Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory

Abstract The aim of the present study was to examine the role of executive functions in predicting rational decision-making among adolescents, with the mediating role of moral judgment. Rational decision-making, as one of the key functions of cognitive development during adolescence, plays a fundamental role in individual, social, and academic adjustment. Given that adolescence is accompanied by extensive biological, cognitive, and emotional changes, understanding the underlying factors influencing rational decision-making is of particular importance.

The present study employed a quantitative, correlational research design using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of first-grade secondary school students in Yazd during the 2024–2025 academic year, from whom a cluster-random sample was selected. Research instruments included the General Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire (GDMS), the Cognitive Functions Questionnaire (Nejati), and Rest’s Moral Judgment Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using AMOS-24 software.

The findings indicated that executive functions directly predicted rational decision-making (β = 0.17, p < 0.05). Moreover, moral judgment played a mediating role in this relationship (β = 0.308, p < 0.002). In other words, adolescents with higher executive functioning also demonstrated better moral judgment, which in turn enhanced the quality of their rational decision-making. The results highlight the importance of integrating cognitive and moral processes and can provide a foundation for designing educational and counseling interventions aimed at improving adolescents’ decision-making skills.

Abstract Objective: Academic boredom, as one of the key negative emotions in educational environments, particularly in mathematics, can lead to numerous effects. The present study was conducted with the aim of examining the model of mathematics academic boredom based on metacognitive strategies and goal orientations, mediated by academic procrastination, among high school students.
Method: This research was descriptive in nature and employed path analysis. The statistical population included all female high school students in public schools in Tehran during the academic year 2024-2025, from which 400 individuals were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Data collection tools included the Academic Boredom Questionnaire (Pekrun et al., 2002), Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (Bouffard et al., 1995), Goal Orientations Questionnaire (Bouffard et al., 1998), and Academic Procrastination Questionnaire (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984). The data were analyzed using path analysis in SPSS 24 and AMOS 2024 software.
Results: The results indicated that the proposed model has a good fit. metacognitive strategies (β=-0.13) and mastery goal orientation (β =-0.29), performance goal orientation (β= 0.19), and avoidance goal orientation (β= 0.05) had a direct and significant effect on mathematics academic boredom. Furthermore, academic procrastination mediated the relationship between goal orientations and academic boredom.
Conclusions: These findings can inform the design of effective educational interventions to reduce academic boredom, emphasizing the strengthening of metacognitive strategies and promotion of mastery goal orientations as key self-regulatory tools. Such approaches not only mitigate academic procrastination but also enhance overall motivation and academic performance.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the HOPS (Homework, Organization and Planning Skills) educational program on academic self-regulation of procrastinating students. Method: The method of the current research was semi-experimental including pretest and posttest designs with a control group. All female students of secondary education of Ardabil city in the academic year of 2025-2026 comprised the population of this research. 40 procrastinating students were recruited through randomized cluster sampling which were randomly assigned to experimental group (n=20) and control group (n=20). The participants of the experimental group, received 12 sessions of the HOPS educational program. The Bufford's Self-Regulation Questionnaire (1995) and Solomon and Ruth Bloom's Academic Procrastination Scale (1984) were taken to collect data. The data were analyzed using statistical method of covariance. The results demonstrated that the academic self-regulation of procrastinating students in posttests of the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group and the research hypothesis based on the effect of the HOPS educational program on academic self-regulation of procrastinating students was approved. Results: The results demonstrated that the academic self-regulation of procrastinating students in posttests of the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group and the research hypothesis based on the effectiveness of the HOPS educational program on academic self- regulation of procrastinating students was approved.
Conclusions: Thus, it can be concluded that the HOPS educational program is indeed effective on academic self-regulation of procrastinating students; therefore, applying this program in case of increasing student's academic self-regulation in schools is suggested.

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Philosophy for Children Course on aspects of students' school engagement. School engagement is a structure indicating that students can create personal relationships with their teachers in addition to the educational content. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental study was conducted on 7th-grade students (n=128) from 4 classes at the same school as the intervention and control groups. In the current quasi-experimental, pre-test, and post-test study, the independent variable was the philosophy for children (P4C) program (ten 60 minute sessions) and the dependent variables were the school engagement aspects including behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and agency engagements. To analyze the data ANOVA was used. The findings indicated that the score of all four aspects of school engagement were significantly higher in the intervention group who attended the Philosophy for Children Program  than those of the control group. Based on the obtained results, 28.2% of changes in total school engagement were attributed to the P4C program. The results show a significant increase in school engagement and its aspects. Philosophy for Children Program can be used to create an educational atmosphere with the highest relationship to students’ curriculum in which the students can rule out their learning behaviors with high motivation.

