Research on problem solving typically does not address tasks that involve following detailed and/or illustrated step-by-step instructions. Such tasks are not seen as cognitively challenging problems to be solved. In this paper, we challenge this assumption by analyzing verbal protocols collected during an Origami folding task. Participants…

A student might find a certain representational format (e.g., diagram, text) more attractive than other formats for learning. Computer technology offers opportunities to adjust the formats used in learning environments to the preferences of individual learners. The question addressed in the current study was: does the match between a student's…

Recent evidence on amusia suggests that our ability to perceive music might be based on the same neural resources that underlie other higher cognitive functions, such as speech perception and spatial processing. We studied the neural correlates of acquired amusia by performing extensive neuropsychological assessments on 53 stroke patients with a…

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder often described as being characterized by a dissociative cognitive architecture, in which profound impairments of visuo-spatial cognition contrast with relative preservation of linguistic, face recognition and auditory short-memory abilities. This asymmetric and dissociative cognition…

This study involving 38 normally achieving fourth and fifth grade children confirmed previous studies indicating that both spatial-simultaneous (in which perceived stimuli are totally available at one point in time) and verbal-successive (information is presented in serial order) cognitive processing are important in normal learning. (DB)

Analysis of the conceptions of spatial relations, size comparisons, and gesture imitations of 16 autistic children (ages 6-14 years) with IQs over 70 indicated an inability to acquire concepts of size comparison and spatial relationships through verbal instructions, suggesting a cognitive deficit of impaired symbolic-representational functioning.…

Three age groups of 24 people each completed verbal word list tasks and spatial learning tasks 5 times each. Significant age differences were found for total recall and type of task. Younger subjects showed increased levels of clustering--organizing information according to semantic or spatial clusters. Age was not related to temporal order of…

Used a variance-partitioning procedure to identify age-related and age-invariant components of verbal and spatial memory span in 6- to 12-year olds. Concluded that verbal and spatial short-term memory appear to rely on similar processes when serial recall is required and that development in span is closely tied to increases in processing speed.…

Fourteen teenage or young adult males disabled in print acquisition were studied to determine their patterns of verbal and spatial processing. It was found that, at retest a mean of 5.4 years later, the Similarities score significantly increased while the Vocabulary scores and Acquired Knowledge category actually decreased. (Author/DB)

Thirteen females with Turner syndrome, 13 females with nonverbal learning disabilities, and 14 males with nonverbal learning disabilities, ages 7-14, were taught via a cognitive behavioral modification approach to verbally mediate a spatial matching task. All three groups showed significant task improvement after the training, with no significant…