Feature Channels: Cognition and Learning

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By: Kathleen Haughney | Published: March 1, 2023 | 2:52 pm | SHARE: With school-aged children celebrating the joy of reading through Read Across America Day or Dr. Seuss Day this week, many parents and teachers are capitalizing on that joy to remind kids of the power of a good book. Florida State University Assistant Professor Lakeisha Johnson, a faculty affiliate for The Florida Center for Reading Research, has assembled a tip sheet for parents using this time to encourage their children to read more.

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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have examined the general intelligence of the language model GPT-3, a powerful AI tool.

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Cleveland: A self-administered screening tool, developed by Cleveland Clinic researchers, can effectively and efficiently assess cognition issues in older adults.

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Infants outperform artificial intelligence in detecting what motivates other people’s actions, finds a new study by a team of psychology and data science researchers. Its results, which highlight fundamental differences between cognition and computation, point to shortcomings in today’s technologies and where improvements are needed for AI to more fully replicate human behavior.

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Engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo are successfully using a robot to help keep children with learning disabilities focused on their work.

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Dementia affects millions of Americans — including nearly one in 10 adults over age 65. While the causes of different dementias vary, a 2020 report from a Lancet commission identified several modifiable risk factors that together account for around 40% of dementia worldwide. Neurologists share how you can reduce your risk for dementia and maintain a healthy brain throughout your life.

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A recent study at the University of Missouri found mothers who are struggling with depression tend to take longer to respond to their child during back-and-forth dialogue.

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Children as young as 4 years old show evidence of a network in the brain found in adults that tackles difficult cognitive problems, a new study found.The multiple demand network helps people focus their attention, juggle several things in memory at the same time, and solve difficult problems like those involving math.And while this network is not fully developed in kids, the study showed it operated similarly as it does in adults, said Zeynep Saygin, senior author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.

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Goffin’s cockatoos have been added to the short list of non-human animals that use and transport toolsets.

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A research team led by Specially Appointed Professor Masanori Kohda from the Graduate School of Science at the Osaka Metropolitan University has demonstrated that fish think “it’s me” when they see themselves in a picture, for the first time in animals.

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The six early-career psychological scientists are honored for groundbreaking psychological research in areas including bias and discrimination, motivation, learning, and change.

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The University of Delaware's Treatment Efficacy & Language Learning Lab is currently running a study looking at children who have difficulty learning or using language, with no known cause. This condition is called Developmental Language Disorder.

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New research links history of concussions to elevated risk for high blood pressure among former NFL players . The link between concussion and high blood pressure persisted even after controlling for known hypertension risk factors.

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A study conducted by Florida State University Psychology Professor Chris Martin and a team of researchers at the University of Toronto, shows that a smart phone application can enhance memory function in older adults.

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Adolescent girls who engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity each day have better attentional control, a new study finds. The study focused on girls and boys aged 15-18.

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Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University have investigated whether the perception of time changes with age, and if so, how, and why we perceive the passage of time differently. Their study was published in Scientific Reports.

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Grid cells not only help us navigate our own paths in a complex environment, but also help us analyse the movements of other people, scientists from the University of Vienna have now shown for the first time. Their new study in Nature Communications also suggests an explanation for a mechanism that could lead to disorientation in dementia patients.

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A new study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers finds that changes in the IQ level of autistic youth may help predict their developmental path as adolescents.

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A fundamental problem of perception is to filter out relevant information from a highly variable environment.

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First study to show that delivering information at the natural tempo of our neural pulses accelerates our ability to learn.

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Press registration is now open for the American Physiology Summit, the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS) to be held April 20–23, 2023, in Long Beach, California.

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Below are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Behavioral Science channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.

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Toddlers whose moms were exposed to higher levels of air pollution during mid- to late-pregnancy tend to score lower on measures of cognition, motor coordination and language skills, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research.

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The sport of orienteering, which draws on athleticism, navigational skills and memory, could be useful as an intervention or preventive measure to fight cognitive decline related to dementia, according to new research from McMaster University.

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UC San Diego researchers identify mutation that causes excessive folding in human brain’s wrinkly cerebral cortex, resulting in diminished cognitive function.

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Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline among the elderly, according to research conducted by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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A rapidly growing body of evidence shows the importance and effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). A major update of the groundbreaking INCOG guidelines for cognitive rehabilitation following TBI is presented in the January/February special issue of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR). The official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America, JHTR is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Between the time you read the Wi-Fi password off the café’s menu board and the time you can get back to your laptop to enter it, you have to hold it in mind.

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Middle-aged smokers are far more likely to report having memory loss and confusion than nonsmokers, and the likelihood of cognitive decline is lower for those who have quit, even recently, a new study has found.

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Research finds orangutans communicate using a complex repertoire of consonant-like calls, more so than African apes.

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What are the keys to “successful” or optimal aging? A new study followed more than 7000 middle aged and older Canadians for approximately three years to identify the factors linked to well-being as we age.

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For decades, doctors and scientists have known that exercise is important for older adults — it can lower risk for cardiac issues, strengthen bones, improve mood and have other benefits. Likewise, mindfulness training reduces stress, and stress can be bad for the brain, so many have thought that exercise and/or mindfulness training might improve brain function.

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It is difficult to assess brain health status and risk of cognitive impairment, particularly at the initial evaluation. To address this, researchers have developed the Brain Health Platform to quantify brain health and identify Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.