Abstract Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) have major difficulties in learning and using listening, speaking, reading, writing, and math skills. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of proprioception-enhancing exercises on dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The study population consisted of all girl and boy elementary school students (2nd and 3rd grades) with SLD who received educational and rehabilitation services from public and private centers for learning disorders in Ahvaz, Iran in 2022. Using convenience sampling, 30 students were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (n= 15 per group). The participants in the experimental group received proprioception-enhancing exercises in twelve 45-minute sessions, whereas those in the control group received no intervention. The research instruments included the Reading and Dyslexia Test and Dysgraphia Test. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). According to the demographic results, the mean age of the students in the experimental and control groups was 8.64±2.31 and 8.30±2.47 years, respectively. The results showed that proprioception-enhancing exercises were effective in improving dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD (p<0.01). It can be hence concluded that proprioception-enhancing exercises improve not only dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD but also their academic performance.

Abstract Mindfulness training optimally has positive effects on cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes. In mindfulness training, experiencing pure reality is taught which means mindfulness training helps one to find the here and now without judgment and to accept whatever is happening in each moment without any comment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness training on aggression, mind rumination, and self-control in female students with low academic performance. This research adopted an applied and true experimental design with pre-test/post-test and a control group and the data were analyzed quantitatively. The statistical population included all female students of the Junior high schools in Tabriz with low academic performance in the academic year of 2021-22, estimated as 8395 people. First, through multi-stage cluster sampling, district 1 was selected from among the 5 educational districts of Tabriz and then three schools were selected from this district. Afterwards, through simple random sampling, 50 people were selected and randomly assigned to two groups with 25 participants as the experiemental and control groups. The experimental group received the intervention program of mindfulness training for 8 sessions of 2 hours while the control group continued its traditional method. The tools used to collect data included a self-control questionnaire (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004), the aggression questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), and the mind rumination questionnaire (Nolen-Hoeksema, & Morrow, 1991). For data analysis, in addition to descriptive statistics, Shapiro-Wilk test, multivariate analysis of variance test (MANOVA),

Abstract Considering the recent change in teaching methods from teacher-centered to student-centered, and the existence of a gap in student-centered education models, this research aimed to design a reverse learning model and investigate the effectiveness of the resulted educational program on the academic engagement and the sense of belonging to the school of the senior high school students. The research was developmental in nature, with a sequential exploratory mixed-method design adopting meta-synthesis and quasi-experimental approach. The research scope included all scientific articles and documents published from 2011 to 2021. The validity of the articles was checked via the CASP, the validity and reliability of the meta-synthesis was checked by the Laushe and the Scott’s pi tests respectively. Finally, to implement the educational intervention, 40 male and female senior high school students of Bukan were selected by standardized random sampling method and assigned to two groups of experimental and control. The research instruments included Rio's academic engagement questionnaire (2013), Brown and Evans' (2002) sense of belonging to school questionnaire as well as the researcher designed reverse learning package. Based on the meta-synthesis of the related studies, 4 categories, 8 concepts, and 23 codes for reverse learning were discovered, labeled, and confirmed based on which, a training package was designed and implemented in 10 sessions of 45 minutes. The results showed that reverse learning model has a positive and significant effect on students' academic engagement and belonging to school (sig<0.05).

Abstract This study investigated the green therapy training package and its effectiveness on the function of the frontal part and mirror neurons in hyperactive children. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test and post-test design for this purpose. This study's statistical population included all hyperactive students aged 7-9 living in Tehran in 2021-2022. This study's objectives indicated that the sample was 31 children diagnosed with hyperactivity by the Connors test, who were selected by the available sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental (15) and control (16) groups. Also, children received the intervention for nine sessions of 60 minutes (2 sessions per week) and the experimental group parents were trained. The data were analyzed using MANCOVA analysis, and the results showed that green therapy training has a significant effect on the function of frontal and mirror neurons.

Abstract This research examined the effect of teaching art (motivational painting) on preschool students’ cognitive creativity and social skills. The research design of this quasi-experimental study includeda  pretest-posttest with a control group. 60 students aged  6 years old were selected by purposive sampling from all preschools and kindergartens in Tehran and divided into an experimental group (15 boys and 15 girls) and a control group (15 boys and 15 girls). The experimental group was subjected to the teaching art program of motivational paintings (Silver, 2000) for 12 sessions, two sessions a week, each 45 minutes. Cognitive creativity and social skills were measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking [form B, 1974] and the Social Skills Rating Scale of Gresham and Elliot [parents' form, 1990]. The results were analyzed by Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), T-test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient. The findings indicated that motivational painting instruction had significant positive effects on the students’ cognitive creativity (p<0.01) and two subscales of social skills, namely cooperation and responsibility. The research showed that teaching motivational painting can be used by instructors as a useful and productive method to develop new curricula in order to escalate the positive creativity and social skills of learners in pedagogical institutions.

