Information-theoretic complexity metrics, such as Surprisal (Hale, 2001; Levy, 2008) and Entropy Reduction (Hale, 2003), are linking hypotheses that bridge theorized expectations about sentences and observed processing difficulty in comprehension. These expectations can be viewed as syntactic derivations constrained by a grammar. However, this…

Under cognitive load theory, time pressure/urgency-induced arousal is a major contributor to pupil dilation during cognition. However, pupillometric encoding studies have failed to consider the possible role of time pressure/urgency effects, instead often assuming that encoding dilations directly reflect encoding strength. To isolate possible…

Purpose: The planning and execution of motor behaviors require coordination of neurons that are established through synchronization of neural activity. Movements are typically preceded by event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the beta range (15--30 Hz) primarily localized in the motor cortex, while movement onset is associated with…

Research on prospective memory has paid no attention to the way in which the intentions to be remembered are framed. In two studies on time-based prospective memory, participants had to remember multiple delayed intentions framed as time rules (i.e., respond every 7 min, every 10 min) or as a series of corresponding instances (i.e., respond at…

Up to now, support for the idea that a controlled component exists in creative thought has mainly been supported by correlational studies; to further shed light on this issue, we employed an experimental approach. We used four alternate uses tasks that differed in instruction type ("be fluent" vs. "be creative") and concurrent…

The study of socio-cognitive abilities emerged from intelligence research, and their specificity remains controversial until today. In recent years, the psychometric structure of face cognition (FC)--a basic facet of socio-cognitive abilities--was extensively studied. In this review, we summarize and discuss the divergent psychometric structures…

It is important to define what an error in a question paper is so that there is a common understanding and to avoid people's own conceptions impacting upon the way in which they write or check question papers. We carried out an interview study to investigate our colleagues' definitions of error. We found that there is no single accepted definition…

Fluency tasks are among the most common item formats for the assessment of certain cognitive abilities, such as verbal fluency or divergent thinking. A typical approach to the psychometric modeling of such tasks (e.g., "Intelligence," 2016, 57, 25) is the Rasch Poisson Counts Model (RPCM; "Probabilistic models for some intelligence…

As computational thinking (CT) gains more attention in K-16 education, problem-solving has been more emphasized as a core competency that can be found across various domains. To develop an evaluation framework that reveals students' problem-solving competency, this study examined solutions for the Bebras Computing Challenge which requires students…

Researchers of cognitive load theory and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning have identified several strategies to optimize instructional materials. In this review article we focus on five of these strategies or solutions to problematic instructional designs in multimedia learning: (a) the multimedia principle (use visualizations and…

Through this article coaches will learn how to collect rating of perceived exertion (RPE), interpret RPE data, and use it to make informed decisions about training load. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore the implementations of RPE and explain practical outcomes relating to load management and ultimately training effectiveness.

While many studies have investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 writing, little has been reported on the effects of intended task complexity manipulations on task-generated cognitive demands in L2 writing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine the relative effects of task complexity and cognitive demands on students' L2 writing.…

Objective: Many industries struggle with training dynamic risk assessment, and how to bridge the gap between safety training and behavior in real life scenarios. In this article, we focus on dynamic risk assessment during a mooring operation and investigate the potential value of using immersive virtual reality (VR) simulations compared to…

Many test items use both an image and text, but present them in a spatially separate manner. This format could potentially cause a split-attention effect in which the test taker's cognitive load is increased by having to split attention between the image and text, while mentally integrating the two sources of information. We investigated the…

Spatial understanding of complex anatomical concepts is often a challenge for learners, as well as for educators. It is even more challenging for students with low mental spatial abilities. There are many options to teach spatial relationships, ranging from simple models to high-end three-dimensional (3D) virtual reality tools. Using a randomized…