Intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive speed, or moment-to-moment changes in ability, is a developmental phenomenon indicative of neurological integrity that increases gradually across adulthood. Past research has shown that IIV negatively covaries with cognitive performance, in which higher IIV at one occasion is associated with poorer…

Purpose: Of the three currently recognized variants of primary progressive aphasia, behavioral differentiation between the nonfluent/agrammatic (nfvPPA) and logopenic (lvPPA) variants is particularly difficult. The challenge includes uncertainty regarding diagnosis of apraxia of speech, which is subsumed within criteria for variant classification.…

Although specific cognitive abilities, cognitive style, and learning preferences are assumed to be inter-related, the empirical evidence supporting this assumption is mixed. Cognitive style refers to how individuals represent information, and learning preference refers to how individuals prefer the presentation of information (Mayer & Massa,…

Word reading and math computation scores were predicted from Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence Full Scale IQ, 10 neuropsychological tests, and parent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ratings in 214 general population elementary school children. IQ was the best single predictor of achievement. In addition, Digit Span…

To test the hypothesis that meaning of a sentence is represented in an abstract format rather than one mediated by words or images, 96 spoken sentences were immediately followed by a word or drawing probe. It was concluded that sentence or probe meaning is represented in an abstract conceptual format. (CHK)

Explored validity of new clinical test of verbal memory incorporating constructs from normal and pathological memory research, to quantify the ways examinees learn verbal material. Factor analyses of normal subjects and neurological patients indicated that verbal memory consisted of a number of component factors, reflecting learning strategy,…

Currently, the reliance on intelligence tests as the primary criterion for the placement of children in school programs has been challenged. Much of the controversy focuses on the insensitivity of these instruments to individual cognitive styles for different subgroups of children. While the issue of whether intelligence tests measure skill…

Three experiments compared cognitive processes in Caucasian nursery school children from different socioeconomic backgrounds who were equated for performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The first demonstrated that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds experience more difficulty in solving a series of extradimensional and…

A set of eight widely used inductive reasoning tests were investigated to determine whether or not they have different factorial structures. The eight inductive tests and three deductive tests, taken from the French Kit of Reference Tests for Cognitive Factors and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, were administered to 157 high school…

This research contrasts the learning effects of an affective dimension of meaningfulness with the word-quality of consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams. Subject rated trigrams for both "association value"--having word-quality versus lacking word-quality--and "reinforcement value"--liking versus disliking the trigram regardless of word quality. Paired…

A major challenge to developing therapeutic interventions for cognitive loss and dementia in aging individuals with Down syndrome (DS) is the selection of appropriate outcome measures. This report describes the adaptation of the Brief Praxis Test (a nonverbal cognitive test) as a primary outcome measure, as well as the selection of secondary…

After intensively studying for several years the thinking processes of members of a tribal group in Western Africa, the Kpelle, the authors examine the relation between culture and cognitive development. The following issues are discussed: (1) an analysis of the terms "culture" and "cognition"; (2) an ethnographic description of the Kpelle…

The usefulness of the Preschool Preposition Test (PPT) as a cognitive screening and diagnostic tool for handicapped children is demonstrated through results of eight independent studies. The subjects were 354 children and youths, aged two to 20 years, with various handicaps: mentally retarded, autistic-like, moderately emotionally disturbed,…