Abstract Scientific thinking is a type of knowledge seeking involving intentional information seeking, including asking questions, testing hypotheses, making observations, recognizing patterns, and making inferences. The purpose of this research was designing a package of scientific thinking training and its ‘effect on problem-solving skill in preschool children. For this purpose, a study was designed in two steps. At first time, based on Kuhn theory and by reviewing and analysing available resources, the scientific thinking training package was designed. This teaching package includes discussions between the researchers and the child about stories with topics related to children's environment that they may not have encountered in everyday situations in the form of questions. At second step, in order to determine the effect of scientific thinking training on problem-solving, 30 children aged 5 to 6 (15 girls-15 boys) with a moderate score in Raven intelligence test was chosen from three primary schools. Subjects were trained individually in scientific thinking for 8 sessions. Data were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings showed that teaching scientific thinking significantly improves problem solving skills (p <005) and this effect is stable over time. The results of this study show that preschool education and interaction with teacher is an opportunity to provide stimulus situations appropriate to children's abilities, and provide conditions for improving problem-solving.

Abstract In today's educational world, the importance of academic life skills and self-regulated motivation for students, especially in the senior high school, has been noted repeatedly. Thus, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching life skills and self-regulation of motivation on the academic motivation of female students of the senior high schools. This research is a quantitative applied study adopting a quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test/post-test and a control group. The statistical population included 31180 female students of the senior of high schools in Tabriz in the academic year of 2021-2022. From this population, 90 students were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling method and were randomly divided into three groups with 30 participants. The control group received its traditional instruction while the first and second experimental groups received educational life skills and self-regulated motivation interventions respectively for eight sessions of two hours. The instruments included the academic motivation questionnaire (Vallerand et al., 1992). For data analysis, in addition to descriptive statistics, Shapiro-Wilk test, MANOVA, regression slope homogeneity test, Box's M Test, Leven test, MANCOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc test were used. The findings showed that the educational life skills and self-regulation of motivation training programs had a positive effect on the academic motivation of female students of the senior high schools. Also, motivational self-regulation training has a higher effectiveness in the academic motivation of the participants than teaching life skills. According to the results, it is concluded that the integration of educational self-regulation motivation and academic life skills training programs in the school environment can have positive effects on students. Schools and educational centers should look for ways to incorporate these skills into their curricula, so that students can develop the skills to manage their motivation and behaviors in a supportive and interactive environment. Also, it is important that teachers and trainers receive the necessary training to be able to effectively impart these skills to students.

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) and problem solving, with a focus on the mediating role of self-regulated learning (SRL) and the moderating role of gender among Iraqi university students.
Method: A correlational research design was employed. The statistical population included all the students of Qadisiyah University in Iraq in the academic year 2023-2024. A sample of 300 students were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Problem-Solving Inventory (Cassidy & Long, 1996), The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (Cheng, Kuo, Lin & Lee-Hsieh, 2010), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Data was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SPSS and AMOS software.
Results: The results indicated a good model fit. SDL had a direct impact on problem solving. Additionally, SRL partially mediated the relationship between SDL and problem solving. However, gender did not significantly moderate the relationship between SRL and problem solving.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that increasing SDL and SRL among students can enhance their problem-solving skills.

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness training and self-efficacy training on psychological well-being and job engagement among physical education teachers in Tabriz.
Method: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group was employed. The statistical population included all physical education teachers in Tabriz, from which 45 participants were selected via convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: mindfulness training (n=15), self-efficacy training (n=15), and control (n=15). Data were collected using the Job Engagement Questionnaire (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2006) and the Psychological Well-being Questionnaire (Ryff et al., 2004). Interventions were applied to the experimental groups, followed by posttest assessments. Data were analyzed using MANCOVA, ANCOVA, and MANOVA with SPSS-22 software.
Results: Both mindfulness and self-efficacy training significantly improved psychological well-being compared to the control group (p<0.01, effect sizes: 21 and 22.88, respectively), with no significant difference between the two intervention groups. For job engagement, both interventions showed significant improvements over the control group (effect sizes: 18.40 for self-efficacy, 19.73 for mindfulness). Mindfulness training had a significantly greater effect on job engagement than self-efficacy training (p<0.05, effect size: 1.33).
Conclusions: Mindfulness and self-efficacy training both enhance psychological well-being and job engagement among physical education teachers, with mindfulness training demonstrating a superior effect on job engagement. These findings suggest that both interventions are effective, but mindfulness training may offer additional benefits for improving job engagement.

