The law of prior entry states that attended objects come to consciousness more quickly than unattended ones. This has been well established in spatial cueing paradigms, where two task-relevant stimuli are presented near-simultaneously at two different locations. Here, we suggest that prior entry also plays a pivotal role in temporal attention…

Over-imitation, which is common in children, is the imitation of elements of an action sequence that are clearly unnecessary for reaching the final goal. A variety of cognitive mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. Here, 48 3- and 5-year-olds together with a puppet observed an adult demonstrate instrumental tasks that included…

Although learning through discourse activities seems well-documented, it is unclear which mechanisms and behavioral variables are involved. What exactly contributes to learning when two or more learners interact in online learning environments? To analyze interrelations between central discourse activities and individual learning outcomes at the…

We present a signal detection-like model termed the stochastic detection and retrieval model (SDRM) for use in studying metacognition. Focusing on paradigms that relate retrieval (e.g., recall or recognition) and confidence judgments, the SDRM measures (1) variance in the retrieval process, (2) variance in the confidence process, (3) the extent to…

Visual communication cues facilitate interpersonal communication. It is important that we look at faces to retrieve and subsequently process such cues. It is also important that we sometimes look away from faces as they increase cognitive load that may interfere with online processing. Indeed, when typically developing individuals hold face gaze…

Young infants respond to positive and negative speech prosody (A. Fernald, 1993), yet 4-year-olds rely on lexical information when it conflicts with paralinguistic cues to approval or disapproval (M. Friend, 2003). This article explores this surprising phenomenon, testing one hundred eighteen 2- to 5-year-olds' use of isolated pitch cues to…

The decomposition of water by electricity, and the voltaic pile as a means of generating electricity, have both held an iconic status in the history of science as well as in the history of science teaching. These experiments featured in chemistry and physics textbooks, as well as in classroom teaching, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth…

Recognition memory for unfamiliar faces is facilitated when contextual cues (e.g., head pose, background environment, hair and clothing) are consistent between study and test. By contrast, inconsistencies in external features, especially hair, promote errors in unfamiliar face-matching tasks. For the construction of facial composites, as carried…

We report on a school-university collaboration to involve students in the deployment, testing, and operation of a very low frequency (VLF) radio receiver as part of an international network of such experiments. A background to the collaboration is presented, along with a summary of planning and development, and the ultimate deployment of the…

This paper provides an exposition of the unfolding and growing complexities of student and instructor gesturing over time. Specifically, it provides an account of how different forms of gestures, all related to the same mathematical idea, can create a chain of signs that support and enhance increasingly sophisticated understanding of one important…

Kv4.2 channels contribute to the transient, outward K[superscript +] current (A-type current) in hippocampal dendrites, and modulation of this current substantially alters dendritic excitability. Using Kv4.2 knockout (KO) mice, we examined the role of Kv4.2 in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. We found that Kv4.2 KO mice showed a deficit…

Two groups of year 6 pupils (age 10-11 years) each experienced science practical lessons that were essentially identical but for one difference: one group (theory-led) were told by the teacher what result they should expect, and the other group (hypothetico-deductive) were not. The theory-led group demonstrated experimental bias, recording results…

Experimental evaluations are increasingly common in the U.S. educational policy-research context. Often, in investigations of multifaceted interventions, researchers and policymakers alike are interested in not only "whether" a given intervention impacted an outcome but also "why". What "features" of the intervention…

Most adults experience childhood amnesia: They have very few memories of events prior to 3 to 4 years of age. Nevertheless, some early memories are retained. Multiple factors likely are responsible for the survival of early childhood memories, including external representations such as videos, photographs, and conversations about past experiences,…

Purpose: Breathing and swallowing problems affect elderly people and may be related to age-associated tongue dysfunction. Hypoglossal motoneurons that innervate the tongue receive a robust, excitatory serotonergic (5HT) input and may be affected by aging. We used a rat model of aging and progressive resistance tongue exercise to determine whether…