Presents a theoretical account of human shift learning with the use of neural network tools. Details how simulations using the cascade-correlation algorithm which show that networks can capture the regularities of the discrimination shift literature better than existing psychological theories. Suggests that human developmental differences in shift…

The authors used state-trace methodology to investigate whether a single dimension (e.g., strength) is sufficient to account for recall and judgments of learning (JOLs) or whether multiple dimensions (e.g., intrinsic and extrinsic factors) are needed. The authors separately manipulated the independent variables of intrinsic and extrinsic cues,…

A subjective expected utility (SEU) decision-making analysis was performed on the content of arguments generated by subjects privately or during group discussion in response to choice-dilemmas shown to shift toward risk and caution. (Editor)

Investigates the development of evaluative and taxonomic encoding in 7-, to 8-, and 11-year-old children's memories, and related experimental findings to recent work on the development of encoding in memory. (Author/ED)

Group influence on risk taking was studied in a realistic casino setting, using blackjack as the criterion risk task and amount bet as the risk measure. (Editor)

This study is an exploratory attempt to test the idea that individual differences in the rate of acquisition of an original discrimination learning are related to individual differences in the capacity to estimate the passage of time. Included is a review of the literature on the psychology of time which indicates that underestimation of time is…

This study examines the effects of initial response training and criterion training on the discrimination shift performance of preschool children; results are discussed in terms of differing theoretical orientation. After an initial task involving either criterion training or response training, 109 subjects were presented with either…

Results indicate that responses are not organized per se, but that response grouping is mediated by stimulus categories. (Author)

This review argues that an hypothesis about longitudinal development may be derived from, and tested exclusively by, cross-sectional data, when the potential sources of interpretive errors are dealt with adequately. The argument is illustrated by cross-sectional data relevant to developmental mediation theory. (Author/SS)

Five investigations examined three- and four-year olds' conceptions of the relationship between pictures and their referents. Results indicated that preschool children have difficulty holding in mind the distinct properties of picture and real referent, just as they tend to confuse the literal and intended meanings of utterances. (TJQ)

In three experiments, nine-month-old infants were trained to fixate on a particular feature in a pair of stimuli that varied along three dimensions. In a fourth experiment, infants were trained to fixate on a stimulus compound until reaching a learning criterion. Infants' discrimination learning under these conditions implied an ability to attend…

Presents the results of additional analyses of shifts of focus in information retrieval interactions. Investigates how interaction between users and search intermediaries reveal aspects of user information problems, and how users and search intermediaries focus on aspects of user information problems during the course of online searches. (Contains…