Executive Function (EF) is crucial for early childhood development, supporting cognitive abilities and selfregulation. However, many early childhood educators lack the necessary training to foster EF skills in the classroom. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a training curriculum designed to enhance early childhood educators' competencies…

Because examinees have no personal consequences for their performance in low-stakes testing, some examinees expend minimal effort. Given research in the domain of normative conduct, factors that may be contributing to expended effort include whether the examinee believes effort should be put forth (i.e., personal normative beliefs), how much…

Background/Context: Montessori preschool instruction in public schools is now widespread throughout the United States, with over 560 public Montessori schools, roughly a quarter of which start at age 3 (National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector, n.d.). Despite the widespread popularity of the model, until now there has never been a…

Cognitive effects of cellphone dependency among young adults have garnered increasing research attention. While cellphones have been identified as a distractor in daily tasks, related psychological processes remain unclear. As a potential mechanism underlying those effects of cellphones, excessive working memory (WM) load has not yet been well…

This investigation provides internal consistency reliabilities for the Wechsler Memory Scale--Fourth Edition (WMS-IV) subtest and index discrepancy scores using the standardization samples of the Adult and Older Adult batteries. Subtest reliabilities ranged from 0.00 to 0.93 for Adults and 0.25 to 0.94 for Older Adults. Three of 91 Adult…

By comparing 51 autistic adults and 49 age-matched controls (aged 30-73 years) we tested if (1) the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is more sensitive in measuring cognitive impairments than the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and (2) if we can replicate the MoCA-findings of Powell et al. (2017) with the Dutch MoCA(-NL). Results showed…

This action-research dissertation explored how Standard Age Scores on the "Cognitive Abilities Test™" ("CogAT®") (Cognitive Abilities Test) Screening Form of underserved populations, as identified through gifted literature, compared to those students who are traditionally overserved with mental gifted identification within the…

The purpose of this synthesis study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST) and its variations across multiple studies, aiming to understand limitations and propose modifications for future application within and beyond the science domain. Given the existence of multiple DAST versions, this study quantified…

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to determine if, and to extent, there is a statistically significant difference between pre and posttest critical thinking scores of U.S. Navy Operations Specialist A-school participants in an adaptive technology training environment and those in the traditional learning environment.…

Despite the recognized importance of addressing belief bias in critical thinking, little is known about the neural activity underlying belief-bias reasoning and its connection to critical thinking. The study utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the neural responses during belief-bias reasoning and explored the extent to which these…

Cognitive-achievement relations research suggests that cognitive abilities are instrumental for academic skill development. This study examined cognitive-achievement relations with the newly revised Woodcock-Johnson V (WJ V) standardization sample across the lifespan (ages 6-90+) for reading, writing, and mathematics using multi-group structural…

Novel tests of semantic memory (SM)--for example, memory for news events (NE; news facts) or famous personalities--are useful for estimating the severity of retrograde amnesia. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment exhibit relatively intact SM/language on traditional neuropsychological tests but exhibit consistent impairment on novel tests of…

This study describes the development and validation process of a computational thinking (CT) test for adults. The team designed a set of items and explored a subset of those through two qualitative pilots. Then, in order to provide validity evidence based on the test content, a team of 11 subject-matter experts coded the initial pool of items…

Research has indicated that school aged (6-16 years) versions of cognitive assessment instruments have varying levels of linguistic demand, which could impact assessment results for placement purposes. However, a significant limitation to this research is the fact that it has not been replicated with cognitive assessment instruments used in…

Critical thinking skills and dispositions are significantly important factors that aid in one's ability to understand and solve complex problems. Within the field of higher education, critical thinking skills and dispositions are valued and encouraged but are not always fully developed at the completion of the undergraduate degree experience.…