This study examined how working memory plays different roles in open-ended versus closed-ended creative problem-solving processes, as represented by divergent thinking tests and insight problem-solving tasks. With respect to the analysis of different task demands and the framework of dual-process theories, the hypothesis was that the idea…

Four- to 10-year-olds and adults (N = 265) responded to eight scenarios presented on an eye tracker. Each trial involved a character who encounters a perpetrator who had previously enacted positive (P), negative (N), or both types of actions toward him or her in varying sequences (NN, PP, PN, and NP). Participants predicted the character's…

This experiment used the masked priming lexical decision task to address previous contradictory evidence about the relative strength of priming for (i) transparent pairs (e.g., "worker" "WORK") which are morphologically and semantically related; (ii) opaque pairs (e.g., "corner" "CORN") which appear to be morphological relatives but are not…

As part of a teacher professional learning project in mathematics education, university mathematics educators taught demonstration lessons in project primary schools. These lessons were part of a "pre-brief, teaching, and debrief" process, in which up to eight teachers observed each lesson. Using brief questionnaires completed in advance of the…

Whereas the epistemological beliefs of learners of general subjects has been the focus of many studies in the past, so far, little is known about the beliefs of apprentices on knowledge and the acquiring of knowledge. The present study analysed the first level of epistemological beliefs of students in industrial and technical professions and their…

The influence of top-down cognitive control on 2 putatively distinct forms of distraction was investigated. Attentional capture by a task-irrelevant auditory deviation (e.g., a female-spoken token following a sequence of male-spoken tokens)--as indexed by its disruption of a visually presented recall task--was abolished when focal-task engagement…

From very early in life, humans can approximate the number and surface area of objects in a scene. The ability to discriminate between 2 approximate quantities, whether number or area, critically depends on the ratio between the quantities, with the most difficult ratio that a participant can reliably discriminate known as the Weber fraction.…

The purpose of this commentary is to focus on the clinical utility of the four- and five-factor structural models for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). It provides a discussion of important considerations when evaluating the clinical utility of the…

This Higher Education Academy (HEA) report investigates patterns of transition to postgraduate degrees in first degree graduates who successfully completed their studies in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic years, using data about their studies, their background characteristics and their activity after graduation provided by the Higher Education…

People display varying levels of interaction with the mechanical objects in their environment; engineers in particular as makers and users of these objects display a higher level of interaction with them. Investigating the educational potential of mechanical objects in stimulating and supporting learning in engineering is warranted by the fact…

Sender demeanor is an individual difference in the believability of message senders that is conceptually independent of actual honesty. Recent research suggests that sender demeanor may be the most influential source of variation in deception detection judgments. Sender demeanor was varied in five experiments (N = 30, 113, 182, 30, and 35) to…

It has been suggested that intraindividual variability (IIV) in neuropsychological tasks may be a specific characteristic of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but previous research has not thoroughly examined whether IIV also concerns academic performance or other types of developmental disabilities. The present study investigates…

As educators and mentors, we often focus on helping undergraduate students make career decisions. However, there is also value in helping alleviate career anxiety and indecision, both of which impede decision-making and are not automatically resolved once a decision is made. This research examined the role of individual differences (age, gender,…

This is a study of two Australian learners of Indonesian during a short stay abroad. It examines their contrasting success in acquiring L2 address terms, in tandem with their contrasting experiences of the L2 culture setting. It thereby helps explain the persistent finding of great individual variation in L2 gains--and in particular pragmatic…

This article explores the experiences of four early career academics as they begin to undertake doctoral supervision. Each supervisor focused on one of their supervisees and drew and described a Journey Plot depicting the high and low points of their supervisory experience with their student. Two questions were addressed by the research: (1) How…