Abstract Webster's Wisdom Questionnaire is a well-known self-assessment scale, which can cover a wide range of future wisdom studies. This research was conducted with the aim to examine the questionnaire psychometrics (reliability, validity, and factor analysis) and to evaluate the relationship between wisdom, age and gender. This questionnaire contains 40 questions assessing the people's wisdom. In a cross-sectional study, 395 (293 males and 102 females) of Sanandaj city, selected through randomized cluster sampling, were assessed using the Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using correlation coefficient, factor analysis and t-test. Using factor analysis, four factors of the proper use of experiences, emotional regulation, reflection, and humor were extracted. To assess the reliability of this questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha and Pearson correlation were used. The results revealed that this questionnaire had good convergent validity. In addition, the comparison of these factors between males and females indicated that females significantly obtained higher score than males in two factors of using the experiences and emotional regulation. Moreover, the high correlation of factors with the total score of the questionnaire and poor correlation of the factors with each other reflect the adequacy and efficiency of this questionnaire to be used by researchers, experts, and psychologists in Iran.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the mediator role of learning strategies in the relationship between academic self-efficacy and test anxiety. This research was done in a descriptive-correlational manner. The sample of study consisted of 350 public high school students from four high schools in Kerman selected through random multistage cluster sampling method. To gather the data, the academic self-efficacy Scale (Jinks - Morgan, 1999), learning strategies scale (Kember & et al., 2004), and the test anxiety scale (Friedman-Jacob, 1997) were used. Path analysis results showed that Academic self-efficacy had both direct (b=−.20), and indirect effects, mediated by Deep and Surface strategies (b=−.08).  Deep learning strategy was the strongest predictor, with a direct effect value of -0.32. The explanatory power of the predictors on test anxiety was medium (R2= 0.36). Considering the results, the learning strategies (deep) and academic self-efficacy had a significant effect on students' test anxiety. Therefore, strengthening of this individual feature in students can lead to the better performance of students in the exam situation by decreasing test anxiety.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to review the changes in the role of demographic and personality variables of mathematics teachers in predicting the mathematical progress of eighth-grade students in Iran and analyzed the trend of these variables in four international studies. For this purpose, we examined the data from 21434 eighth graders and 877 math teachers who had participated in four TIMSS studies (2003, 2007, 2011 & 2015). Among the educational variables influencing the educational development, ten variables including gender, age, history of teaching, the degree, major, teaching hours, job satisfaction, confidence, interaction with other teachers and teaching method were investigated using statistical methods of Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The findings related to the demographic variables showed that the students ' mathematical performance changes were almost consonant with the changes of age, history of teaching, and teaching hours in both groups of male and female teachers. This coordination was not similar in the major and academic degrees. The results of multivariate regression showed that the students ' mathematical development was explained by the set of demographic and personality variables. Among these variables, teaching history and self - confidence of the teachers played the most important role in explaining the students ' progress, and the variables of the degree of education and gender did not contribute to the explanation of the students ' math’s progress. The findings show the necessity of paying more attention to the history of teaching and examining the reasons why major and teachers ' degree were not that influential in math development is essential.

Abstract This article aimed to study the effect of social problem solving skills training on the educational resilience of children in labour. The statistical population of the study included all the girls in labour, aged 12 to 18 years old, who were supported by the educational charity centres and associations in Tehran in the academic year of 2018-2019. The sample body consisted of 30 individuals from the population, who scored the lowest grades in the educational resilience questionnaire. They were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. To measure the educational resilience, the educational resilience questionnaire (Samuels, 2004) was used. The study was of quasi-experimental nature with pre-test, post-test and the control group. The experimental group was trained for 8 sessions to learn the social problem solving based on Dizurilla’s and Goldfried model. Post-test was conducted for both groups. To examine the effect of problem solving training on the educational resilience, the Multivariate Covariance Analysis was performed. The results showed that the social problem solving training affects the learners’ problem-based bias and providence.

