Listening preferences for two pieces, Prelude and Forlane from "Le tombeau de Couperin" by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), were assessed in two experiments conducted with 8-month-old infants, using the Headturn Preference Procedure (HPP). Experiment 1 showed that infants, who have never heard the pieces, could clearly make a distinction between the…

Motor learning is a very basic, essential form of learning that appears to share common mechanisms across different motor systems. We evaluate and compare a few conceptual models for learning in a relatively simple neural system, the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) of vertebrates. We also compare the different animal models that have been used to…

The transcription factor cAMP response-element binding protein (CREB) has a pivotal role in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and hippocampus-dependent long-term memory. We recently demonstrated that the dorsal hippocampal CA3 region is involved in memory consolidation of spatial information tested on a Morris water maze in mice. To test whether…

Expression of the immediate-early genes (IEGs) has been shown to be induced by activity-dependent synaptic plasticity or behavioral training and is thought to play an important role in long-term memory. In the present study, we examined the induction and expression of the IEG-encoded protein Egr-1 during an in vitro neural correlate of eyeblink…

Although an important role for the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been established for memory consolidation in a variety of learning paradigms, it is not known if this pathway is also involved in appetitive classical conditioning. We address this question by using a single-trial food-reward conditioning paradigm in the freshwater…

We show that infants' long-term memory representations for melodies are not just reduced to the structural features of relative pitches and durations, but contain surface or performance tempo- and timbre-specific information. Using a head turn preference procedure, we found that after a one week exposure to an old English folk song, infants…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between two contrasting research paradigms, namely, cognitive and experiential research, a significant literature review previously unaddressed. To achieve this objective, a conceptual description of three theoretical frameworks, Dual-Store model, Levels of Processing (LOP; drawn from…

To find predictive relations between measures taken in infancy and later scores on intelligence tests, a study was made that measured in the infant those cognitive processes examined later in life. Operant conditioning tasks were employed which required 3-, 7-, and 11-month-old infants to execute some response to produce an environmental…

A study was conducted to test a model that conceives of long term memory as a propositional network of ideas made up of knowledge clusters and related subclusters. After two pilot studies suggested that recall order of ideas was unrelated to organization, the study investigated whether units of main and supporting ideas produced during…

The automatic/controlled processing theory proposal that the modification of long term memory (LTM) occurs only during controlled processing, and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no resulting LTM effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were shown words while performing tasks involving either…

The effects of visual and auditory modes of input on long-term memory were examined in two experiments, each with 40 and 80 undergraduates, respectively. In both experiments, visual stimulus attributes were a more salient dimension than were auditory features in the long-term encoding and retrieval process. (SLD)

Examines the factors influencing the use of a plan by four- and five-year-old children to judge the relative number of two sets by one-to-one correspodence. Results suggest that most children have one-to-one plans in long-term memory by age four. (Author/RWB)

The goal of this unified theory of human reasoning is to specify what constitutes reasoning and to characterize the psychological distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning. The theory views reasoning as the controlled and mediated application of three processes (encoding, comparison and selective combination) to inferential rules. (JAZ)

Reports on a longitudinal study of retention of science learning carried out in Israel (from grade 8 to grade 10, ages 13-16). Findings show that retention of meaningful school materials does exist from one course to another, even over relatively extended materials. (JN)

Twenty-nine reports yielding 112 studies were analyzed with Glass's meta-analysis technique, and results were compared with predictions from Ausubel's model of assimilative learning. Overall, advance organizers were shown to be associated with increased learning and retention of material to be learned. (Author)