This study examined how rumors originating in 3- to 6-year-olds' causal inferences can affect their own and their peers' memories for a personally experienced event. This was accomplished by exposing some members of classrooms to contextual clues that were designed to induce inferences about the causes of two unresolved components of the event.…

Using a sequential touching procedure, we examined whether 18-month-olds could use different categorization strategies adaptively as a function of context. Infants were presented with test toys of land animals (quadrupeds), cars, and hybrids made by recombining car parts with animal parts. Infants who experienced a context emphasizing a taxonomic…

It is generally assumed that emotion facilitates human vision in order to promote adaptive responses to a potential threat in the environment. Surprisingly, we recently found that emotion in some cases impairs the perception of elementary visual features (Bocanegra & Zeelenberg, 2009b). Here, we demonstrate that emotion improves fast temporal…

This study examined effects of goal setting, frequency of progress monitoring, and method of evaluating progress on the number of instructional change prompts generated by reading-curriculum-based measurements (CBM). Participants were 31 high-incidence special education students in grades 2-6 selected from 8 schools. Following baseline…

Reading disability is the most common disability. At least one in five children has significant challenges learning to read. This study focused on the oral reading performance of 30 Year-Three students. The students were identified as less proficient readers from two randomly selected primary schools in Brunei Darussalam. The oral reading…

Ego integrity, the last developmental task in Erikson's psychological theory, develops naturally among older people. However, the presence of loss-like physical disability-can considerably affect the quality of life, interactions, and well being of older adults. Hence, older people with physical disabilities need more assistance in accomplishing…

Shakespeare, who worked actively with words through punning, playing, and inventing, serves as the model for students to experience a deepening knowledge of vocabulary and love of words. Through instructional activities aimed at increasing word play, word exposure, and word consciousness, students gain the verbal capacity needed to understand…

This study examines the home literacy environment in a group of mothers and their early-school-age children with cochlear implants (N = 16). The goals of this investigation are to (a) describe the characteristics of the home literacy environment and (b) study the relationships between home literacy factors and children's reading skills. Mothers…

An enhanced replication of an original quasi-experiment (Tom Bellomo, 2009b) was conducted to quantify the extent of long term retention of word parts and vocabulary. Such were introduced as part of a vocabulary acquisition strategy in a developmental reading course at one southeast four-year college. Aside from incorporating changes to the test…

It has been argued that languaging plays a crucial role in learning a second language (L2). The effects of languaging, especially oral languaging (e.g., collaborative dialogue, private speech), have been tested on the learning of L2 knowledge domains. This study explored the effects of written languaging by asking 24 Japanese learners of English…

Animated pedagogical agents with characteristics such as facial expressions, gestures, and human emotions, under an interactive user interface are attractive to students and have high potential to promote students' learning. This study proposes a convenient method to add an embodied empathic avatar into a computer-aided learning program; learners…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a metaphorical interface on germane cognitive load in Web-based instruction. Based on cognitive load theory, germane cognitive load is a cognitive investment for schema construction and automation. A new instrument developed in a previous study was used to measure students' mental activities…

Many studies have explored the contribution of different factors from diverse theoretical perspectives to the explanation of academic performance. These factors have been identified as having important implications not only for the study of learning processes, but also as tools for improving curriculum designs, tutorial systems, and students'…

Three-dimensional (3-D) multi-user virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) have been used to provide language learners with realistic scenarios in which verbal and non-verbal interactions are simulated. However, little is known of the underlying factors that shape interaction in avatar-based virtual worlds. This study examined the perceptions of 38…

Given the increasing problem of fraud, crime, and national security threats, assessing credibility is a recurring research topic in Information Systems and in other disciplines. Decision support systems can help. But the success of the system depends on reliable cues that can distinguish deceptive/truthful behavior and on a proven classification…