We investigated the neural basis of repetition priming (RP) during mathematical cognition. Previous studies of RP have focused on repetition suppression as the basis of behavioral facilitation, primarily using word and object identification and classification tasks. More recently, researchers have suggested associative stimulus-response learning…

The Tower of London (TOL) task has been widely used in both clinical and research realms. In the current study, 104 healthy participants attempted all possible moderate- to high-difficulty TOL problems in order to determine: (1) optimal measures of problem solving performance, (2) problem characteristics, other than the minimum moves necessary to…

In schools, learning spatial geometry is usually dependent upon a student's ability to visualize three dimensional geometric configurations from two dimensional drawings. Such a process, however, often creates visual obstacles which are unique to spatial geometry. Useful software programs which realistically depict three dimensional geometric…

Though the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires secondary students with Asperger's syndrome (AS) to take high-stakes mathematical tests, many students with AS exhibit weaknesses in mathematical and executive functioning skills. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to explore the use of differentiated mathematical strategies with…

Contradictory evidence has been reported on the effects of discovery learning approach and the role of instructional explanations. By manipulating the presence of instruction (verbal explanation) and transparency of problem structures, we investigated how effects of instructional explanations differed depending on the transparency of problem…

This study examined parent-child emotion discourse, children's independent social information processing, and social skills outcomes in 146 families of 8-year-olds with and without developmental delays. Children's emergent social-cognitive understanding (internal state understanding, perspective taking, and causal reasoning and problem solving)…

Addressing affect dysregulation may provide a complementary alternative or adjunctive approach to the empirically supported trauma memory processing models of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A CBT designed to enhance affect regulation without trauma memory processing--trauma affect regulation: guide for…

A cognitive model of how teachers plan instruction was validated in laboratory settings but remained to be tested empirically in authentic situations. The objective of this work is to describe and compare pedagogical reasoning in laboratory and authentic contexts and across expertise levels. The "state-driven hypothesis" and the…

In this paper, I report on preservice teachers' reflections and perceptions on their problem-solving process in a technological context. The purpose of the study was to investigate how preservice teachers experience working individually in a dynamic geometry environment and how these experiences affect their own mathematical activity when…

Early Childhood Education (EDE) describes the education of young children from birth through age 8. EDE reports have concluded that traditional approaches to curriculum, such as those emphasizing drill and practice of isolated, academic skills, are not in line with current knowledge of human learning and neuropsychology. These approaches fail to…

Two independent lines of research--mental simulations and thought experiments--provide strong arguments about the importance of perceptual modalities for the instructional practices in science education. By situating the use of mental simulations in the framework of thought experiments, this study investigated the nature and the role of mental…

This study investigates effects of multimedia on cognitive load, self-efficacy and learners' ability to solve multiple rule-based problems. Two hundred twenty-two college students were randomly assigned to interactive and non-interactive multimedia groups. Based on Engelkamp's multimodal theory, the present study investigates the role of…

Successful learning sometimes requires that the learner abandons or rejects one or more prior concepts, beliefs, or intuitive theories. Such "nonmonotonic changes" are widely believed to have a low probability of occurring spontaneously and to be difficult to promote with instruction. A theory of nonmonotonic cognitive change should explain both…

The purpose of this study was to explore and develop a conceptual model for how individuals unlock insight. The concept of insight--the "out of the box" or "aha!" solution to a problem--offers a framework for exploring and understanding how best to enhance problem solving skills due to the cognitive shift insight requires. Creative problem solving…

A major goal of education is to help learners store information in long-term memory and use that information on later occasions to effectively solve problems (Vockell 2010). Therefore, this author began to use the Rubik's cube to help students learn to problem solve. There is something special about this colorful three-dimensional puzzle that…