Traditional, cognitive-oriented theories of English language acquisition tend to employ experimental modes of inquiry and neglect social, cultural and historical contexts. In this paper, I review the theoretical debate over methodology by examining ontological, epistemological and methodological controversies around cognitive-oriented theories. I…

Numerical processing has been extensively studied by examining the performance on basic number processing tasks, such as number priming, number comparison, and number line estimation. These tasks assess the innate "number sense," which is assumed to be the breeding ground for later mathematics development. Indeed, several studies have…

Activation of the infralimbic region (IL) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) reduces conditioned fear in a variety of situations, and the IL is thought to play an important role in the extinction of conditioned fear. Here we report a series of experiments using contextual fear conditioning in which the IL is activated with the GABAa antagonist…

This article reviews studies investigating segmentation of dynamic visualizations (i.e., showing dynamic visualizations in pieces with pauses in between) and discusses two not mutually exclusive processes that might underlie the effectiveness of segmentation. First, cognitive activities needed for dealing with the transience of dynamic…

It is commonly held that implicit knowledge expresses itself as fluency. A perceptual clarification task was used to examine the relationship between perceptual processing fluency, subjective familiarity, and grammaticality judgments in a task frequently used to produce implicit knowledge, artificial grammar learning (AGL). Four experiments…

Theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TBS) is considered to produce plastic changes in human motor cortex. Here, we examined the inhibitory and excitatory effects of TBS on implicit sequence learning using a probabilistic serial reaction time paradigm. We investigated the involvement of several cortical regions associated with implicit…

Adopting a case study approach with multiple data sources, this paper explores the ways in which rapport is built, and its impact on the learning process based on five successive writing support consultations between a native English-speaking (NES) tutor and her second language (L2) tutee in a Hong Kong university. With reference to the prepared…

In seeking an understanding of the teenage brain, this author was struck by the interplay between the development of executive functioning and the development of the system that controls emotions and memory. This in turn has impacted her work as a member of faculty at a seminary with responsibilities for both directing a program with high school…

Visual working memory (VWM) is widely thought to contain specialized buffers for retaining spatial and object information: a "spatial-object architecture." However, studies of adults, infants, and nonhuman animals show that visual cognition builds on core knowledge systems that retain more specialized representations: (1) spatiotemporal…

The purpose of this study was to report evidence obtained in a survey based on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1991; 2000) carried out in different groups. The study comprised 510 higher education students enrolled in blended online courses offered through Moodle platform during one semester. It…

Three experiments examined the processes mediating rat serial pattern learning for rule-consistent versus rule-violating pattern elements ("violation elements"). In all three experiments, rats were trained to press retractable levers in a circular array in a specific sequence for brain-stimulation reward (BSR). Experiment 1 examined the role of…

Wilhelm applies two of his core beliefs--that anyone can learn the next appropriate concept or process if they are provided with a meaningful situation and proper assistance, and that literacy and the kinds of texts we call literature provide a unique and powerful way of knowing and of transforming the self--to a look at how recent research on the…

Traditional research on collaborative learning employs a "black box" approach that makes it difficult to gain a deeper understanding of the differential effects of collaborative learning. To make the black box transparent, researchers have studied the process of collaboration, in order to establish which interaction features are likely to make…

More important than infusing courses and curricula with modern content is to give students the tools to use and understand mathematics--including some that does not yet exist. A curriculum organized around habits of mind tries to close the gap between what users and makers of mathematics do and what they say. These cross-journal articles are…

The aim of this article is to illustrate how students, through collaborative small-group problem solving, appropriate the concept of geometric series. Student appropriation of cultural tools is dependent on five sociocultural aspects: involvement in joint activity, shared focus of attention, shared meanings for utterances, transforming actions and…