We examined whether Grade 4, 6, and 8 children access the base form when reading morphologically complex words. We asked children to read words varying systematically in the frequency of the surface and base forms and in the transparency of the base form. At all grade levels, children were faster at reading derived words with high rather than low…

The existence of general-purpose cognitive mechanisms related to intelligence, which appear to facilitate all forms of problem solving, conflicts with the strong modularity view of the mind espoused by some evolutionary psychologists. The current study assessed the contribution of general intelligence ("g") to explaining variation in…

We study a model of the research process in which the true effect size, the replication jitter due to changes in experimental procedure, and the statistical error of effect size measurement are all normally distributed random variables. Within this model, we analyze the probability of successfully replicating an initial experimental result by…

The brain's frontal eye fields (FEF), responsible for eye movement control, are known to be involved in spatial working memory (WM). In a previous fMRI experiment (Wallentin, Roepstorff & Burgess, Neuropsychologia, 2008) it was found that FEF activation was primarily related to the formation of an object-centered, rather than egocentric, spatial…

Purpose: Counting and exact arithmetic rely on language-based representations, whereas number comparison and approximate arithmetic involve approximate quantity-based representations that are available early in life, before the first stages of language acquisition. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of language abilities on the…

This study examined the effect of baseline estimation on the quality of trend estimates derived from Curriculum Based Measurement of Oral Reading (CBM-R) progress monitoring data. The authors used a linear mixed effects regression (LMER) model to simulate progress monitoring data for schedules ranging from 6-20 weeks for datasets with high and low…

This study explores the effects of the "presence of external representations of a mathematical object" (ERs) on problem solving performance associated with short double-choice problems. The problems were borrowed from secondary school algebra and geometry, and the ERs were either formulas, graphs of functions, or drawings of geometric…

Three experiments examined conceptual change from reading refutational texts and how such learning interacted with prior knowledge organization. Prior to reading, 3 groups of learners were identified on the basis of their prior knowledge of the targeted concept: 2 groups held misconceptions; 1 group was generally accurate. Experiment 1 tested…

Purpose: In this study, the authors investigated how acoustic distortion affected younger and older adults' use of context in a lexical decision task. Method: The authors measured lexical decision reaction times (RTs) when intact target words followed acoustically distorted sentence contexts. Contexts were semantically congruent, neutral, or…

The purpose of this study was to extend evaluation of rater accuracy using "Direct Behavior Rating--Single-Item Scales" (DBR-SIS). Extension of prior research was accomplished through use of criterion ratings derived from both systematic direct observation and expert DBR-SIS scores, and also through control of the durations over which…

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems often supplement oral communication for individuals with intellectual and communication disabilities. Research with preschoolers without disabilities has demonstrated that two visual--perceptual factors influence speed and/or accuracy of finding a target: the internal color and spatial…

Purpose: This study investigated predictors of hearing aid (HA) use time for children with mild-to-severe hearing loss (HL). Barriers to consistent HA use and reliability of parent report measures were also examined. Method: Participants included parents of 272 children with HL. Parents estimated the amount of time the child used HAs daily.…

Purpose: Standardized tests are one of the primary assessment tools used by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to diagnose child language impairment. Numerous child language tests are commercially available; however, it is unknown what factors lead clinicians to select particular tests to use in clinical practice. This study investigated whether…

Early identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is facilitated by the use of standardized screening scales that assess the social emotional behaviors associated with ASD. Authors examined accuracy of Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) subscales in detecting Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) risk…

This study examined how different components of working memory are involved in the acquisition of egocentric and allocentric survey knowledge by people with a good and poor sense of direction (SOD). We employed a dual-task method and asked participants to learn routes from videos with verbal, visual, and spatial interference tasks and without any…