Three studies compared bilinguals to monolinguals on 15 indicators of executive processing (EP). Most of the indicators compare a neutral or congruent baseline to a condition that should require EP. For each of the measures there was no main effect of group and a highly significant main effect of condition. The critical marker for a bilingual…

This paper introduces a new model to explain perceptions of unfairness in resource allocations between multiple recipients. The model yields several novel predictions, all confirmed in a series of new empirical tests. For instance, while much prior research focuses on the differences between the judge's share and others' shares, we argue that…

How are spatial and object attention coordinated to achieve rapid object learning and recognition during eye movement search? How do prefrontal priming and parietal spatial mechanisms interact to determine the reaction time costs of intra-object attention shifts, inter-object attention shifts, and shifts between visible objects and covertly cued…

When required to predict sequential events, such as random coin tosses or basketball free throws, people reliably use inappropriate strategies, such as inferring temporal structure when none is present. We investigate the ability of observers to predict sequential events in dynamically changing environments, where there is an opportunity to detect…

Thirty years of research has uncovered the broad principles that characterize spoken word processing across listeners. However, there have been few systematic investigations of individual differences. Such an investigation could help refine models of word recognition by indicating which processing parameters are likely to vary, and could also have…

The present longitudinal study examines the role of caregiver speech in language development, especially syntactic development, using 47 parent-child pairs of diverse SES background from 14 to 46 months. We assess the diversity (variety) of words and syntactic structures produced by caregivers and children. We use lagged correlations to examine…

Many explanations of the difficulties associated with interpreting object relative clauses appeal to the demands that object relatives make on working memory. MacDonald and Christiansen [MacDonald, M. C., & Christiansen, M. H. (2002). "Reassessing working memory: Comment on Just and Carpenter (1992) and Waters and Caplan (1996)." "Psychological…

Early theories of categorization assumed that either rules, or prototypes, or exemplars were exclusively used to mentally represent categories of objects. More recently, hybrid theories of categorization have been proposed that variously combine these different forms of category representation. Our research addressed the question of whether there…

A computer simulation model was fitted to human laboratory data for the Missionaries and Cannibals task to explain the effects upon problem performance of giving a hint and the effect of solving problems a second time after a successful solution has been achieved. (Author/DEP)

Existing frameworks for explaining spatial knowledge acquisition in a new environment propose either stage-like or continuous development. To examine the spatial microgenesis of individuals, a longitudinal study was conducted. Twenty-four college students were individually driven along two routes in a previously unfamiliar neighborhood over 10…

Although a verbal intelligence test is directly a measure of what people know, it is indirectly a way of identifying people who can code and manipulate verbal stimuli rapidly in situations in which knowledge per se is not a major factor. (Author/BJG)

This analysis of solutions to the Tower of Hanoi Problem underscores the importance of subject-by-subject analysis of "What is learned" in understanding human behavior in problem-solving situations, and provides a technique for describing subjects' task performance programs in detail. (Author/BJG)

Two studies of performance in psychometric tests of mechanical ability are described. The subjects included a total of 70 undergraduates. Results allowed identification of subjects' rules of mechanical reasoning that accounted for variations in performance according to mechanical ability. (TJH)

Tests with 2 pairs of tasks differing in cognitive complexity performed by 20 young and 20 old adults support a model for the determination of time-accuracy functions (TAFs) for individual participants. Findings replicate the established interactions between age and task complexity in the context of TAFs. (SLD)

Domain knowledge facilitates performance in many cognitive tasks. However, very little is known about the interplay between domain knowledge and factors that are believed to reflect general, and relatively stable, characteristics of the individual. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the interplay between domain knowledge and one…