We have previously found that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over right inferior frontal cortex (RIFC) enhances performance during learning of a difficult visual target detection task (Clark et al., 2012). In order to examine the cognitive mechanisms of tDCS that lead to enhanced performance, here we analyzed its differential…

Anticipatory gaze behaviour during interceptive movements was investigated in children with Spastic Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (SUCP), and related to the side of the intracerebral lesion. Five children with lesions of the right hemisphere (RHL) and five children with lesions of the left hemisphere (LHL) had to walk towards and intercept a ball that…

When two targets (T1, T2) are presented amongst a rapid stream of distractors, T2 accuracy is impaired if the targets are separated by at least one distractor (attentional blink). However, this impairment largely disappears if the targets follow one another directly (lag-1 sparing), and, in fact, as many as four or five consecutive targets may be…

Dyslexia and other learning disabilities are not being properly recognized and treated in our educational system or society at large. Unrecognized and untreated learning disabilities represent a serious social and economic problem, not only to the individual but to society as a whole. For example, antisocial behavior, as seen in prison populations…

Prior research suggesting that longer bilingual experience benefits inhibitory control and monitoring has been criticized for a lack of control over confounding variables. We addressed this issue by using a propensity-score matching procedure that enabled us to match early and late bilinguals on 18 confounding variables--for example, demographic…

The current study longitudinally examined the influence of aptitude on second language (L2) pronunciation development when 40 first-year Japanese university students engaged in practice activities inside and outside English-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms over one academic year. Spontaneous speech samples were elicited at the beginning, middle,…

Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) is used extensively in second-language (L2) writing classrooms despite controversy over its effectiveness. This study examines indirect WCF, an instructional procedure that flags L2 students' errors with editing symbols that guide their corrections. WCF practitioners assume that this guidance will lead to…

In the formation education that is carried out within the scope of undergraduate and non-thesis graduate programs within the same university, different criteria are used to evaluate students' success. In this study, classification accuracy of letter grades that are generated to evaluate students' success using relative and absolute criteria and…

Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most well-known approaches to achievement motivation. However, the three basic psychological needs of SDT have not received equivalent attention in the literature: priority has been given to autonomy, followed by the need for competence, with research into relatedness lacking (Bachman and Stewart in…

Two studies using similar methods in two states investigated the long-term predictive utility of two single-skill early numeracy Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs) and the degree to which they can adequately predict high-stakes test scores. Data were drawn from kindergarten and first-grade students. State standardized assessment data from the…

The present study sets out to explore the distinctive roles played by two working memory (WM) components in various aspects of L2 task-based speech planning and performance. A group of 40 post-intermediate proficiency level Chinese EFL learners took part in the empirical study. Following the tenets and basic principles of the…

Experimental evaluations that involve the educational system usually involve a hierarchical structure (students are nested within classrooms that are nested within schools, etc.). Concerns about contamination, where research subjects receive certain features of an intervention intended for subjects in a different experimental group, have often led…

Second language acquisition research on the immersion context has focused primarily on study abroad, revealing the extent to which that context promotes learners' developing linguistic and intercultural competence. However, little research has examined linguistic development in intensive, domestic immersion contexts. This study investigated the…

In the present study we investigated the effect of test format on oral performance in terms of test scores and discourse features (accuracy, fluency, and complexity). Moreover, we explored how the scores obtained on different test formats relate to such features. To this end, 23 Iranian EFL learners participated in three test formats of monologue,…

This study investigated the role of inhibition in second language (L2) learners' phonological processing. Participants were Spanish learners of L2 English and American learners of L2 Spanish. We measured inhibition through a retrieval-induced inhibition task. Accuracy of phonological representations (perception and production) was assessed through…