This study involving 144 gifted high school students found self-efficacy was positively related to math achievement, was moderately and positively related to self-regulation, and was negatively related to worry. Also determined that learning-goal orientation is positively related to self-regulation and worry but is not related to self-efficacy or…

Two experiments used the preferential looking task to assess early word comprehension in 12- to 24-month olds. Results indicated that when target stimuli were named, 12-month olds displayed an increase in target looking for typical--but not atypical--targets, whereas 18- and 24-month olds displayed increases for both. (Author/KB)

Employed a trial-by-trial analysis of spelling-strategy use to examine whether the overlapping-waves model could account for strategy choices in spelling for children tested in first and second grade. Found that the model was useful for understanding the development of spelling, despite the fact that explicit use of backup strategies had a minimal…

Five experiments compared metamemory abilities in 6- to 9-year olds with autism, mentally retarded children, and normal controls. Found that children with autism were not impaired on any of the metamemory tasks, although they were less likely than controls to make spontaneous use of memory strategies involving other people. Unexpectedly few…

Measured nonword reading, exception word reading, and performance with Ternus apparent movement displays (the perception of which is believed to depend upon the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways) in dyslexic children and children without reading difficulties. Found that Ternus task performance was related to nonword reading ability but not…

A study assessed the effects of reverberation, noise, and their combination on 80 listeners' (ages 6-30) identification of consonants and vowels in naturally produced nonsense syllables presented at different sensation levels (SL). Listeners achieved maximum consonant identification performance at 50 decibels SL. Vowel identification scores were…

Two experiments investigated factors affecting joint visual attention in 12- and 18-month-olds. Findings indicated that parental pointing at objects elicited more episodes of joint visual attention than looking alone. Although infants most reliably followed gestures to targets in front of them, even 12-month-olds followed gestures to targets…

A study investigated the effects of the placement of five economically disadvantaged minority students, who were identified in kindergarten as potentially academically gifted through nontraditional means, in a gifted school. Six-year follow-up data suggest that the student's academic careers have for the most part progressed well. Performance…

A study investigated ability-related differences in planning skills, as well as the performance impact of working with peers. Fifty preschool-aged children did not differ in planning skills on the basis of cognitive ability. High-ability preschoolers performed equally well when working alone or with a peer of same or less ability. (Contains…

Five experiments examined matching to sample procedures among preschoolers. Results indicated that children selected taxonomic comparisons more often than thematic comparisons, independent of age, gender, instructions, order of trial type, specificity of feedback, presence of unrelated third comparisons, and level of taxonomy. Instructions to…

Effects of massage on preschoolers' cognitive performance were assessed. Preschoolers were given Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised subtests before and after receiving 15-minute massage or spending 15 minutes reading stories with the experimenter. Children's performance on Block Design improved following massage, and…

This article discusses factors that contribute to the difficulties that many postsecondary students with learning disabilities have in meeting the mathematics demands, including: characteristics of learning disabilities in math, inadequate preparation for postsecondary math demands, difficulties with assessment and identification, and…

Examined three possible explanations for findings that infants detect textural discrepancies based on individual features more readily than on feature conjunctions. Found that none of the proposed factors could explain 5.5-month-olds' superior processing of featural over conjunction-based textural discrepancies. Findings suggest that in infancy,…

Four experiments examined very young infants' expectations about containment events. Found that 2- to 3.5-month-olds recognized that objects could be lowered inside a container with an open but not a closed top. Three-and-a-half-month-olds realized that objects could not pass through the container's back wall and should have moved with it to a new…

Examined implicit learning in 432 four- to 10-year-olds in 3 experiments, using a new paradigm based on drawing behavior. Found that children modified drawing behavior following specially devised practice in such a way that the changes could not be viewed as resulting from deliberate adaptive strategies, with modifications lasting for at least 1…