Although human infants demonstrate early competence to retain visual information, memory capacities during infancy remain largely undocumented. In three experiments, we used a Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) task to examine abilities to encode identity (Experiment 1) and spatial properties (Experiments 2a and 2b) of unfamiliar complex visual…

Eyeblink conditioning is a well-established model for studying the developmental neurobiology of associative learning and memory. However, age differences in extinction and subsequent reacquisition have yet to be studied using this model. The present study examined extinction and reacquisition of eyeblink conditioning in developing rats. In…

Many students struggle with statistical concepts such as interaction. In an experimental group, participants took a paper-and-pencil test and then were given training to establish equivalent classes containing four different statistical interactions. All participants formed the equivalence classes and showed maintenance when probes contained novel…

Stimulus overselectivity refers to the phenomenon whereby stimulus control over behavior is exerted only by a limited subset of the total number of stimuli present during discrimination learning. It often is displayed by individuals with autistic spectrum disorders or learning disabilities, but is not exclusive to those groups. The present studies…

A forced-choice observer-based testing procedure was used to determine pure-tone hearing thresholds for 2- to 4-week-old infants. Stimuli were 500-ms tone bursts of 500, 1,000, or 4,000 Hz with 500-ms intervals between tone bursts. Stimuli were presented monaurally by means of an insert earphone. Each 15-s trial consisted of 5 tone bursts,…

Two experiments sought to determine whether rehearsal strategies constitute a primary determinant to age-related changes in auditory short-term memory. (ST)

Two experiments explored the behavior of 20 Asian elephants ("Elephas aximus") in simultaneous visual discrimination tasks. In Experiment 1, 7 Burmese logging elephants acquired a white+/black- discrimination, reaching criterion in a mean of 2.6 sessions and 117 discrete trials, whereas 4 elephants acquired a black+/white- discrimination in 5.3…

Children who have status epilepticus have continuous or rapidly repeating seizures that may be life-threatening and may cause life-long changes in brain and behavior. The extent to which status epilepticus causes deficits in auditory discrimination is unknown. A naturalistic auditory location discrimination method was used to evaluate this…

Results suggest that the human infant's response to visual stimulation undergoes change during the neonatal period. (Authors)

It was concluded that previous explanations of visual exploration or stimulus preference have been oversimplified, and studies on the whole have failed to take into account a crucial interaction between sex and age variables. (Authors)

In two experiments, first and fourth grade subjects performed a speeded card sorting task with either integral or nonintegral dimensions. The dimensions were arranged so that subjects sorted on three types of task: (1) single dimension, (2) correlated dimensions, and (3) orthogonal dimensions. (Author/MS)

This study was designed to examine the effects of age and sex on susceptibility to field dependence training and to determine whether the field dependence phenomenon is a function of cognitive style or of a general inability to make correct judgments because of confusing and inaccurate information. (MS)