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Now showing items 11-20 of 27
Dissertation
Audio-Visual Information Processing across different age groups
(2016-11-14)
People possess different sensory modalities to detect, interpret, and efficiently act upon various events in a complex and dynamic environment (Fetsch, DeAngelis, & Angelaki, 2013). Much empirical work has been done to understand the interplay of modalities (e.g. audio-visual interactions, see Calvert, Spence, & Stein, 2004). On the one hand, integration of multimodal input as a functional principle of the brain enables the versatile and coherent perception of the environment (Lewkowicz & Ghazanfar, 2009). On the ...
Dissertation
Die Wirksamkeit chronischer und akuter sportlicher Aktivität auf die kognitiven Fähigkeiten von Vorschulkindern
(2016-10-26)
Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht zum einen Zusammenhänge zwischen körperlicher Aktivität, den motorischen Fähigkeiten und den kognitiven Fähigkeiten von 5- bis 6-Jährigen (Studien 1 und 3). Zum anderen wurde für diese Altersgruppe die Wirkung langfristiger (Stu-die 1: N = 81) und einmaliger koordinativer und ausdauerorientierter Interventionen (Studie 2: N = 170; Studie 3: N = 135) auf die kognitiven Fähigkeiten überprüft. Vor und nach den je-weiligen Interventionen wurden die kognitiven Fähigkeiten erhoben ...
Dissertation
Verbal proficiency as fitness indicator: Experimental and comparative research on the evolutionary psychology of language and verbal displays
(2011-10-26)
Summary: Recent research on the evolution of language and verbal displays (e.g., Miller, 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2002) indicated that language is not only the result of natural selection but serves as a sexually-selected fitness indicator that is an adaptation showing an individual’s suitability as a reproductive mate. Thus, language could be placed within the framework of concepts such as the handicap principle (Zahavi, 1975). There are several reasons for this position: Many linguistic traits are highly heritable ...
Aufsatz
A note on pigs’ knowledge of hidden objects
(2013-08-12)
Object permanence is the notion that objects continue to exist even when they are out of observer´s sight. This ability is adaptive not only for free ranging animals who have to cope with a dangerous and highly changeable environment, allowing them to be aware of predators sneaking in their proximity or to keep track of conspecifics or food sources, even when out of sight. Farm animals, too, might profit from object permanence as the ability to follow the trajectory of hidden food or objects may lead to a higher ...
Aufsatz
Distributing mathematical practice of third and seventh graders: Applicability of the spacing effect in the classroom
(2018-10-23)
We examined the effect of distributed practice on the mathematical performance of third and seventh graders (N = 213) in school. Students first received an introduction to a mathematical topic, derived from their curriculum. Thereafter, they practiced in one of two conditions. In the massed condition, they worked on three practice sets in 1 day. In the distributed condition, they worked on one practice set per day for 3 consecutive days. Bayesian analyses of the performance in two follow‐up tests 1 and 6 weeks after ...
Aufsatz
Reading a short story changes children’s sustainable behavior in a resource dilemma
(2019-12-02)
Fostering sustainable behavior in children and adolescents should be a central aim of today’s education. Even though the interplay of factors affecting sustainable behavior is complex, simple interventions can be effective too. In the current study, 10-year-olds (N = 132) were read a short story about two foresters who collectively used a forest to gain timber, facing a resource dilemma that involved striving for maximizing their individual profit while sustaining the forest. In the story, the foresters solved the ...
Aufsatz
Shape But Not Color Facilitates Two-Year-Olds’ Search Performance in a Spatial Rotation Task
(2018)
Children younger than 3 years of age often fail to track hidden objects that are rotated together with identical hiding containers, which might be due to relatively complex paradigms. We examined whether 2-year-olds (N = 28) are already able to track spatial rotations (i.e., by 90° and 180°) if the task is facilitated by increasing the visual discriminability of the hiding containers by means of different shapes and different colors. Children performed above chance level in all conditions except for the condition in ...
Aufsatz
Verbal facilitation effects instead of verbal overshadowing in face memory of 4- to 6-year olds
(2015)
Research on eye witness memory in older children and adults revealed that verbally describing unfamiliar faces impairs later recognition of these faces, known as the “verbal overshadowing effect”. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a verbal overshadowing effect occurs in 4- to 6-year olds, too, and whether visualization (i.e., drawing the seen face) might elicit a visual overshadowing effect. Instead of a verbal overshadowing effect, a verbal facilitation effect was revealed with verbal intelligence ...
Aufsatz
Girls in detail, boys in shape: Gender differences when drawing cubes in depth
(2013)
The current study tested gender differences in the developmental transition from drawing cubes in two‐ versus three dimensions (3D), and investigated the underlying spatial abilities. Six‐ to nine‐year‐old children (N = 97) drew two occluding model cubes and solved several other spatial tasks. Girls more often unfolded the various sides of the cubes into a layout, also called diagrammatic cube drawing (object design detail). In girls, the best predictor for drawing the cubes was Mental Rotation Test (MRT) accuracy. ...