Cognitive science has demonstrated that we construct knowledge about the world by abstracting patterns from routinely encountered experiences and storing them as semantic memories. This preregistered study tested the hypothesis that caregiving-related early adversities (crEAs) shape affective semantic memories to reflect the content of those…

Cognitive science has gathered robust evidence supporting the hypothesis that cognitive processes do not occur in an amodal format but take shape through the activation of the sensorimotor systems of the agent body, which works as simulation system upon which concepts, words, and thought are based. However, studies that have investigated the…

Introductory programming courses typically focus on building generalizable programming knowledge by focusing on a language's syntax and semantics. Assignments often involve "code tracing" problems, where students perform close tracking of code's execution, typically in the context of 'toy' problems. "Reading-first" approaches…

This autoethnographic paper is part of a special issue trying to answer the question "How to design or choose languages for programming novices?" I will describe how my programming language Hedy was created, how the initial design goals were formed, how my perspectives on learning and teaching changed along the way, and how Hedy changed…

Research at the intersection of cognitive science and education has major benefits for both researchers and education practitioners. Yet, a number of logistical and communication challenges must be carefully negotiated to maximize the benefits of these collaborations. In this article, we trace the investments and major publications that have…

From his first attempts to explain attachment phenomena in the 1940s through his "Attachment and Loss" trilogy (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980), John Bowlby reformulated the theoretical underpinnings of attachment theory several times. He initially attempted to explain attachment phenomena in psychoanalytic terms. Then he invoked…

"Advances in Health Sciences Education" ("AHSE") has been at the forefront of the cognitive wave in health professions education for the past 25 years. One example is research on productive failure, a teaching strategy that asks learners to attempt to generate solutions to difficult problems before receiving instruction. This…

The interaction between humans and computers is one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary society. Subtleties of this communication require that human-computer interfaces are conceptualized and tested by highly specialized experts. Here we describe a novel academic course for human-oriented designers and project managers, with the…

Chew and Cerbin (2021) outline nine cognitive challenges to student learning with which economic educators are likely familiar, even if the language used to describe them differs. In this article, the authors refrain from summarizing Chew and Cerbin's framework and instead focus on providing context for how those conducting research and developing…

How do you introduce the science of learning to your faculty? How do you leverage professional development to ensure that teachers continually apply that science within their classrooms? How can you maximize learning in your classroom through the use of researched and evidence-informed strategies? These are the questions Patrice Bain sets out to…

Mind, brain, and education (MBE) science research continues to produce valuable results about brain development and the learning process--research that can and should inform education reform. Given the link between teacher efficacy and student learning outcomes, MBE is a discipline with considerable promise to help close gaps in school and teacher…

This chapter considers psychological and neuroscience research on how people understand the integers, and how educators can foster this understanding. The core proposal is that new, abstract mathematical concepts are built upon known, concrete mathematical concepts. For the integers, the relevant foundation is the natural numbers, which are…

Gestures are physical manifestations of cognitive processes. Geology students often use gestures to describe geologic features and processes. The gestures allow students to convey 3- and 4-dimensional information about the rocks. Studying and characterizing these gestures can be useful in understanding students' learning processes; however,…

This book is the first of three edited volumes designed to reconceptualize teaching and learning in higher education through a critical lens, with this inaugural publication focusing on the fundamentals behind the experience. Chapter authors explore recent research on the cognitive science behind teaching and learning, dispel myths on the process,…

Computer use has become a fact of life, especially for children, many of whom were forced to switch to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and resorted to digital hobbies as a safety measure. Further the amount of time children spend on computers, as well as the number of different computer devices that pervade our post-pandemic society…