Behavioral, psychophysiological, and neuropsychological studies have revealed large developmental differences in various learning paradigms where learning from positive and negative feedback is essential. The differences are possibly due to the use of distinct strategies that may be related to spatial working memory and attentional control. In…

Behavioral, neuropsychological, and brain imaging research points to a dedicated system for processing number that is shared across development and across species. This foundational Approximate Number System (ANS) operates over multiple modalities, forming representations of the number of objects, sounds, or events in a scene. This system is…

Seven main experiments and three pilot studies were conducted to develop and test theories of transfer of training in children. Initial tests failed to support an incentive model for learning and transfer, but a new model given strong emphasis to the role of context in learning was developed which accounted for a wide range of learning and…

This study concerns children's understanding of spatial relationships and their expression in drawings and photographs. Sixty children (ages 5, 8, and 11) were asked to discriminate and reproduce three types of depth relationships in either drawings or photographs: enclosure, where a larger object is placed directly behind a smaller object;…

The results of a group of studies, the objective of which was to clarify the conditions that account for the effectiveness of verbal approbation, are reported. Among the most significant findings were: (1) that the reinforcement properties of verbal approval are susceptible to distortion, misinterpretation or enhancement and must be applied in a…