Traditional conceptions of giftedness assume that only talented individuals possess the necessary gifts required to reach the highest levels of performance. This article describes an alternative view that expert performance results from acquired cognitive and physiological adaptations due to extended deliberate practice. A review of evidence, such…

This study examined the effect of exemplar typicality on reaction time and accuracy of categorization. High-functioning children (age 9-12), adolescents (age 13-16), and adults with autism (age 17-48) and matched controls were tested in a category verification procedure. All groups showed improved processing throughout the lifespan for typical and…

Purpose: This study explored the use of assessment tasks to examine underlying phonological representations in preschool children with speech impairment. The study also investigated the association between performance on phonological representation tasks and phonological awareness development. Method: The performance of 9 children (aged 3;09…

This article aims to explore religious diversity and its implications for schools in England, with particular reference to the state funding of Muslim schools and multiculturalism. Recent demonstrations in France and England against the proposed ban on the wearing of religious symbols such as the Muslim headscarf (hijab) have brought to the fore…

It is found that individuals with visual impairments have levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and amotivation that influence their use of free time and lead to adaptive or maladaptive outcomes. As such, inactive individuals with visual impairments, lacking motivation to engage in physical activity, become dependent members of society who…

Three experimental studies were carried out in order to find within-subject consistencies as well as individual differences in a concurrent choice situation involving risk-taking. Four subjects were exposed twice, with a 4-month delay, to a horse-race game and a stock-exchange game, in order to evaluate their choices for a conservative versus a…

In experimental time estimation research, it has consistently been found that the more a person is engaged in some kind of demanding cognitive activity within a given period of time, the more experienced duration of this time interval decreases. However, the role of individual differences has been largely ignored in this field of research. In a…

Attachment researchers claim that individual differences in how adults talk about their early memories reflect qualitatively distinct organizations of emotion regarding childhood experiences with caregivers. Testing this assumption, the present study examined the relationship between attachment dimensions and physiological, facial expressive, as…

The authors present a multicomponent dynamic developmental theory of human autobiographical memory that emerges gradually across the preschool years. The components that contribute to the process of emergence include basic memory abilities, language and narrative, adult memory talk, temporal understanding, and understanding of self and others. The…

This study investigated the effect of individual differences in state anxiety on tasks tapping the central executive, phonological, and visuo-spatial components of working memory (WM). It was designed to test Eysenck and Calvo's processing efficiency theory (PET) which suggests that the phonological and executive components of WM may be important…

This study focused on the associations between individual variations in children's motor abilities and individual differences in social participation and play behavior. Indoor and outdoor play behavior patterns of 88 kindergarten children were observed, and a battery of standard assessments of basic motor functions was administered. The findings…

A decade of training evaluation and training effectiveness research was reviewed to construct an integrated model of training evaluation and effectiveness. This model integrates four prior evaluation models and results of 10 years of training effectiveness research. It is the first to be constructed using a set of strict criteria and to…

This research examined the relative contributions of two aspects of executive function--inhibitory control and planning ability--to theory of mind in 49 3- and 4-year-olds. Children were given two standard theory of mind measures (Appearance-Reality and False Belief), three inhibitory control tasks (Bear/Dragon, Whisper, and Gift Delay), three…

Two studies are presented that adopt a novel approach to determining whether verbal short-term memory performance is causally related to vocabulary acquisition in childhood. This involves examining whether verbal short-term memory measures are more closely related to the absolute level of individuals' vocabulary, or the rate at which vocabulary…

Persuasion is an interactive process through which a given message alters individuals' perspectives by changing the knowledge, beliefs, or interests that underlie those perspectives. Although persuasion is seen as central to effective teaching and learning, there is still much to understand about the characteristics of learners, texts, and tasks…