Based on a PhD thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario.

This study examined 40 deaf and 20 hearing adolescent students' free recall of visually presented words varied systematically with respect of signability (i.e., words that could be expressed by a single sign) and visual imagery. Results underline the importance of sign language in the memory and recall of deaf persons. (Author/PN)

Verbal information contained in a multimedia presentation should be seen in a holistic sense. A close interrelationship exists between audio and visual; they express information for a common purpose. The task of the designer is to interweave them meaningfully. (MBR)

Examines the relationship between children's attention and comprehension of auditory and visual information on television. After viewing a videotape of "Sesame Street" with visual, auditory, or no distractors, 60 five-year-olds were asked comprehension questions. Findings indicated that children could process auditory and visual…

Reviews research on viewers' understanding and retention of television news broadcasts; discusses the cognitive processes of memory and comprehension; and develops two models, one based on episodical memory and the other on semantic networks. Guidelines are offered for research based on both of these models. More than 40 sources are cited. (EAO)

Investigated the effect of increasing familiarization time on the visual recognition memory of 6- and 12-month-old full-term and preterm infants. Results suggested that persistent differences exist between preterm and full-term infants throughout at least the first year of life in this fundamental aspect of cognition. (Author/RH)

The use of linguistic and extralinguistic information in identifying conversational topics from static and active picture stimuli was studied in three- and five-year-olds. While implicit topic definition was sufficient for five-year-olds' responses, explicit definition was necessary to evoke similar responses from the younger children. (MSE)

Effects of learning names for random nonsense shapes prior to a probe-type serial-recall task were investigated in disabled readers. No differences among reading groups on recall strength of primary recall were found, suggesting similar verbal skills. (Author)

Sighted subjects assembled puzzles under separate conditions of visual-haptic perception and used vision and touch simultaneously to illustrate visual-type involvement and links in haptic encoding processes. A cognitive component in perceptions was found. When visual input was inadequate or independent of haptic perception, tactual information was…

Examines the hypothesis that an attentional preference for an imitator is a function of the magnitude of reinforcement associated with that person, and measures response uncertainty, a construct considered important in the effectance arousal theory often used to explain "being imitated" effects. (Author/RH)

An Ames static trapezoidal window was used to test infants' responsiveness to pictorial depth. Sensitivity to the pictorial information for depth that is present in the trapezoidal window appears to develop after the age of 22 weeks. (Author/DB)

Reports effects of context that are entirely perceptual. Visual discrimination was enhanced when line segments were flashed in a region that was perceived as a figure. Discrimination was substantially degraded when the same region was seen as ground although the physical stimulus remained identical throughout figure-ground reversals. (Author/JN)

Infants viewed two objects that bounced in synchrony with two percussion sounds in order to learn about the relationships between sound and object. Learning was revealed in two ways: in a search test and in a transfer test. (Author/DB)

Studies demonstrate increasing glucose metabolic rates in human primary (PVC) and association (AVC) visual cortex as complexity of visual scenes increase. AVC increased more rapidly with scene complexity than PVC and increased local metabolic activities above control subject with eyes closed; indicates wide range and metabolic reserve of visual…

Adults' geometric analogy solution was investigated as a function of systematic variations in the information structure of items. Latency data from verification of true and false items were recorded. A model incorporating assumptions about the form of item representation, working memory factors, and processing components and strategies was…