The primary aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal models to determine the function that best describes developmental change in processing speed during childhood and adolescence. In one sample, children and adolescents (N = 503) were tested twice over an average interval of 2 years on two psychometric measures of processing speed:…

Generic sentences (such as "Birds lay eggs") are important in that they refer to kinds (e.g., birds as a group) rather than individuals (e.g., the birds in the henhouse). The present set of studies examined aspects of how generic nouns are understood by English speakers. Adults and children (4- and 5-year-olds) were presented with scenarios about…

Objective: To explore and compare the use of metacognitive, cognitive, and environmental resource management self regulatory learning (SRL) strategies used by a national sample of students enrolled in traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs. Background: Learner focused reforms in nursing education require students to assume more…

Background: Figurative language, such as metaphor and metonymy, is very common in daily language use. Its underlying cognitive processes are sometimes viewed as lying at the interface of language and thought. Williams syndrome, which is a rare genetic developmental disorder, provides an opportunity to study this interface because individuals with…

Using a sample of resident fathers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (9-month Father Study), this study examined how father involvement is associated with infant cognitive outcomes in two domains (babbling and exploring objects with a purpose). Results from a series of logistic regression models indicate that varied aspects of…

Most international adoptees (IA) have rapid catch-up of the delays common at arrival. However, it is not known whether development at arrival predicts later abilities or school readiness. Therefore, we comprehensively evaluated language, fine motor, visual reception (VR), executive function (EF), attention (ATT), and sensory skills (SS) in IA…

Forty-four 7- and 8-year-old boys were classified as having high or low concrete reasoning ability or as being in a transitional state. Findings indicated that frustrated boys exhibit regression more than nonfrustrated boys and that the extent to which they regress is dependent upon cognitive level. (GO)

First and fifth graders sorted cards into two piles based on the orientation of a T figure. Sorting took place in the presence of irrelevant information which did or did not contrast in line slope with the target, or in the absence of irrelevant information. (Author/JMB)

Two experiments investigate the changes in the accuracy of children's cognitive maps of a large-scale environment that occur as a function of specific and repeated experience. Subjects were 20 boys and girls of three grade levels: kindergarten, second and fifth grades. (MP)

In this study, third and sixth graders were tested in a recognition memory task with short lists of items from either one or two categories to investigate the influence of categorical information on retrieval processes. (Author/SB)

The relative effectiveness of semantic and structural retrieval cues was examined in men of three age groups: Group 1 (aged 20-39), Group 2 (aged 40-59), and Group 3 (aged 60-80). (Author/JMB)

A developmental progression in 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children's use of strategies for gathering information was revealed in a study involving partial recall, total recall, and similarity/difference judgments. When subjects chose stimuli for exposure from an array, older children showed more ability to match strategy to task demands. Strategy…

Early information processing strategies were examined in a study of 32 young children's search for objects. Results suggested a distinction between two aspects of the development of search: the acquisition of new search skills and the establishment of appropriate priorities among skills already in the child's repertoire. (Author/MP)

Children ages 6 to 13 and college students were asked to remember length relationships for three pairs of sticks. For six- and seven-year-olds, relationships between interlinked pairs were much more difficult to retain than were relationships between unrelated pairs. (Author/MP)