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Previous studies have shown that after being trained on A-B and A-C match-to-sample tasks, adults match not only same-class B and C stimuli (equivalence) but also BC compounds with same-class elements and with different-class elements (BC-BC). The assumption was that the BC-BC performances are based on matching equivalence and nonequivalence relations (equivalence-equivalence). The present study examined if the BC-BC performances could have resulted from matching stimuli with same discriminative (S+, S-) properties. In Experiment 1, the subjects were first trained on a simple Q discrimination task (Q1+/Q2-). After testing the discriminative functions of these stimuli independent from one another, conditional A-B and A-C discriminations were trained. Finally, 3 tests were presented. One test assessed equivalence (B-C, C-B). The second test permitted matching on the basis of same functional (equivalence, nonequivalence) relations (BC-BC). The third test measured the S+ function of compounds with same-class elements and the S-function of compounds with different-class elements (BC/BC), or matching on the basis of same discriminative functions (Q-BC). The order of the tests varied across conditions except that the equivalence test was always presented first. Experiment 2 was the same except that the equivalence was tested last. In both experiments, almost all subjects demonstrated equivalence and selected compounds with same-class elements during a simple BC discrimination test (e.g., B1C1+/B1C2-). Most of these subjects also matched Q and BC stimuli of same discriminative functions (e.g., Q1-B1C1, Q2-B1C2), and BC compounds with same- and with different-class elements (B1C1-B3C3, B2C3-B3C2), more so in Experiment 1 than in Experiment 2. These findings indicate that the BC-BC performances result from matching same discriminative functions. The implications of these findings for equivalence-equivalence as a model for classical analogies are discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 7 tables .)

Findings of a series of studies involving kindergarteners indicated that the delay technique was highly effective when the prompt had the same configuration as the correct stimulus and the prompt's position prevented control by irrelevant location cues. The effectiveness of delayed orientation prompting was not always matched by its efficiency. (RH)

The early years of the eighteenth-century Irish port town, Cork, saw an expansion of its city limits, an era of reconstruction both within and beyond the walls of its medieval townscape, and a reclamation of its marshlands to the east and west. New people, new ideas, and the beginnings of new wealth infused the post-Elizabethan character of the recently siege-battered city. It also brought a desire for something different, something new, an opportunity to redefine the ambience and visual perception of the urban landscape and thereby make a statement about its intended cultural and social orientations. It brought an opportunity to re-imagine and model a new, continental style of place and surrounding environment. This article seeks evidence for a Dutch influence in that story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerised working memory (WM) training on memory, response inhibition, fluid intelligence, scholastic abilities and the recall of stories in adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities attending special education., Method: A total of 95 adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities were randomly assigned to either a training adaptive to each child's progress in WM, a non-adaptive WM training, or to a control group., Results: Verbal short-term memory (STM) improved significantly from pre- to post-testing in the group who received the adaptive training compared with the control group. The beneficial effect on verbal STM was maintained at follow-up and other effects became clear at that time as well. Both the adaptive and non-adaptive WM training led to higher scores at follow-up than at post-intervention on visual STM, arithmetic and story recall compared with the control condition. In addition, the non-adaptive training group showed a significant increase in visuo-spatial WM capacity., Conclusion: The current study provides the first demonstration that WM can be effectively trained in adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities.

The effect of handedness on cognitive functioning has been the subject of much controversy. The influential "pathological left-handedness theory" posited by Coren and Halpern (1991) claims that left-handedness is probabilistically related to deviations from the neurological and cognitive norm. Many studies have failed to find negative effects of left-handedness on cognitive functioning, but most of these studies related handedness to cognition at one moment in time. Such studies do not exclude the possibility that sinistrality may be related to a more pronounced age-related longitudinal decline in cognitive functions. This hypothesis was tested in the present study. In a longitudinal study involving a large population sample of cognitively intact people aged at least 50 years at baseline, we evaluated the effect of handedness on age-related decline in four major cognitive domains: speed of information processing, verbal learning, long-term verbal memory, and executive functioning. The results failed to provide support for the hypothesis that sinistrality is associated with a more pronounced age-related cognitive decline. Recommendations for future studies are provided.

The authors conducted 4 experiments to test the decision-bound, prototype, and distribution theories for the categorization of sounds. They used as stimuli sounds varying in either resonance frequency or duration. They created different experimental conditions by varying the variance and overlap of 2 stimulus distributions used in a training phase and varying the size of the stimulus continuum used in the subsequent test phase. When resonance frequency was the stimulus dimension, the pattern of categorization-function slopes was in accordance with the decision-bound theory. When duration was the stimulus dimension, however, the slope pattern gave partial support for the decision-bound and distribution theories. The authors introduce a new categorization model combining aspects of decision-bound and distribution theories that gives a superior account of the slope patterns across the 2 stimulus dimensions., (Copyright 2006 APA)

R. Ratcliff and G. McKoon (1995, 1996, 1997; R. Ratcliff, D. Allbritton, & G. McKoon, 1997) have argued that repetition priming effects are solely due to bias. They showed that prior study of the target resulted in a benefit in a later implicit memory task. However, prior study of a stimulus similar to the target resulted in a cost. The present study, using a 2-alternative forced-choice procedure, investigated the effect of prior study in an unbiased condition: Both alternatives were studied prior to their presentation in an implicit memory task. Contrary to a pure bias interpretation of priming, consistent evidence was obtained in 3 implicit memory tasks (word fragment completion, auditory word identification, and picture identification) that performance was better when both alternatives were studied than when neither alternative was studied. These results show that prior study results in enhanced discriminability, not only bias.

Dutch-learning and English-learning 9-month-olds were tested, using the Headturn Preference Procedure, for their ability to segment Dutch words with strong/weak stress patterns from fluent Dutch speech. This prosodic pattern is highly typical for words of both languages. The infants were familiarized with pairs of words and then tested on four passages, two that included the familiarized words and two that did not. Both the Dutch- and the English-learning infants gave evidence of segmenting the targets from the passages, to an equivalent degree. Thus, English-learning infants are able to extract words from fluent speech in a language that is phonetically different from English. We discuss the possibility that this cross-language segmentation ability is aided by the similarity of the typical rhythmic structure of Dutch and English words.