ACT-R is a theory of cognition that is capable of learning the relative usefulness of alternative rules. A model using this implicit procedural learning mechanism is described that explains results from a concept formation task created by McDonald and MacWhinney (1991), a role assignment created by Blackwell (1995), and a new role assignment…

Two experiments replicated an earlier study on the causal connection between rhyming skills and reading development found in English. Different results were found from the first study. Argues that methodological and instructional factors may be very important for the conceptual interpretation of studies attempting to pit small units (phonemes)…

Explores the extent to which children with specific language impairment (SLI) with severe phonological working memory deficits express knowledge uniquely in gesture as compared to speech. Using a paradigm in which gesture-speech relationships have been studied extensively, children with SLI and conversation judgment-matched, typically developing…

Explores the effect on pair-task performance of test-takers' familiarity with their partner. Japanese learners performed a series of tasks, once with a friend and again with a person who was not familiar to them. Results support findings in the literature that suggest learners vary their language when interacting with familiar or unfamiliar…

A study of clerical staff in two British banks (n=29) who completed National Vocational Qualifications in customer services shows that the potential for skill development and flexibility was not realized. Workers spent more time writing about their routine tasks to accredit existing skills than they did being trained in new skills. (Contains 49…

Two experiments investigated the Aspect First Hypothesis, which claims children initially use verbal morphology to mark aspect and not tense. The first tested 46 2- and 3-year-old children's comprehension of tense as it is marked in the auxiliary system using a sentence-to-scene matching task. The second changed the information available in the…

Impaired speech prosody has been identified as a critical feature of suspected childhood apraxia of speech (sCAS). Lexical stress productions of children with sCAS have been characterized as 'excessive/equal/misplaced'. This investigation examines two potential explanations of this particular deficit, articulatory difficulty and impaired intrinsic…

Background: Language intervention procedures often involve the speech-language pathologist highlighting or making more salient forms that are problematic for the child with a language impairment. According to limited processing accounts of specific language impairment (SLI), one way to increase the saliency of a form is to manipulate its sentence…

Difficulties with picture naming tasks are associated with literacy problems. When given naming tasks, children with dyslexia are slower to produce words and have a higher proportion of errors (M. Wolf & P. G. Bowers, 1999). However, little is known about the relation between literacy and naming in other populations. This study investigated this…

In this article, the authors examined changes in the usage of muscular and motion-dependent moments during the long-term practice of a complex, multijoint movement. Seven participants practiced a cyclic movement of the upper limbs until their joint angular movements conformed to those of an expert. The motions of the participants were digitally…

One of the author's main goals as a teacher is to impart the skills necessary for students to be successful in science, and that means teaching them how to think and write like scientists. At times, though, it seemed as though the author had exhausted all avenues without ever reaching this goal. At the beginning of each year, she starts her…

In this paper, the term 'intelligence current' is further explained and the problems found in relationships between (among) creativity, intelligence, attitude and environmental factors are discussed, according to the systematic model of creativity previously developed by the author. In this model, the performance of an individual's creativity is…

This study investigated the relationship between narrative skills and theory of mind for low-income children. Two groups of low-income preschoolers, one African American (n = 33) and one European American (n = 36), created a narrative and participated in a false belief task. The European Americans outperformed African Americans on the false belief…

Analysis of students' work on tasks relating to reflections, translations and rotations is discussed. Findings from research with regard to students' understanding of a subject would help teachers prepare for the class.

We tested the effect of local lexical ambiguities while manipulating the type of prosodic boundary at which the ambiguity occurred, using French sentences and participants. We observed delayed lexical access when a local lexical ambiguity occurred within a phonological phrase (consistent with previous research; e.g., '[un chat grincheux],'…