Two experiments studied whether and how 5-year-olds integrate single facial features to identify faces. Results indicated that children could evaluate and integrate information from eye and mouth features to identify a face when salience of features was varied. A weighted Fuzzy Logical Model of Perception fit better than a Single Channel Model,…

Developed a framework for examining cognitive validity claims and used it to evaluate the validity of a "connected understanding" interpretation of three concept mapping techniques used by two teachers and six high school students. Results show that the three mapping techniques provide different pictures of student knowledge and suggest that…

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.…

Many experiments have shown that the human visual system makes extensive use of contextual information for facilitating object search in natural scenes. However, the question of how to formally model contextual influences is still open. On the basis of a Bayesian framework, the authors present an original approach of attentional guidance by global…

We present statistical analyses of the large-scale structure of 3 types of semantic networks: word associations, WordNet, and Roget's Thesaurus. We show that they have a small-world structure, characterized by sparse connectivity, short average path lengths between words, and strong local clustering. In addition, the distributions of the number of…

Letters and words are better identified when there are fewer available choices. How do readers use choice-set restrictions? By analyzing new experimental data and previously reported data, the author shows that Bayes theorem-based models overestimate readers' use of choice-set restrictions. This result is discordant with choice-similarity models…

Wernicke (1900, as cited in G. H. Eggert, 1977) suggested that semantic knowledge arises from the interaction of perceptual representations of objects and words. The authors present a parallel distributed processing implementation of this theory, in which semantic representations emerge from mechanisms that acquire the mappings between visual…

I analyze the process by which we react cognitively to information that contradicts our culturally held sentiments in the context of affect control theory. When bizarre, unanticipated events come to our attention and we have no opportunity to act so as to alter them, we must reidentify at least one event component: the actor, the behavior, or the…

Functional neuroimaging research has shown that certain classes of visual stimulus selectively activate focal regions of visual cortex. Specifically, cortical areas that generally and selectively respond to faces (Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., & Chun, M. M. (1997). The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face…

This study examined the hypothesis of superior quantification abilities of persons with high functioning autism (HFA). Fourteen HFA individuals (mean age: 15 years) individually matched with 14 typically developing (TD) participants (gender, chronological age, full-scale IQ) were asked to quantify as accurately and quickly as possible…

This study was designed to differentiate between structural description and bias accounts of performance in the possible/impossible object-decision test. Two event-related potential (ERP) studies examined how the visual system processes structurally possible and impossible objects. Specifically, the authors investigated the effects of object…

Over the past two decades a new model of behavior change--one derived from a functional contextual philosophy, while up holding to basic principles of learning with an eye on practical utility--has emerged tour de force of the psychotherapy scene. This model is based on a modern behavior analytic account of language and cognition known as…

The CODE Theory of Visual Attention (CTVA) is a mathematical model explaining the effects of grouping by proximity and distance upon reaction times and accuracy of response with regard to elements in the visual display. The predictions of the theory agree quite acceptably in one and two dimensions (CTVA-2D) with the experimental results (reaction…

The author reviews the Hill cognitive-experiential model for working with dreams. This model involves three stages: exploration, insight, and action. She then reviews the empirical studies that have been conducted on this model. Results indicate that dream work is effective, particularly in terms of session evaluation and increased insight into…

Background: An instrument assessing smoking-cessation-specific parenting was developed and tested in relation to a) the pros of smoking and quitting and self-efficacy to resist smoking, and b) adolescent readiness to quit. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from 998 Dutch adolescents who smoked regularly were used to perform structural equation…