Sentence production and comprehension both draw on linguistic knowledge, but current research is unclear on whether these fundamental language tasks involve similar or distinct competitive processes. Previous studies suggest that production and comprehension may involve similar conflict resolution processes, but that production may additionally…

Language comprehension involves cognitive abilities that are specific to language as well as cognitive abilities that are more general and involved in a wide range of behaviors. One set of domain-general abilities that support language comprehension are executive functions (EFs), also known as cognitive control. A diverse body of research has…

The hypothesized role of Broca's area in sentence processing ranges from domain-general executive function to domain-specific computation that is specific to certain syntactic structures. We examined this issue by manipulating syntactic structure and conflict between syntactic and semantic cues in a sentence processing task. Functional…

Background: Language has been shown to play a critical role in social cognitive reasoning in preschool and school-aged children, but little research has been conducted with adolescents. During adolescence, the ability to understand figurative language becomes increasingly important for social relationships and may affect social adjustment. This…

As increasingly younger children exhibit spiraling social behavior problems, researchers are focusing on the role of family dynamics in these problems. For this study, investigators explored the relationship between problem-solving skills and verbal comprehension in children from distressed families. Twenty-nine children, ages 4 to 8, completed…

When readers encounter the dissonance of conflicting ideas and are motivated by the psychological discomfort to resolve the dissonance, the effort to alleviate this discomfort may well result in the activation of those cognitive processes termed critical reading and thinking. With this in mind, one approach to teaching critical reading treats…

A discussion of semantic interpretation argues that contradictions such as "Sue's both right and wrong" are assigned consistent propositional interpretations such as "Sue's partly right and partly wrong" by universal semantic principles, which obviates analysis via conversational maxims and implicatures. First, it is shown from investigation of…

One of three related documents produced in response to a need for direct instruction in thinking skills at the secondary level, this program for high school students bases its approach on involvement of students in direct experiences. Designed to build on the thinking skills that the student already possesses and, ideally, on the experience gained…

One of three related documents produced in response to a need for direct instruction in thinking skills at the secondary level, this teaching guide for Book One and Book Two of "Thinking Through Language" is intended for junior or senior high school English teachers. The guide contains an introduction and summaries of Book One and Book Two,…

One of three related documents produced in response to a need for direct instruction in thinking skills, this program for middle school or junior high school students bases its approach on involvement of students in direct experiences. The book contains four units. Focusing on perception, Unit 1: "Experiencing the Arts" begins with ways sensory…

The most popular activities from APA's successful "Activities Handbooks for the Teaching of Psychology" are gathered together and updated in this book of teachers' favorites. The lesson plans, which encourage active learning and involve the whole class, have stood the test of time and proven themselves to be entertaining, effective, and easy to…