The underlying structures that are common to the world's languages bear an intriguing connection with early emerging forms of "core knowledge" (Spelke & Kinzler, 2007), which are frequently studied by infant researchers. In particular, grammatical systems often incorporate distinctions (e.g., the mass/count distinction) that reflect…

Background: The aims of the current study were to adapt a version of the MET for people with intellectual disabilities and assess its ecological and construct validity. Material and Methods: Using a correlational design, 40 participants with intellectual disabilities were invited to complete a battery of neuropsychological assessments and the…

Associations between language and space are of central interest for grounded models of language comprehension. Various studies show that reading words such as "bird" or "shoe" results in faster responses toward the typical location of the corresponding entity (e.g., after "bird", upward responses are faster than…

Several papers have proposed that the grading system affects students' incentives to exert effort. In particular, the previous literature has compared student effort under relative and absolute grading systems, but the results are mixed and the implications of the models have not been empirically tested. In this paper, I build a model where…

This study examines the impact of fluctuations in the unemployment rate before high school graduation on educational attainment measured 30 years later. I find evidence that important heterogeneity is masked by estimating average effects across the ability distribution. Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this analysis…

Time and space represent two key aspects of episodic memories, forming the spatiotemporal context of events in a sequence. Little is known, however, about how temporal information, such as the duration and the order of particular events, are encoded into memory, and if it matters whether the memory representation is based on recollection or…

This study assessed the utility of a brief assessment (the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4th Edition; PPVT4) as a proxy for verbal IQ (VIQ) in large-scale studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a sample of 2,420 proband with ASD, PPVT4:IQ correlations were strong. PPVT4 scores were, on average, 5.46 points higher than VIQ; 79% of children…

Impaired insight is common in schizophrenia. Etiological models focusing on single determinants have not succeeded in explaining insight deficits. More complex models seem promising. This study tests Startup's (1996) model of insight and cognition, predicting a curvilinear relationship and specific insight-cognition configurations. Patients with…

The present article reviews the phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive checking, examining how action processing can be differentially affected across distinct checking subtypes. Checking is a normal phenomenon which ensures that an intended goal has been actually completed. Checking symptoms have consistently been connected to impairments in…

Individuals with disorders of the corpus callosum (DCC) may have subtle cognitive differences. Historically, confabulation has been associated with DCC. Therapies to mitigate confabulation is a newly emerging field. This study explores the possible educational implications that those with DCC may experience with confabulation. The community of…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains draw heavily on spatial reasoning (NRC, 2006). One particular science thought to be especially spatially-complex is astronomy. Understanding astronomy requires using a "space-based perspective" to explain phenomena we see from an "Earth-based perspective." That is, it…

Spatial inscriptions of information--visualizations--can be a great asset to problem solving. Calendars and Cartesian graphs are two examples of visualizations that reorganize non-spatial information (temporal and quantitative) into a visual format. People readily rely on these visualizations to plan and see patterns, which intuitively attests to…

The purpose of this study was to explore geometry spatial mathematical reasoning in Grade nine Annual National Assessments, South Africa. Conceptual Blending was the guiding theory. Document analysis within the exploratory case study was used to explore available data, the 2014 Annual National Assessment learners' scripts (n=1250). Results…

Elementary school students often lack a conceptual understanding of linear measurement, which is revealed by their poor performance when the object to be measured is not aligned with the start of the ruler. Instead of correctly counting the units that correspond to the object (e.g., inches or centimeters), children often use 1 of 2 incorrect…

Abstract Few studies have examined how socioeconomic status (SES) affects two essential parts of human development, namely vocabulary and reading comprehension, in children facing severe poverty. The Roma population is the largest minority group in Europe, the majority of whom live in severe poverty. This study compared the development of 322 Roma…