Investigates possible test stimuli effects as causes for variations in results of research on children's preference for compositional balance as related to age threshold and developmental trend. Finds several test stimuli effects that could have interfered with previous studies. Concludes by noting implications for art education. (DSK)

Two experiments examined phonological priming in children and adults using a cross-modal picture-word interference task. Pictures of familiar objects were presented on a computer screen, while interfering words were presented over headphones. Results indicate that priming effects reach a peak during a time when articulatory information is being…

Examines whether mothers' verbal input at 3 years of age that specifies relations between objects, actions, and concepts (scaffolding) relates to children's development of verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills from 3 through 6 years of age. For all children scaffolding predicated verbal and nonverbal skills even after controlling for families'…

Examined degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in children's and adults' categorization of faces. Found a developmental trend from analytic to holistic processing and an effect of face inversion with increasing age. Seven-year-olds processed faces comparably to nonfacial visual stimuli, whereas a growing proportion…

Notes that children are "wired" to learn, and cites research indicating the importance of talking to an infant for his or her neuron and subsequent cognitive development. Suggests reading aloud, providing positive feedback, responding verbally to the child's actions, and increasing vocabulary. (HTH)

A study investigated the construct validity of the Visual Similes Arousal II, an instrument designed to measure arousal as it relates to affective and cognitive stimuli. Principle-axis factor analyses with oblique rotations were used for 116 younger students (ages 8-9) and 108 older students (ages 10-11). Results confirmed construct validity.…

Investigated whether syntactic computation takes place in an ambiguous sentence fragment in Japanese and if and how information from constituents other than the verb is utilized. Experiments were conducted using automated, word-by-word visual presentations with a lexical decision task on an extrasentential target. (Author/VWL)

A follow-up study examined the effects of different tactile aids on tasks of visual speech reading in 14 adults with severe hearing impairments. Compared with speech reading alone, tactile aids impaired sentence-based speech reading at first, although performance improved with training. No effects of vibrotactile aids or training were obtained for…

Participants from a fitness club were randomly assigned to control (n=50), placebo (n=50), and stimulus control (n=100) groups to study the isolated effects of stimulus control on attendance. Control stimulus group was given "exercise" key chains as the stimulus control. Stimulus control by itself was not an effective intervention for…

This article discusses findings concerning the plasticity of auditory cortical processing mechanisms in adults, including the effects of restricted cochlear damage or behavioral training with acoustic stimuli on the frequency selectivity of auditory cortical neurons and evidence for analogous injury- and use-related plasticity in the adult human…

A bird study found that with sufficient time and training after hair cell and hearing loss and hair cell regeneration, the mature avian auditory system can accommodate input from a newly regenerated periphery sufficiently to allow for recognition of previously familiar vocalizations and the learning of new complex acoustic classifications.…

Effects of training with 6 students (ages 7-9) with moderate mental retardation were assessed during five conditions. In four conditions, words were presented either alone or with corresponding pictures. In the fifth condition, pictures were used to provide feedback. Acquisition was achieved fastest during the word-alone conditions with 5…

A project developed and evaluated an intermediate form of presentation that provides a virtual dynamic tactile display for use with computers that could complement static tactile displays of graphical material. The device is a two-dimensional extension of the tactile mouse and provides contour and slope information to the user. (Contains nine…

Examined the role of the psychological process of comparison in young children's ability to extend a novel adjective to other objects sharing a salient property whether objects are of the same or different basic-level categories. Found that comparison operates in conjunction with naming to support extension of novel adjectives to properties of…

Current cognitive learning theory stresses the importance of observational learning and interactions with other people. Motion pictures have value for instruction for two reasons: film is a popular medium due to its visual format and its resulting sensory impact; and film is a form of vicarious interaction with other people. (Author/AEF)