This review briefly summarizes recent empirical research on touch. The research includes the role of touch in early development, touch deprivation, touch aversion, emotions that can be conveyed by touch, the importance of touch for interpersonal relationships and how friendly touch affects compliance in different situations. MRI data are reviewed…

In this study, we examined attention processes in complex, sport-specific decision-making tasks without interdependencies from anticipation. Psychophysiological and performance data recorded from advanced and intermediate level basketball referees were compared. Event-related potentials obtained while judging game situations in foul recognition…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible effects of choral voice-part training/experience and music complexity on focus of attention to melody or harmony. Participants (N = 150) were members of auditioned university choral ensembles divided by voice-part (sopranos, n = 44; altos, n = 33; tenors, n = 35; basses, n = 38). The music…

Behavioural performance in the Go/NoGo task was compared with caregiver and teacher reports of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity in 1,151 children (N = 557 boys; N = 594 girls) age 9-10 years old. Errors of commission (NoGo errors) were significantly correlated with symptom counts of hyperactivity-impulsivity, while errors of omission (Go…

The brain exhibits remarkable facility in exerting attentional control in most circumstances, but it also suffers apparent limitations in others. The authors' goal is to construct a rational account for why attentional control appears suboptimal under conditions of conflict and what this implies about the underlying computational principles. The…

Attentional control was investigated as a possible third component of reading comprehension, along with decoding and language comprehension, within the Simple View of reading (Gough & Tunmer "RASE: Remedial and Special Education" 7:6-10, 1986; Hoover & Gough "Reading and Writing" 2:127-160, 1990). Attentional control is the ability to suppress…

Media multitasking, or engaging in multiple media and tasks simultaneously, is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon with the development and engagement in social media. This study examines to what extent video content affects students' reading comprehension in media multitasking environments. One hundred and thirty university students were…

Mindfulness reduces distress, promotes optimal health, improves attentional control, mental agility, emotional intelligence, and situational awareness. Stress management and cognitive performance in Marines who spent more hours practicing Mindfulness Based Mind Fitness Training were superior to those soldiers who practiced fewer hours. Students…

The purpose of this study is to determine how behavioral symptoms of inattention predict rapid automatized naming (RAN) performance and reading skills in typically developing children. Participants included 104 third- and fourth-grade children from different elementary schools in mid-Michigan. RAN performance was assessed using the four Rapid…

Associations between teacher-perceived temperament, educational competence (EC), and school grades in mother language (ML) and mathematics (Math) were assessed in 3212 students (1619 girls) in Secondary School (aged 13-19) taken from a nationally representative Finnish sample. Temperament was assessed with scales from the TABC-R and DOTS-R…

The goal of this study was to examine the role of attention regulation as a mediator between parent-child relationships and peer social skills. Using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data set, mother-child and father-child relationships measured at 54 months and…

It is well established that working memory is related to reading comprehension ability. However, its role in explaining specific reading comprehension difficulties is still under debate: the issue mainly concerns whether the contribution of working memory is dependent on task modality (verbal tasks being more predictive than visuo-spatial tasks)…

In this article, a reader is asking for advice regarding her 10-year-old daughter who is having difficulty with her reading and focusing skills and social skills. The author recommends that her daughter should have a full evaluation of her academic skills and potentials inclusive of psychology, speech, and occupational therapy. The author also…

Could contemplative practices change the way we think and act so that we move toward a more just, compassionate, and reflective classroom? The author's personal experiences and preparation for the practice, the content, the impact of the practice on students, and reflections on contemplative practice as a movement in education are offered as an…

Since W. Wundt (1904) and H. J. Watt (1906), researchers have found no agreement on how goals direct word retrieval. A prevailing associative account (E. K. Miller & J. D. Cohen, 2001) holds that goals bias association strength, which determines retrieval latency and whether irrelevant words interfere. A symbolic account (A. Roelofs, 2003) holds…