Dividing attention (DA) between a memory task and a secondary task results in deficits in memory performance across a wide array of memory tasks, but these effects are larger when DA occurs at encoding than at retrieval. Although some research suggests the effects of DA are equal for item and associative memory, thereby suggesting that DA disrupts…

We investigate when infants exhibit knowledge of the familiar size of well-known objects and whether this knowledge is affected by stimulus format, that is, whether the stimuli are presented as real objects or matched pictures. Infants (130 7- and 12-month-olds) saw everyday objects such as sippy cups and pacifiers in their familiar size and novel…

The present dissertation intends to investigate the syntactic nature and L2-acquisition of passive sentence structure in two Romance varieties, Italian and Spanish. First, I will present an analytic proposal couched within the Generative Approach (Chomsky, 1957, and subsequent work); from there, and following Perlmutter and Postal's (1977)…

Previous studies found an impact of language familiarity on face recognition in 9- and 12-month-olds. Own race faces are better recognized when associated with native language, whereas for other race faces, it is with non-native language. The aim of this study is to investigate if language familiarity can also influence abstract pattern…

Purpose: Individuals with cerebellar ataxia (CA) caused by cerebellar degeneration exhibit larger reactive compensatory responses to unexpected auditory feedback perturbations than neurobiologically typical speakers, suggesting they may rely more on feedback control during speech. We test this hypothesis by examining variability in unaltered…

Presenting a pictorial representation followed by a textual representation supports learners to build a coherent mental model. Providing an elaboration prompt stimulates learners to process the learning content semantically. Hence, combining both approaches might result in synergetic effects as both foster mental model development, which could be…

Iterated language learning experiments that explore the emergence of linguistic structure in the laboratory vary considerably in methodological implementation, limiting the generalizability of findings. Most studies also restrict themselves to exploring the emergence of combinatorial and compositional structure in isolation. Here, we use a novel…

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show deficits in the processing of visual stimuli. This systematic review summarized the differences in visual event-related potential (ERP) components among ASD and typically developing individuals. Major databases were searched for finding eligible studies that investigated differences in visual ERP…

Human attention can be guided by semantic information conveyed by individual objects in the environment. Over time, we learn to allocate attention resources towards stimuli that are behaviourally relevant to ongoing action, leading to attention capture by meaningful peripheral stimuli. A common example includes, while driving, stimuli that imply a…

Young adults' personal mobile device use is at an all-time high. Social interaction and physical activity (PA) are generally positively associated in this population; however, the nature of this relationship is unclear when personal mobile devices (cell phones) are present. The objective of this study was to examine the social and PA behavior…

This study explored how pre-K children process an e-book with narration through eye movements, and also the effects of visual cues on preschoolers' visual attention to text, word recognition, and comprehension. Data were collected from eight children attending a university-associated daycare center. Eye tracker was used to record the participants'…

The study aimed to improve sequential time perception among deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children with and without cochlear implants (CIs) by administering an intervention programme using virtual-reality (VR) technology. The study included 55 children 7-10 years old who were divided into 3 groups: DHH children with CIs, DHH children without CIs,…

Previous research has linked working memory capacity (WMC) with enhanced proactive control. However, it remains unclear the extent to which this relationship reflects the influence of WMC on the tendency to engage proactive control, or rather, the ability to implement it. The current study sought to clarify this ambiguity by leveraging the Dual…

This study demonstrates the use of two web-based programs, one to identify video preferences and the other to assess their reinforcing effects. We used the Multiple-Stimulus-Without-Replacement Preference Assessment Tool (MSWO PAT) to identify the video preference hierarchies of seven participants, ages 4-11 years old. We then used a customized…

Purpose: Sensory gating is a phenomenon where the cortical response to the second stimulus in a pair of identical stimuli is inhibited. It is most often assessed in a conditioning-testing paradigm. Both active and passive neuronal mechanisms have been implicated in sensory gating. The present study aimed to assess if sensory gating is caused by an…