While dehydration has negative effects on memory and attention, few studies have investigated whether drinking water can enhance cognitive performance, and none have addressed this in a real-world setting. In this study we explored the potential benefits of the availability of water for undergraduates. The exam performance of students who brought…

The taxonomy outlined in this paper provides a framework for the classification of performance objectives. The taxonomy has three levels: (1) demonstration of cognitive mastery; (2) demonstration of a task in isolation; and (3) demonstration of a task in context. As one moves up the taxonomy, the student's performance requires a longer period of…

To determine to what extent disabled students may be selected and integrated into the regular schools in Nigeria, 42 normal and blind students were compared for differences in selective attention in a task involving letters and numbers. The hypothesis was substantiated that, because of the sociocultural stigma attached to blindness, normal…

Eight experiments examined abilities of 3- to 4-year-olds to reorient themselves and locate a hidden object in an open circular space furnished with landmark objects. Findings showed that children failed to use geometric configuration of objects to reorient themselves. Children successfully located the object in relation to a geometric…

In order to determine whether non-Western children would show a memory deficit for contextually organized spatial ability, the performances of 30 Mayan and 30 American nine-year-olds on reconstruction of an organized three-dimensional miniature scene were examined. (MP)

Investigated the relationship between auditory temporal processing of nonspeech sounds and phonological awareness ability in 8- to 12-year-olds with a reading disability, placed in groups based on performance on Tallal's tone-order judgment task. Found that a tone-order deficit did not relate to performance on order processing of speech sounds, to…

A review of 45 published studies yielded 518 pairs of response times (RTs) consisting of a mean RT for persons with mental retardation and the corresponding mean RT for persons without mental retardation. RTs of individuals with mental retardation increased linearly as a function of RTs for persons without mental retardation in corresponding…

Investigated effects of rational vs. irrational belief systems and rational vs. irrational self-verbalizations on anxiety and persistence. Subjects (N=40) were instructed to assemble a virtually insolvable task called Soma, and were assigned to either a rational or irrational self-talk condition. Rational self-talk subjects showed a significant…

Sentences were presented to adolescents with and without mental retardation, and their memory for the object nouns of the sentences was then tested under various conditions. Results indicate that differences in sentence processing between individuals with and without mental retardation may be a result of differences in generating integrated…

Etiology-specific profiles of intellectual abilities were compared in 30 males (ages 6-12) with fragile X syndrome, Down's syndrome, or nonspecific mental retardation using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. All three groups scored lower on sequential processing than on simultaneous processing or achievement, and etiology-specific…

In a memory search task with context recognition, three groups of children were examined: hyperactives, somewhat hyperactives, and controls. Both groups of hyperactive-rated children were slower in their cognitive processing than controls. (MP)

Compared reality monitoring of interactive events among children and adults. Found that 4-year-olds had more difficulty discriminating imagined actions than 12-year-olds and adults. Imagined actions were more often confused with performed ones than the reverse for 4- and 8-year-olds. Reality monitoring decreased over time. Object use during…

Examined changes from age 7 to 82 years in processes responsible for preparation and interference control underlying alternation between two tasks. Found a U-shaped function for switch costs, with larger costs for young children and older adults. Age-related variance in task-switching performance was partially independent from age-related variance…

Tested in two studies 4- to 7-year-olds' face recognition by manipulating the faces' configural and featural information. Found that even with only a single 5-second exposure, most children could use configural and featural cues to make identity judgments. Repeated exposure and feedback improved others' performance. Even proficient memories were…