In a recent paper, Hu, Ericsson, Yang, and Lu (2009) found that an ability to memorize very long lists of digits is not mediated by the same mechanisms as exceptional memory for rapidly presented lists, which has been the traditional focus of laboratory research. Chao Lu is the holder of the "Guinness World Record" for reciting the most decimal…

Language for number is an important case study of the relationship between language and cognition because the mechanisms of non-verbal numerical cognition are well-understood. When the Piraha (an Amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe who have no exact number words) are tested in non-verbal numerical tasks, they are able to perform one-to-one matching…

One of the central claims associated with the parallel distributed processing approach popularized by D. E. Rumelhart, J. L. McClelland and the PDP Research Group is that knowledge is coded in a distributed fashion. Localist representations within this perspective are widely rejected. It is important to note, however, that connectionist networks…

Reviews three theories of how we retain order in memory and their predictions for errors people make when they recall a sequence incorrectly. A new model of short-term memory is presented, the Start-End Model (SEM), in which the positions of items in a sequence are coded relative to the sequence start and end. (SLD)

Results of seven experiments involving 112 college students or staff using a dual-task approach provide evidence that encoding information into short-term memory involves a distinct process termed short-term consolidation (STC). Results suggest that STC has limited capacity and that it requires central processing mechanisms. (SLD)

A model of word recognition is proposed that assumes that, when a word is encountered, the first available orthographic code activates all lexical entries that are positionally equivalent with that information (the word's "cohort"). The model is explained relative to encoding and the complex orthographic unit termed a wickelgraph. (SLD)

Trial-by-trial strategy assessments and a microgenetic design were used to examine the learning of rules for solving balance scale problems by 70 4- and 70 5-year olds. Developmental differences in learning that emerged seemed to reflect both distal and proximal influences. Encoding and initial rule use were related to different learning process…

Three experiments involving 107 adults who performed mental rotation tasks explored how location information is incorporated into image representation. Results suggest that image is coded retinotopically in image representations and that there is no spatiotropic transform in the early stages of visual processing. (SLD)

Two experiments involving 12 college students suggest that the visual system codes the temporal relationship between stimuli that occur in close temporal contiguity and that the temporal code determines performance in tasks requiring temporal integration. Potential extension to other visual phenomena is discussed. (SLD)

Evaluated the contribution of rule, exemplar, fragment, and episodic knowledge in artificial grammar learning using memorization versus hypothesis testing training tasks in 5 experiments involving a total of 163 college students. There was no evidence that memorization led to abstraction of rules or encoding of whole exemplars. Results support an…

Six experiments involving 262 children (as young as 16 months and as old as fifth grade) indicate that the basic framework for coding location is present early in life and that later development consists of an increasing ability to impose organization on a broad range of bounded spaces. (SLD)