Children of ages 5 and 8 years were given one of three learning tasks: a component selection problem, in which the two components of the stimuli were redundant and could both serve as functional cues, and two incidental learning tasks, in which one stimulus component was task-relevant and the other was incidental. Results suggest a developmental…

Children at four age levels (4,6,8, and 10 years) were given continuous recognition tasks using concrete noun, abstract noun, and pictorial stimuli in a 4 x 3 factorial design. Recognition for both concrete and abstract nouns was found to be linear and increasing significantly with age, but no age trends for picture recognition were found.…

Three studies investigated both serial learning (SL) and retention processes among first through sixth graders. Pictorial serial list items improved SL performance only for second, third, and fourth graders, while fifth graders performed better with verbal materials and sixth-grade performance was comparable in both presentation modes. (Author/CS)

To determine whether the distraction effect associated with material rewards in discrimination learning can account for the superior performance of reward groups in probability learning, the performance of 144 school children (preschool, second, and fifth grades) on a two-choice successive discrimination task was compared under three reinforcement…

The effects of the relationship between the presentation of a verbal stimulus ('right') and an established reinforcer (M & Ms) on the reinforcement efficacy of the verbal stimulus were tested with three groups of retarded boys. (Author/CS)

Two studies were conducted to test incentive magnitude effects on free recall. Fifth and eighth graders and college adults were tested in conditions in which they were instructed to either rehearse overtly or engage in a counting task prior to the experiment. Results support theories emphasizing rehearsal as a mediator of incentive level effects…

Children in three film treatment groups emitted more delay choices on a posttest than did control group children. Although, after four weeks, treatment effects were still in evidence for two groups, the greatest magnitude of change occurred in subjects who viewed films showing modeling and persuasive (verbal) cues in combination. (Author/SDH)

Visual orientation toward a peripheral stimulus by newborns and 7-week-old infants was examined with both a central stimulus present and absent. General conclusion is that, contrary to previous assessments, the neonate appears to exercise internal control over his sampling of the stimulus array rather than being passively captured by it.…

Results from three studies involving college, third grade, and kindergarten subjects, suggest that individuals across a wide age range are able to use the visual properties of a stimulus for only a very brief period as the basis for making matched judgments. (Author/SDH)

Presents a procedure for estimating the probability of true hypothesis behavior, including a validity test for the resulting estimate. The procedure is applied to data taken from three research reports, and reveals substantial differences between age and treatment groups. Also discusses implications of the procedure for correctly interpreting…

Examines the relationship between the magnitude of the stimulus familiarity effect and the level of stimulus incongruity. Results support a theory of visual selection based on information-conflict resolution. (Author/ED)

Pascual-Leone's neo-Piagetian theory of development is used to predict the pre- and postinstruction distributions of scores on a subject-controlled digit placement task as a function of three parameters dealing with mental strategy and capacity. (Author/ED)

Investigates the effects of training two components of a dimension-abstracted oddity problem, oddity responding and attention, in a series of three problems. (Author/ED)

Attempts to specify whether previously reported limitations on young children's full-report capacity lay in a smaller amount of available information, in a shorter trace duration of information in visual information storage (VIS), or in poorer coding of information into permanent storage. (Author/ED)