Silence is a common phenomenon in language learning where students stay silent, and it is potentially frustrating to instructors and not conducive to the foreign language input and output necessary for ongoing classroom-based language learning. Silence has been investigated initially in the face-to-face classroom and discussed thoroughly over the…

In the present study, we investigate how spatial attention, driven by unisensory and multisensory cues, can bias the access of information into visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM). In a series of four experiments, we compared the effectiveness of spatially-nonpredictive visual, auditory, or audiovisual cues in capturing participants' spatial…

This study investigated infants' differential responding to novel and familiar stimuli after familiarization in a different sensory modality. Results showed that infants gain information about the shape of objects from their oral experience with them and that this information can be transferred to the visual modality. (Author/JMB)

A look at the two dimensions of the structure of content for instructional purposes: 1) psychological; and, 2) logical. (HB)

Analysis of 40 first-grade children's performance on two discrimination learning problems revealed that children do transfer dimensional information between the visual and tactual modalities. (Author/JMB)

A teacher reports on helpful advice she received from a colleague when she started teaching: to teach students in the cognitive mode in which they learn best (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, or tactile). (TE)

Following a review of the literature on responses of autistic persons to environmental stimulation, three experiments are detailed which examine the relationship between modality preference and rate of acquisition of a discrimination task. First, seven autistic children's preference for colored lights and/or simple tones was assessed in a sensory…

Uni- and multidimensional processing of 6- to 9-year olds was studied using recall tasks in which an array of stimuli was reconstructed to match a model array. Results indicated that both age groups were able to solve multidimensional problems, but that solution rate was retarded by the unidimensional processing of highly salient dimensions.…

An attempt to isolate possible effects of the application of visual reminders on learning by TV. The underlying assumption was that learning by means of television and other visual media can be enhanced by methodically applying visual reminders. (Author)

A study was conducted to determine the effects of applying the "Swassing/Barbe Modality Index" (SBMI), an instrument for identifying a student's strongest learning modality, to achieve higher accuracy on spelling lessons and tests. The SBMI was administered to 17 special education students in a class of seven second grade and ten third…

When presented with the option to use a new instructional technology, students often face an approach-avoidance conflict. This study explored promotion and prevention orientations, concepts linked to approach and avoidance in Higgins's regulatory focus theory, in the choice to attend lectures or watch them online. Openness, a core disposition in…

In a study of attending behavior during the crossover period (12-13 years), when preferences shift from auditory to visual stimuli, females switched their preferences significantly earlier than did males. Besides biological factors, these sex differenes were attributed to differential conditioning of attitudes, reinforcement, and discrimination…

The inconclusive results of research comparing beginning reading methodologies in the 1960s led many schools to change their approaches to beginning reading instruction. In the 1970s the focus has shifted from the belief in a single method as superior for all children to the attempt to match methodology to the needs of individual children. A…

Using 170 ninth-grade rural students, the study examined (1) whether modality preferences are a factor in student learning styles; (2) whether male and female students and students at different achievement levels expressed differing learning style preferences; and (3) how learning style characteristics relate to student self-concept and general…

A study of the effects of modality preferences and teacher competencies on reading achievement was undertaken using three different programs for initial reading instruction. The major purposes of the study were to determine differences in reading achievement when first grade children are placed in programs congruent or noncongruent with their…