This study used a well-normed task of face recognition with 102 young children with autism, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) not otherwise specified, and non-PDD disorders (mental retardation and language disorders) matched for chronological age and either verbal or nonverbal mental age. Autistic subjects exhibited pronounced deficits in…

Impairment of hippocampal function precedes frontal and parietal cortex impairment in human Alzheimer's disease(AD). Neurotrophins are critical for behavioral performance and neuronal survival in AD. We used complex and radial mazes to assess spatial orientation and learning in wild-type and B6-Tg(ThylAPP)23Sdz (APP23) animals, a transgenic mouse…

Sociolinguistic data regarding code selection and nonverbal modes of learning are examined in the gesture communication system of the (Oglala and Brule) Sioux. Sign language is viewed as an extra-linguistic mode of communication currently in use in Indian classrooms. It is one alternative to literacy as a means of communication; however, this is…

Investigated with 58 gifted children (in grades 5 or 6) were differences in right and left hemispheric brain functions in the context of J. Piaget's theories of stages of cognitive development. (DB)

Reports on a research study which compared children's verbal and nonverbal responses to music stimuli. Also examines the relationship between verbal and visual responses. Concludes that educators should continue to search for efficient sequencing of associative pairings of oral/visual stimuli in order to make traditional music terminology more…

Infants ranging in age from six months to eight months were shown repeated instances of real object movement-disappearance-reappearance. Results suggest that the key changes in early cognitive development rest primarily upon the infant's gradual adaptation of old responses through encounters with new events--rather than upon the acquisition of…

A teacher relates the experiences he and his classes had as a result of nonverbal instruction in mathematics. He tapped creative resources within himself of which he was previously unaware and his students became more involved in formulating the rationales of the mathematics being taught. (JP)

The author presents experiemental evidence that visual coding is a significant factor in human memory, and examines evidence for the trace modality theory which states that recognition can only be mediated via the modality in which original material was encoded. (GW)

Language is shown to be an inappropriate tool for developing a child's mind, based on a Piaget-derived theory of intelligence in which thinking is not primarily language-based. Implications for teachers of normal and deaf students in terms of classroom activities to develop students' thought processes are considered. (KW)

Tests the developmental memory lag hypothesis with 22 learning disabled boys on two- and three-dimensional nonverbal tasks. Finds age-equivalent recall patterns similar to those of normal children and consistent age-related differences in nonverbal recall, thereby negating the developmental lag hypothesis. (RL)

The follow-up study of 16 nonretarded autistic children as adults found that, though most were functioning poorly in terms of occupational-social outcome and psychiatric symptoms, four had essentially recovered. Severity of early autistic behavior was a poor predictor of outcome, but neuropsychologic measures of nonverbal problem solving were…

Describes two experiments which examined how supplementing specific practice experiences with variable practice experiences influenced motor skill retention. Participants received varying trials of acquisition practice on a criterion force production task. Acquisition practice with variations of the criterion task led to better retention than…

A six-year-old nonvocal girl with autism who had acquired a variety of signs and imitative responses consistently failed to acquire a tact (labeling) repertoire. When procedures to transfer stimulus control from verbal to nonverbal stimuli were implemented, the subject quickly learned to tact all 18 target stimuli. (Author/DB)