A key goal in cognitive training research is understanding whether cognitive training enhances general cognitive capacity or provides only task-specific improvements. Here, we developed a quantitative model for describing the temporal dynamics of these two processes. We analyzed data from 1300 children enrolled in an 8 week working memory training…

Childhood adversity can lead to cognitive deficits or enhancements, depending on many factors. Though progress has been made, two challenges prevent us from integrating and better understanding these patterns. First, studies commonly use and interpret raw performance differences, such as response times, which conflate different stages of cognitive…

Although cognitive load (CL) and self-regulated learning (SRL) have been widely recognized as two determinant factors of students' performance, the integration of these two factors is still in its infancy. To further specify why and how CL links with SRL, we first conducted an overview to describe the multiple dimensions of cognitive load (i.e.,…

Undergraduate students may possess underdeveloped knowledge about water systems, particularly groundwater. The use of models and modeling have been employed in undergraduate classrooms to support students' learning about water. However, effective modeling requires spatial thinking skills, which undergraduate students may also need to develop.…

Van der Linden's hierarchical model for responses and response times can be used in order to infer the ability and mental speed of test takers from their responses and response times in an educational test. A standard approach for this is maximum likelihood estimation. In real-world applications, the data of some test takers might be partly…

Working Memory (WM) is an essential concept of cognitive science since many aspects of human learning depend on it. Primarily proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) and developed by Baddeley (1986), the concept of WM comprises the number of subsystems involved during the process and the considerable emphasis on its key role in cognitive tasks such…

Immersive virtual reality (VR) carries important potential, both for the creation of scientific knowledge and also for its communication. This is particularly important for studies of human spatial cognition, where psychologists now possess the power to combine the scale and fidelity of the real world with the malleability and control of the…

Three-dimensional (3D) digital anatomical models show potential to demonstrate complex anatomical relationships; however, the literature is inconsistent as to whether they are effective in improving the anatomy performance, particularly for students with low spatial visualization ability (Vz). This study investigated the educational effectiveness…

Understanding individual differences in cognitive performance is an important part of understanding how variations in underlying cognitive processes can result in variations in task performance. However, the exploration of individual differences in the components of the decision process--such as cognitive processing speed, response caution, and…

When comparing social science phenomena through a time perspective, absolute and relative difference (RD) are the two typical presentation formats used to communicate interpretations to the audience, while time distance (TD) is the least frequently used of such formats. This article argues that the chosen presentation format is extremely important…

The emotional intelligence models have helped to develop different tools for construct assessment. Each theoretical paradigm conceptualizes emotional intelligence from one of two perspectives: ability or mixed model. Ability models consider emotional intelligence as a pure form of mental ability and therefore as pure intelligence. Mixed models of…

Response control or inhibition is one of the cornerstones of modern cognitive psychology, featuring prominently in theories of executive functioning and impulsive behavior. However, repeated failures to observe correlations between commonly applied tasks have led some theorists to question whether common response conflict processes even exist. A…

Wolf and Bowers (1999) described a model in which phonological awareness (PA) and naming speed (NS) make independent contributions to reading ability. We tested this model in a sample of 201 Grade 3 Arabic-speaking children in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Measures of general cognitive ability, vocabulary, PA, NS, word reading, and reading…

Skill acquisition theorists conceptualize second language (L2) learning as the acquisition of a set of perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills. The dominant view in skill acquisition theory is to regard L2 skill acquisition as a three-stage process "from initial representation of knowledge through initial changes in behavior to eventual…

U.S. Supreme Court justices and other federal judges are, effectively, appointed for life, with no built-in check on their cognitive functioning as they approach old age. There is about a century of research on aging and intelligence that shows the vulnerability of processing speed, fluid reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory to…