Two studies are reported comparing the performance of monolingual and bilingual children on tasks requiring different levels of working memory. In the first study, 56 5-year-olds performed a Simon-type task that manipulated working memory demands by comparing conditions based on two rules and four rules and manipulated conflict resolution demands…

The SERIOL model of orthographic analysis proposed mechanisms for converting visual input into a serial encoding of letter order, which involved hemisphere-specific processing at the retinotopic level. As a test of SERIOL predictions, we conducted a consonant trigram-identification experiment, where the trigrams were briefly presented at various…

Figure-ground perception is typically described as seeing one surface occluding another. Figure properties, not ground properties, are considered the significant factors. In scenes, however, a near surface will often occlude multiple contours and surfaces, often at different depths, producing alignments that are improbable except under conditions…

Words are processed as units. This is not as evident as it seems, given the division of the human cerebral cortex in two hemispheres and the partial decussation of the optic tract. In two experiments, we investigated what underlies the unity of foveally presented words: A bilateral projection of visual input in foveal vision, or interhemispheric…

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that developing visual attentional mechanisms influence infants' Visual Short-Term Memory (VSTM) in the context of multiple items. Five- and 10-month-old infants (N = 76) received a change detection task in which arrays of three differently colored squares appeared and disappeared. On each trial one square…

Previous research has found that children engage in Level 2 visual perspective-taking, that is, the understanding that others may see things in a different way, between 4 and 5 years of age (e.g., J. H. Flavell, B. A. Everett, K. Croft, & E. R. Flavell, 1981). This ability was reexamined in 36-month-olds using color filters. In Experiment 1 (N =…

In the lateralized change detection task, two item arrays are presented, one on each side of the display. Participants have to remember the items in the relevant hemifield and ignore the items in the irrelevant hemifield. A difference wave between contralateral and ipsilateral slow potentials with respect to the relevant items, the contralateral…

Bhatt and Quinn (2011) provide a compelling and comprehensive review of empirical evidence that supports the operation of principles of perceptual organization in young infants. They also have provided a comprehensive list of experiences that could serve to trigger the learning of at least some of these principles of perceptual organization, and…

Special education professionals and teachers of students with autism face many behavioral and instructional challenges. In addition to teaching content to a demanding population, teachers are often faced with particular circumscribed and special interests that often take up time and divert attention from the students. It is an educators job to…

A severely impaired capacity for social interaction is one of the characteristics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Deficits in facial emotional recognition processing may be associated with this limitation. The Build-a-Face (BAF) art therapy intervention was developed to assist with emotional recognition through the viewing and…

The goals of the present action research study were to understand intelligence analysts' perceptions of weapon systems visual recognition ("vis-recce") training and to determine the impact of a Critical Thinking Training (CTT) Seminar and Formative Assessments on unit-level intelligence analysts' "vis-recce" performance at a…

South Africa consists of developed and developing contexts. This article reports on a study undertaken to determine the effect of a Perceptual--motor Intervention Programme in learning readiness of Grade R learners from deprived environments. Le Roux's Group Test for School Readiness was used as baseline assessments to establish the school…

The aim of this research was to establish whether gender and age have an impact on spatial reasoning and its development through the use of 3D modeling. The study was conducted on a sample of 196 children from sixth to ninth grade, of whom 95 represented the experimental group and 101 the control group. The experimental group received 3D modeling…

Research on the topic of distractor inhibition has used different empirical approaches to study how the human mind selects relevant information from the environment, and the results are controversially discussed. One key question that typically arises is how selection deals with the irrelevant information. We used a new selection task, in which…

Two Bayesian observer models were recently proposed to account for data from the Eriksen flanker task, in which flanking items interfere with processing of a central target. One model assumes that interference stems from a perceptual bias to process nearby items as if they are compatible, and the other assumes that the interference is due to…