Automaticity can be established by consistently reinforcing contingencies during practice. During reinforcement learning, however, new relations can also be derived, which were never directly reinforced. For instance, reinforcing the overlapping contingencies A [right arrow] B and A [right arrow] C, can lead to a new relation B-C, which was never…

Studies using hierarchical patterns to test global precedence and local-global interference in individuals with ASD have produced mixed results. The current study focused on stimulus variability and locational uncertainty, while using different attentional modes. Two groups of 44 children with and without ASD completed a divided attention task as…

The education of gifted children is of considerable interest. The present study focused on the effect of enriched education on intellectually gifted children's attention. In the present study, 7-12-year-old children completed seven tests of attention (alertness, focused attention, divided attention, attentional switching, sustained attention,…

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of rhythm training in basketball on the lay-up skill and visual attention ability of 9-10-year-old school children. 56 primary school children (28 experimental groups and 28 control groups) receiving education in the Republic of Macedonia took part voluntarily in the study. At the beginning of the…

Previous research has shown that explicit cues specific to the encoding process (endogenous) or characteristic of the stimuli themselves (exogenous) can be used to direct a reader's attentional resources towards either relational or item-specific information. By directing attention to relational information (and therefore away from item-specific…

Stimulus equivalence-based instruction (EBI) was used to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to ten graduate students. The classes represented behavior maintained by attention (Class 1), escape (Class 2), access to tangibles (Class 3), and automatic reinforcement (Class 4). Stimuli within each class consisted of a…

Encouraging relaxed and playful interaction over stories naturally fosters language interaction and both preliteracy [hereafter (pre)literacy skills] and literacy without anxiety. Reading for pleasure is valuable for young hearing children -- we know that, it is among the most beloved family rituals. In this article we argue that reading for…

Learning from visual representations is enhanced when learners appropriately integrate corresponding visual and verbal information. This study examined the effects of two methods of promoting integration, color coding and labeling, on learning about probabilistic reasoning from a table and text. Undergraduate students (N = 98) were randomly…

Previous research has illustrated the unique benefits of three-dimensional (3-D) Virtual Reality (VR) technology in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children. This study examined the use of 3-D VR technology as an assessment tool in ASD children, and further compared its use to two-dimensional (2-D) tasks. Additionally, we aimed to examine…

Educational software in the form of games or so called "computer assisted intervention" for young children has become increasingly common receiving a growing interest and support. Currently there are, for instance, more than 1,000 iPad apps tagged for preschool. Thus, it has become increasingly important to empirically investigate…

Asking children to gesture while being taught a concept facilitates their learning. Here, we investigated whether children benefitted equally from producing gestures that reflected speech (speech-gesture matches) versus gestures that complemented speech (speech-gesture mismatches), when learning the concept of palindromes. As in previous studies,…

The teacher has very important roles in the classroom, particularly as manager of most resources for learning activities and in providing timely feedback that can enhance learning. But teachers need to be aware of students' achievements and weaknesses to decide how to time feedback. We present MTFeedback, a system that harnesses the new…

To examine the visual attention, emotional responses, learning, perceptions and attitudes of learners interacting with an animated pedagogical agent, this study compared a multimedia learning environment with an emotionally-expressive animated pedagogical agent, with a non-expressive animated pedagogical agent, and without an agent. Visual…

As the technology in computer graphics advances, Animated-Virtual Actors (AVAs) in Virtual Reality (VR) applications become increasingly rich and complex. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) suggests that complex visual materials could hinder novice learners from attending to the lesson properly. On the other hand, previous studies have…

Multimedia sound is both durable and resistant to interference and forgetting. Yet sound alone is insufficient to learn from multimedia, hence the need for purposeful advice on how to enhance learning from technology with sound. The advice ranges from descriptions of the playback system to balancing the input to structuring the function of a…