Background: Diadochokinetic rates tasks are frequently used for the assessment of diadochokinesia (DKK) in young and elderly adults. However, there is scarce research on healthy elderly adults over 65 years old, and little is known about the effect of different types of stimuli (non-words/real words) in this specific population. Furthermore, the…

The present studies examined the role of linguistic experience in directing English and Mandarin learners' attention to aspects of a visual scene. Specifically, they asked whether young language learners in these 2 cultures attend to differential aspects of a word-learning situation. Two groups of English and Mandarin learners, 6-8-month-olds (n =…

Recent meta-analyses of the effectiveness of token economies (TEs) report insufficient quality in the research or mixed effects in the results. This study examines the contemporary (post-Public Law 94-142) peer-reviewed published single-case research evaluating the effectiveness of TEs. The results are stratified across quality of demonstrated…

Purpose of the Study: Problematic vocalizations (PVs) are the most frequent and persistent disruptive behaviors exhibited by nursing home residents with dementia. Understanding factors associated with these behaviors are important to prevent or reduce them. We used the Need-Driven Dementia-Compromised Behavior model to identify the characteristics…

Reports experiments on the symbolic distance effect and related phenomena with six- and nine-year-old children. The effect was obtained for lexical and pictorial input; pictures produced faster responses than words; congruity effects occurred in the pictorial condition. Asymmetry in subjects' capacity to verify statements of relation was found,…

Demonstrates young children's shift toward a taxonomic basis for organization of both named and depicted objects. Concludes that perceptual organization in young children cannot be attributed to an inability to ignore visual information but seems to be based upon the centrality of perceptual features to the representation of objects. (Author/NH)

Two experiments replicate and extend Luria's (1959, 1961) findings on the development of verbal self-regulation during early childhood. Results support Luria's hypothesis that overt verbalizations facilitate control of motor behavior in young children and that language can play an active and integrative role in the development of behavioral and…

In order to examine the effects of interrogative strategies in promoting children's associative learning, children five and six years of age, as well as sixth-grade children, were first presented with a variety of picture-paired associates and then tested for the ability to memorize them. (MP)

Three studies investigated both serial learning (SL) and retention processes among first through sixth graders. Pictorial serial list items improved SL performance only for second, third, and fourth graders, while fifth graders performed better with verbal materials and sixth-grade performance was comparable in both presentation modes. (Author/CS)

Examines story retention after one-week interval as a function of topic familiarity and test-item relatedness. Second- and fifth-grade children participated. (MP)

Older individuals have been reported to use imagery mediation less in remembering verbal material. To determine whether this is due to decrease in the speed with which verbal stimuli are recoded into pictorial representations, the reaction time of 12 old (63-78) and 12 young (17-25) subjects for matching verbal descriptions to geometric shapes was…

The performance of 53 younger adults (mean age 20.7) and 52 older adults (mean age 68.3) was compared in a memory task involving pictures, words, and pictures-plus-words. Results showed (1) significantly higher recall scores for younger adults; (2) equivalent picture superiority effect for both groups; and (3) decline in older adults' performance…

Discusses two experiments in which middle-aged, elderly, professional, and non-professional males and females were given the Conceptual Styles Test. An analysis of variance on the percentage of complementary responses revealed significant effects for age, occupation, and th interaction between age and sex. (ED)