Performance of congenitally blind children and blindfolded children was compared on tasks requiring spatial reasoning and shape recognition. Blind subjects performed at least as well as blindfolded subjects on simple two-dimensional tactual processing tasks, but less well on more complex tasks requiring them to store, compare, and label objects.…

Forty-five individuals with learning difficulties were interviewed, using an innovative "visual game" tech=Oique, as they went through the process of relocating from institutions to deinstitutionalized settings in the United Kingdom. Findings showed that subjects could make sensible, consistent, and illuminating comments on their…

This article discusses issues and difficulties encountered in efforts at the University of Birmingham (England) to standardize a new psychometric assessment tool, a tactile speed-of-information-processing test for children with blindness. The problem of defining the population on which the test is standardized is seen as particularly difficult.…

Categorization responses of 6 and 11 year olds and adults to test stimuli were examined against predictions derived from 2 models that stressed prototypical features or information about exemplars. For six year olds, only the prototype model fit the data. For the two older groups, both models explained variance in performance. (PAM)

This paper reviews recent research and reports on an ongoing longitudinal study concerning effects of cochlear implants, tactile aids, and hearing aids on the development of speech production skills in 18 children and youth with profound hearing impairments. The most improved speech was seen in the subjects with cochlear implants. (DB)

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised assesses standard American English receptive vocabulary in individuals, both handicapped and nonhandicapped, ages 2 to 40. This paper describes the test's administration, summation of data, standardization, reliability, and validity. (JDD)

Compares activities related to maternal organization of infant attention toward mother and the environment in Japanese and American mother-child dyads. Results reveal that the two cultures have both similar activity and interaction patterns and culture-specific patterns. (Author/BB)

This paper describes a voice therapy program for adolescent vocal abusers that utilizes a varying signal-to-noise ratio to deal with varying environmental noises. The 10-session program teaches vocal abusers to maintain an appropriate fundamental frequency and vocal intensity in their speaking voice. (Author/JDD)

Lists strategies for promoting functional vision use in children with visual and motor impairments, including providing postural stability, presenting visual attention tasks when energy level is the highest, using a slanted work surface, placing target items in varied locations within reach, and determining the most effective visual adaptations.…

Compares the ability of English speakers and Portuguese speakers to learn two complex rhythm patterns observed in languages with primary word stress. Subjects were familiarized with one of two rhythms during a discrimination task, followed by a recognition task that tested whether knowledge of the rhythm generalized to novel stimuli.(Author/VWL)

Argues that bimodal video is an effective way of enhancing second-language (L2) learners' understanding of authentic texts and their learning of content and vocabulary in the L2. Bimodal video is subtitled in the L2 and provides simultaneous exposure to spoken language, printed text, and visual information, all conveying the same message.…

This article describes a motion video CD-ROM program designed to assist youth with severe disabilities in the selection of job preferences. Traditional vocational interest inventories for individuals with disabilities and video and CD-ROM career exploration programs for typical youth are presented, then the specialized CD-ROM program is described.…

A survey involving 14 students with learning disabilities in Northern Ireland primary schools found that WordImage, an approach that uses word-cards with sentences on one side and color picture-cards on the reverse, was effective in teaching word recognition. Some children were found to be more receptive to pictorial cueing than others. (Contains…

Trained preschoolers and adults on three sets of successive discriminations with stimuli labeled A, B, and R. Tested for derived stimulus-response relations and stimulus-stimulus relations. Adults displayed class-consistent B-R and A-B performances over all conditions. Children's display of class-consistent B-R performance varied by training…

Explores the concept of "theater of the mind" and discusses design factors in creating audio works that effectively stimulate mental pictures, including: narrative format in audio scripting; qualities of voice; use of concrete language; music; noise versus silence; and the creation of the illusion of space using monaural, stereophonic,…