In three experiments, I tested for the presence of the naming capability, the participants' drawing responses of the stimuli learned in the absence of the visual stimulus, and the participants' comprehension of texts with and without pictures present. In Experiment 1, I tested for the presence of naming and the drawing responses for the stimuli…

An important problem verb learners must solve is how to extend verbs. Children could use cross-situational information to guide their extensions; however, comparing events is difficult. In 2 studies, researchers tested whether children benefit from initially seeing a pair of similar events ("progressive alignment") while learning new…

A body of research shows that grammatical gender, although an arbitrary category, is viewed as the system with its own meaning. However, the question remains to what extent does grammatical gender influence shaping our notions about objects when both verbal and visual information are available. Two experiments were conducted. The results obtained…

To what degree does our representation of the immediate world depend solely on its relevance to what we are currently doing? We examined whether relevance per se can cause "blindness," even when there is no resource limitation. In a novel paradigm, people looked at a colored circle surrounded by a differently colored ring--the task…

The present study investigated second language (L2) learners' acquisition of automatic word recognition and the development of L2 orthographic representation in the mental lexicon. Participants in the study were Japanese university students enrolled in a compulsory course involving a weekly 30-minute sustained silent reading (SSR) activity with…

The present study tested the "interference hypothesis"-that learning and using more advanced representations and strategies requires the inhibition of prior, less advanced ones. Specifically, it examined the relation between inhibitory control and number line estimation performance. Experiment 1 compared the accuracy of adults' (N = 53)…

We evaluated the effects of 2 types of training on the emergence of bidirectional intraverbal relations with 4 typically developing children. Tact training involved reinforcing foreign-language vocalizations in the presence of visual stimuli, and listener training involved reinforcing selections of visual stimuli following vocal presentations of…

College students viewed a short multimedia PowerPoint presentation consisting of 16 narrated slides explaining lightning formation (Experiment 1) or 8 narrated slides explaining how a car's braking system works (Experiment 2). Each slide appeared for approximately 8-10 s and contained a diagram along with 1-2 sentences of narration spoken in a…

This study investigated the role that visual tracking plays in coupling rhythmic limb movements to an environmental rhythm. Two experiments were conducted in which participants swung a hand-held pendulum while tracking an oscillating stimulus or while keeping their eyes fixed on a stationary location directly above an oscillating stimulus. It…

This study explores the effect of visual stimuli on second language vocabulary development. An experiment performed at Georgetown University postulates the hypothesis that concrete target words learned through translation and visual aids should offer better learning than the same words learned through translation alone. Findings are determined…

EIGHT ITEMS THE "GUILFORD-ZIMMERMAN TEMPERAMENT SURVEY" (E.G. , "YOU MAKE DECISIONS ON THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT") WERE DRAMATIZED AND FILMED IN TWO POLARIZED SITUATIONS, ONE DEPICTING A SPECIFIC SET OF BEHAVIOR TO SUPPORT AN AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE TO THE TEST ITEM AND THE OTHER DEPICTING A NEGATIVE SPECIFIC. TWO ADDITIONAL…

This report contrasts the results of a rigidly specified, pattern-oriented approach to learning Spanish with an approach that emphasizes the origination of sentences by the learner in direct response to stimuli. Pretesting and posttesting statistics are presented and conclusions are discussed. The experimental method, which required the student to…

The paper discusses a number of issues concerning the practical usefulness of cognitive psychology research, and presents a case study of pilot training methods to illustrate a model of research processes that produces outcomes which contribute to both basic and applied research goals. Research studies are described as varying in the degree to…