relate to student self-concept and general…