Why is instructional gesture ineffective in some contexts? And what is it about learners that predicts whether they will learn from gestures? This between-subjects linear measurement training study compares gesture instruction to two controls--operant action and transient action--in a diverse sample of first-grade students (N = 174, M[subscript…

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, 4th ed. includes two measures of working memory normed on children 2;6-7;7. The present analyses of the typically developing children (N = 1,591, 812 female, 779 male, with an ethnic distribution approximating the United States) provide new, theoretically important information about these…

Previous research has shown that children aged 4-5 years, but not 2-3 years, show adult-like interference from a partner when performing a joint task (Milward, Kita, & Apperly, 2014). This raises questions about the cognitive skills involved in the development of such "corepresentation (CR)" of a partner (Sebanz, Knoblich, &…

Four- to 10-year-olds' and adults' (N = 263) ability to inhibit privileged knowledge and simulate a naïve perspective were examined. Participants viewed pictures that were then occluded aside from a small ambiguous part. They offered suggestions for how a naïve person might interpret the hidden pictures, as well as rated the probability…

Longitudinal associations of domain-general and numerical competencies with individual differences in children's understanding of fractions were investigated. Children (n = 163) were assessed at 6 years of age on domain-general (nonverbal reasoning, language, attentive behavior, executive control, visual-spatial memory) and numerical (number…

The development of response inhibition was investigated using a computerized go/no-go task, in a lagged sequential design where 376 preschool children were assessed repeatedly between 3.0 and 5.25 years of age. Growth curve modeling was used to examine change in performance and predictors of individual differences. The most pronounced change was…

Processing the self-relevance of information facilitates recall. Similarly, processing close-other-related information facilitates recall to a lesser degree than processing self-relevant information. This memory advantage may be viewed as an index of the degree to which the representation of self is differentiated from representations of close…

Investigated the relationship of two memory components involved in the retrieval of information from long-term memory--one process-oriented and one structure-oriented-- to variability associated with age and ability differences. Striking developmental differences obtained for retrieval efficiency were highly related to scores on tests of ability,…

Challenges the notion that long-term memory retrieval efficiency is a potential source of individual and developmental differences in cognitive functioning. Fourth-grade, eighth-grade, and college-aged subjects participated in a task using the Posner letter matching paradigm and were assessed with tests of verbal and spatial ability. (Author/CB)

Assesses the effectiveness of different child-generated classification schemes on preschool children's memory performance. Children who organized pictures according to taxonomic categories (e.g., animals, vehicles) demonstrated significantly greater recall than children classified as nontaxonomic. (Author/MP)

Eight- through 11-year-olds watched photographic slides of faces of former preschool classmates and controls, once while their skin conductance was measured and again while reporting whether or not they recognized the faces. Both verbal report and skin conductance data showed low but above-chance differentiation between children's response to…

Children 10 to 14 years of age tried to identify and remember words presented visually with a backward mask. On different tasks, children recalled freely or serially, recognized by making a rapid forced-choice response, or simply named words as they were presented. Results were interpreted as identifying two sources of developmental and individual…

Employs a clinical interview methodology to examine some of the creative thinking strategies commonly used by children in elementary school grades. Results suggest that children use several strategies on creativity tasks. (RH)

Presented paired-comparison familiarization-novelty recognition task to 4-month-olds. Found that peak look duration during pretest and familiarization periods predicted recognition performance. Recognition was unaffected by choice-trial length. Longer gaze durations during pretest and familiarization were associated with more time in heart…

Initial research on maternal reminiscing style established clear and consistent individual differences that vary along a dimension of maternal elaboration and that are related to children's developing autobiographical skills. More recent research has linked maternal elaborative reminiscing to strategic memory development, language and literacy…