The time course of kindergarten children's memory for left-right orientation during the first 2 l/2 seconds after receptor stimulation was investigated by means of a successive matching-to-sample task with tachistoscopically presented abstract figures. (Author/DB)

The extent to which an orienting activity exerts control over the encoding process was studied. Two experiments were reported in which associative meaningfulness was varied under conditions of semantic and nonsemantic processing. Both experiments showed effects of meaningfulness following both semantic and nonsemantic tasks. (Author/MH)

This study found that color in a film helped fourth- and fifth-grade students of all ability levels learn incidental information, but affected learning of task-relevant information differently depending on ability level. (Author/JEG)

Dichotic listening and bisensory memory skills were investigated in 72 male middle-class second-grade and 72 fourth-grade readers who were classified according to the Boder system, which distinguishes among normal and three types of dyslexic readers: dysphonetic (auditory dyslexic), dyseidetic (visual dyslexic), and alexic (combined). (Author/SBH)

Preschoolers learned colors more rapidly than sizes and forms when cup stimuli were used. They learned sizes and forms more rapidly than colors when face stimuli were used. (RL)

This study sought to determine whether differences in cognitive style would be reflected in the quantity of information available in memory. In order to obviate the criticism that differences between impulsive and reflective subjects might be a function of exhaustiveness of search, stimuli were presented for a restricted period. (Author)

The application of visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) -- a testing procedure involving the use of visual stimuli following auditory responses -- was studied with 21 mentally handicapped children (ages 1-6 years). (Author/DLS)

Kindergarteners and second-graders were shown pairs of pictures, one picture at a time, and asked to name each picture as rapidly and as accurately as possible. Pictures pairs were of four types which reflected the factorial combination of associative relatedness (high and low) with categorial relatedness (high and low). (SB)

These experiments allow a comparison between visual and auditory presentation per se: Will it be easier to identify "red" as relevant given a geometric design or its verbal description? Suggests that visual presentation confers one advantage: allows the formation of a nonverbal code in addition to a verbal description. (Author/RK)

Discusses humorous incidences of translating an idiom from one language literally into another. Notes that words with a similar look or sound in English and the target language, or within the target language, cause confusion. (Author/CK)

Examines the perception of flaming (hostile verbal behavior) in electronic mail by exploring, in the context of five escalating levels of socioemotional intensity, the effects of pictographs (typographic symbols used to express emotion) and quoting. Results suggest pictographs and quoting can vary in perceived intensity and meaning, depending on…

Examined the effect of attention on infants' responses to briefly exposed visual stimuli. Found that the duration of stimulus exposure in the familiarization phase was positively correlated with the preference for the novel stimulus in the paired-comparison procedure, and processing of briefly presented visual stimuli differed depending on the…

Sought to establish a valid computer measurement technique for educational assessment applications. Similarities and differences in performance on visual discrimination tasks for young children of normal development and adolescents with severe mental retardation were analyzed using multiple testing procedures. Found differences in the two groups…

Argues that the human brain is not specialized to deal with 20th-century media. Measures effects of image size and motion on college students' emotional responses. Finds that image size positively affects the arousal and dominates dimensions of emotional responses, but has no significant effect on valance evaluations. Finds that still pictures…

A study involving 18 adult signers with deafness and 26 hearing adults found that working memory for American Sign Language is sensitive to irrelevant signed input (and other structured visual input) in a manner similar to the effects of irrelevant auditory input on working memory for speech. (Contains references.) (CR)