Categories are fundamental to everyday life and the ability to learn new categories is relevant across the lifespan. Categories are ubiquitous across modalities, supporting complex processes such as object recognition and speech perception. Prior work has proposed that different categories may engage learning systems with unique developmental…

Existing data indicate that newborns are able to recognize individual faces, but little is known about what perceptual cues drive this ability. The current study showed that either the inner or outer features of the face can act as sufficient cues for newborns' face recognition (Experiment 1), but the outer part of the face enjoys an advantage…

An experiment was conducted in which the relationships of basic television and film codes to particular literacy mental skills were examined. Different versions of the same film, each focusing on a different code, were produced and shown to fifth graders. It was found that children with initially better mastery of the relevant skills extract more…

Examines the relationship between visual attentiveness, search behavior, and duration of independent mobility for 56 eight-to ten-month-old infants when presented with three versions of the Piagetian Stage IV object permanence task. (HOD)

Subjects from kindergarten-age to adult participated in four experiments. In order to view the stimuli, subjects in three experiments activated lights in viewing boxes; in the fourth experiment, stimulus fixations were measured using a corneal reflection technique. Results supported the view that visual observing is controlled by cognitive…

Describes two studies in which young children were shown pictures that represented sound with postures and contexts, with conventions, and with combinations of information. Shows that the different types of pictorial representation of sound were not equivalent in their ability to evoke a correct interpretation. (HOD)

In order to enhance the understanding of visual literacy, one of its constituents, visual learning (VL), is examined in terms of underlying assumptions, hypothesized behaviors, and implications of both assumptions and behaviors. Assumptions are: (1) VL encompasses all changes in behavior arising from the individual's responses to visual…

Argues that visual literacy should be studied through a cognitive approach, and describes principles of punctuating and structuring that can be used to develop a new standard of experimental validity. Triadic interaction theory and the role of strategies in research are discussed, as well as a new orientation to research. (BK)

Examines the potential contribution of different neural systems to developmental change in the duration of visual fixation, and the individual differences in that variable that are predictive of subsequent cognitive function. Presents hypotheses concerning two specific and independent neural systems and how they might contribute to individual and…

Background: The relationship between the age of reaching infant developmental milestones and later intellectual function within the normal population remains unresolved. We hypothesised that the age of learning to stand in infancy would be associated with adult executive function and that the association would be apparent throughout the range of…

Describes a study of fifth grade students' ability to process information from a play, and compares the results to related information from television research. (JC)

With the pervasiveness of television, especially for children, visual literacy is a growing concern. Television should be regarded as part of a potential solution to the country's need for improved education. "Sesame Street" has proved that children do learn from television, that active interaction is not always necessary for learning,…

Examines one aspect of the cognitive development of preservice education students, the ability to utilize different modes of mental representation. Finds associations between the level of mathematics experience and both the ability to utilize three different modes of mental representation (enactive, visual, and verbal) and the overall use of…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children as young as second-graders could encode categorically within an abstract evaluative dimension. The study uses mode of stimulus presentation (auditory or visual) as an independent variable. The subjects were 40 white middle class children from grades 2, 4, and 6, who were randomly assigned…

Visual and auditory stimuli were presented to children to measure symbol processing abilities. Slides which required matching the similarities in two objects in a group of three were presented. At times the matching criteria varied between function, color, and form. Reaction time was quicker when matching by color than by function, which was…