Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are secular trainings shown to enhance cognitive function, but their effectiveness among tertiary students has not been critically evaluated. This review synthesized evidence from randomized controlled trials on the impact of MBIs on cognitive improvement in tertiary students. Databases including Medline and…

While preserving the elements that have made the previous two editions so successful--such as chapters on sleep, exercise, memory and mindset--this third edition introduces students to wholly new aspects of brain function and how they impact learning; and furthermore, addresses the challenges of learning online. By introducing new concepts,…

Delayed feedback during categorization training has been hypothesized to differentially affect 2 systems that underlie learning for rule-based (RB) or information-integration (II) structures. We tested an alternative possibility: that II learning requires more precise item representations than RB learning, and so is harmed more by a delay interval…

Outdoor adventure education programs often feature common elements, such as backcountry settings, small group sizes, and different levels of challenges. A mandatory outdoor experience program (MOEP), offered at a Canadian university for nearly 50 years, involved a three- to four-day wilderness canoe excursion. Research related to outdoor…

In two experiments, we examined the benefits of cumulative and noncumulative finals on students' short- and long-term course material retention. In Experiment 1, we examined results from course content exams administered immediately after course finals. Course sections including cumulative finals had higher content exam scores than sections…

Past research has shown that working memory capacity, attention and students' approaches to learning are all important predictors for educational achievement. In this study the interrelations between these three variables are investigated. Participants were 128 university students. Results show a negative relationship between attention and deep…

Learners typically allocate more resources to learning items that are higher in value than they do to items lower in value. For instance, when items vary in point value for learning, participants allocate more study time to the higher point items than they do to the lower point items. The current experiments extend this research to a context where…

This study examined how different components of working memory are involved in the acquisition of egocentric and allocentric survey knowledge by people with a good and poor sense of direction (SOD). We employed a dual-task method and asked participants to learn routes from videos with verbal, visual, and spatial interference tasks and without any…

The dynamics of human memory are complex and often unintuitive, but certain features--such as the fact that studying results in learning--seem like common knowledge. In 12 experiments, however, participants who were told they would be allowed to study a list of word pairs between 1 and 4 times and then take a cued-recall test predicted little or…

Acquired equivalence is a paradigm in which generalization is increased between two superficially dissimilar stimuli (or antecedents) that have previously been associated with similar outcomes (or consequents). Several possible mechanisms have been proposed, including changes in stimulus representations, either in the form of added associations or…

Improvements in motor sequence performance have been observed after a delay involving sleep. This finding has been taken as evidence for an active sleep consolidation process that enhances subsequent performance. In a review of this literature, however, the authors observed 4 aspects of data analyses and experimental design that could lead to…

Two-syllable words were presented singly for study followed by a two-alternative, forced-choice test to 120 college students divided into four groups of 30 each. Half of the new words on the test ("I" words) were constructed by combining two syllables taken from two different study words, and half were neutral words ("C" words). If, as a…

In three experiments, 172 college students repeatedly read and recalled stories presented in good and poor form to determine whether the memory-enhancing effect of good text organization is transitory or long-lasting and whether it pertains to forgetting as well as learning. Advantages of good form are discussed. (SLD)

An increase in the amount of material to be learned increases the difficulty of the learning task. The function describing this length difficulty relation was obtained by measuring the amount of time 20 college students spent studying arrays of four, six, eight, and ten consonants before they were ready to be tested on them. Identification and…

The assessment of internal control is a consideration in all financial statement audits, as stressed by the Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 78. According to this statement, "the auditor should obtain an understanding of internal control sufficient to plan the audit" (Accounting Standards Board, 1995, p. 1). Therefore, an…