The experiment analyzed reactions of 115 first- to fourth-graders after realizing that they performed worse than they expected in a computer game. Based on the VIOLEX model of expectation violation, we assessed immunization against achievement feedback, assimilation (striving to increase performance), and accommodation (willingness for expectation…

A chronometric mental rotation paradigm was applied to examine manipulation of visual imagery in early adolescents in relation to age, sex, mental rotation ability, and socioeconomic background. Subjects were fifth- and seventh-grade boys and girls from a middle and lower socioeconomic background. (Author/MP)

Examined how developmental differences in perceptual and conceptual priming between 8 and 19 years coincide with differences between familiarity and recollective responses on explicit memory tests employing the Remember/Know paradigm. Found few age-group differences in perceptual priming following a levels-of-processing encoding manipulation. In…

Three experiments examined 5- to 8-year-olds' ability to make tentative interpretations of ambiguous messages. It was concluded that although 5- and 6-year-olds' interpretations of ambiguous messages were not tentative at the outset, they were able to use source monitoring skills to treat them as tentative retrospectively, at least over short time…

A total of 120 children between four to eight years of age were administered four sets of visual perspective-taking tasks. Results supported the hypothesis that children's task competence would be a fraction of the number and type of spatial relationships embedded in the stimulus displays. (Author/MP)

Investigated children's representational ability as a cognitive factor underlying the suggestibility of their eyewitness memory. Found that the eyewitness memory of children lacking multirepresentational abilities or sufficient general memory abilities (most 3- and 4-year-olds) was less accurate than eyewitness memory of those with…

Despite enormous growth in the study of learners' cognitive processes, relatively little is known about how learners reason about social phenomena and issues involved in disciplines, such as history. Yet, according to scholars the process could hardly be more important, and it demands redress and scientific explanation. To contribute to the…

Finds that the usual adult superiority in speed of processing could be markedly reduced if children were given equivalent amounts of domain knowledge. The effect was domain specific; differences in knowledge affected processing rates in both knowledgeable adults and children to about the same extent. (Auther/RH)

Younger (N=31) and older (N=21) men participated in a bogus convergent-thinking task in which they rated their effort expenditure after experiencing varying degrees of success. As predicted, results indicated younger, but not older men perceived they tried harder when they succeeded relative to when they failed. (Author)

Three experiments assessed children's abilities to track behavioral, representational, and truth aspects of conventions. Three- and 4-year-olds recognized that conventional stipulations would change behavior, but not how stipulations might affect representations. Three- and 5-year-olds confused pretenses and conventions; 7-year-olds consistently…

Investigated developmental trends associated with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott false-memory effect, the role of distinctive information, and subjective experience of true/false memories. Found that 5-year-olds recalled more false memories than adults but no age differences in recognition of critical lures. Distinctive information reduced false…

Conducted meta-analysis to examine empirical inconsistencies and theoretical controversies concerning false-belief tasks and understanding about mental states. Found that a combined model including age, country of origin, and four task factors accounted for 55 percent of the variance in false-belief performance. Findings are consistent with…

Examines the relationship between the mental effort requirement of cumulative rehearsal and spontaneous utilization of the strategy by three groups of children (mean ages 7.6, 8.7, and 11.5 years). Results showed that the mental effort requirement of strategy use may influence children's strategy selection on memory tasks. (Author/CI)

Compared 12 old and 12 young adults in two information-processing tasks (a rotated figures task and a sentence verification task). The age difference was minimized when older adults adopted strategies that reduced processing. They were more disadvantaged when employing strategies that imposed greater processing demands or memory load. (JAC)

Three experiments examined children's strategic regulation of memory accuracy. Found that younger (7 to 9 years) and older (10 to 12 years) children could enhance the accuracy of their testimony by screening out wrong answers under free-report conditions. Findings suggest a developmental trend in level of memory accuracy actually achieved.…