The development of visually guided reaching

This investigation measured the accuracy of reaching in infants wearing 30-diopter prisms. Infants varied in age from 4 to 10 months. Although accuracy was barely affected, the reach trajectories indicated that infants switched from a miss path to a hit path in midcourse. There was some evidence to support the view that visually directed reaching was operative in the youngest infants and that it improved with age.     

Worker traits and worker functions in DOT

Some users of the worker traits ratings and worker function hierarchies in DOT do not seem to be fully aware that the two systems are in large part redundant: the worker traits can be efficiently summarized by the ratings of worker functions (level of complexity of working with data, people and things). This paper, a by-product of an extension of DOT to the Australian Census Classification of Occupations, attempts to validate the worker function hierarchies in terms of the worker traits required by different jobs in DOT. It shows empirically that the variation in worker traits across the 21,741 occupations listed in DOT is closely reflected in the 197 worker function profiles, which have the better research potential.     

Teaching Beginning Braille Reading Using an Alphabet or Uncontracted Braille Approach

This study examined the effects of using a research based print reading program modified to accommodate beginning braille readers using an alphabet or uncontracted braille reading approach with five beginning braille readers. Four of the 5 participants displayed a clear increase in their ability to read high frequency words when they began using the Early Steps reading program modified to an Early Steps Alphabet Braille Reading Program. Study findings indicate that access to reading activities and materials afforded to sighted peers resulted in improved reading outcomes for children with visual impairments. Teachers, participants, and family members all viewed the use of the uncontracted braille reading program and materials favorably. Specialized reading instruction was also perceived as beneficial by teachers of students with visual impairments when the training addressed the specific needs of braille readers.     

You detect while I search: examining visual search efficiency in a joint search task

Numerous factors impact attentional allocation, with behaviour being strongly influenced by the interaction between individual intent and our visual environment. Traditionally, visual search efficiency has been studied under solo search conditions. Here, we propose a novel joint search paradigm where one individual controls the visual input available to another individual via a gaze contingent window (e.g., Participant 1 controls the window with their eye movements and Participant 2 – in an adjoining room – sees only stimuli that Participant 1 is fixating and responds to the target accordingly). Pairs of participants completed three blocks of a detection task that required them to: (1) search and detect the target individually, (2) search the display while their partner performed the detection task, or (3) detect while their partner searched. Search was most accurate when the person detecting was doing so for the second time while the person controlling the visual input was doing so for the first time, even when compared to participants with advanced solo or joint task experience (Experiments 2 and 3). Through surrendering control of one’s search strategy, we posit that there is a benefit of a reduced working memory load for the detector resulting in more accurate search. This paradigm creates a counterintuitive speed/accuracy trade-off which combines the heightened ability that comes from task experience (discrimination task) with the slower performance times associated with a novel task (the initial search) to create a potentially more efficient method of visual search.     

The Structure of Emotion Dialogues: Maternal Reminiscing Factors Differentially Relate to Child Language and Socio-Emotional Outcomes

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Mother–child reminiscing about past emotional experiences is one aspect of emotion socialization that facilitates child socio-emotional and...