Abstract This study investigated the predictive role of HEXACO personality traits (honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) in the speaking performance of Iranian EFL learners, as well as the role of gender in the relationship between HEXACO personality traits and EFL learners’ speaking ability. To this end, 250 learners (125 male and 125 female learners) were selected using a random cluster sampling method and were asked to complete the HEXACO personality traits questionnaire. The speaking ability of all the learners was checked via a scored interview and then was evaluated by three interviewers based on the IELTS speaking bands. Fisher's Z and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that extraversion, conscientiousness, and altruism could predict 90.3 percent of the variance in the speaking ability of the participants. The findings also showed that the gender of the language learners did not have a predicting role in the relationship between personality traits of the language learners and their speaking ability.

Abstract Particle phrases are defined as prefabricated “chunks” stored and retrieved as a whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar. This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of teaching particle-bound phrases on spoken accuracy of Iranian EEL learners. Having been homogenized, a sample of 51 Iranian EFL learners at a university in Karaj, Iran was assigned to three groups: two experimental and one control. Before the treatment, a pre-test of video-based narrative retelling was administered. The Experimental Group 1 (EG1) was presented with the target particle phrases and came up with drawings of their concepts. In Experimental Group 2 (EG2), the same procedure happened except for the hands-on drawing task. The Control Group (CG) was presented with the same particle phrases every session along with their L1 (Farsi) meanings. The results showed that EG2 (M = 5.16) significantly outperformed CG (M = 3.81) on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = 1.34, p = .000). It was also found that EG1 (M = 4.82) significantly outperformed CG (M = 3.81) on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = 1.01, p = .000). Plus, there was not any significant difference between EG1 (M = 5.16) and EG2’S (M = 4.82) means on the immediate posttest (Mean Difference = .334, p = .146). Regarding delayed post-test, it was shown that there was no significant difference between EG1 and EG2 on delayed posttest, but both groups outperformed CG in that regard.

Abstract This study aimed at scrutinizing the mediating role of critical thinking in relation to higher education students'
metacognition and self-efficacy in Islamic Azad University, Nourabad Mamasani. Samples were collected through
random sampling method and it was equal to 248. Instruments used in this study were three standard questionnaires
including critical thinking, metacognition and self-efficacy. Cronbach's alpha was employed to estimate the
instruments’ reliability, based on which critical thinking was found to be 0.88, metacognition 0.89 and self-efficacy
0.87. Findings revealed that meta-cognition could significantly predict students' self-efficacy and critical thinking.
Also, it was found that meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy. This
study also showed that critical thinking had a mediating role in relation to students’ meta-cognition and self-efficacy.
The dimensions of meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy.

Abstract The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of two educational methods of learning by summarizing, and learning through teaching on the comprehension of sixth grade elementary male students. This was an applied study and the research design was experimental with a pre-test and post-test approach and the control group. The study population included all sixth grade male students at Allameh Tabataba'i School, who were studying in the academic year of 2018-2019. The random available sampling method was used in this study. The total number of students were 59, all of which were participated in the study and divided into three different groups by random convenience sampling method. Then, the first experiment group members (15 subjects) were trained in 8 learning sessions through teaching method. The subjects in the second experimental group (15 subjects) were trained in 8 learning sessions by summarizing method. The control group (n = 29) received no training. Two researcher-made questionnaires were designed to assess the comprehension level of the students. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in the SPSS software. Emphasizing the findings of the research, it can be argued that both learning methods had a favorable effect on the students' comprehension, and increased the students' comprehension level. Based on these findings, one can conclude that these two educational methods have a great impact on increasing the comprehension of sixth grade elementary students.

Abstract The current study aimed at predicting the need for achievement and responsibility among students based on their perceived competence and novelty-seeking. The population consisted of all the 987 students of Islamic Azad University in Gachsaran, Iran, and, based on Cochrane’s formula, a sample of 350 students was assessed using random cluster sampling. The study was practical and used a correlational design. The measures comprised the Herman’s Achievement Motivation Test, the Responsibility Questionnaire, the Perceived Competence Scale, the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory. Data from Pearson’s correlation coefficients and multivariable regression analyses showed that perceived competence and novelty-seeking could both meaningfully predict the need for achievement. Novelty-seeking was also a meaningful predictor of responsibility. However, perceived competence did not predict responsibility. The independent variables also, directly and indirectly, predicted the level of responsibility through the need for achievement, novelty-seeking, and perceived competence.
Keywords: Need for achievement; Novelty-seeking; Perceived competence; Responsibility.

Abstract Retention and learning are neurolinguistic and psycholinguistic processes. The brain electrical response to the cognitive processes that happen in the cortices is inescapable. During neuronal activities, created waves can be recorded and displayed by quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) in a non-invasive form. Beta waves are created by thinking, learning, computations, reasoning, attention, and problem-solving activities. This study's primary goal is to objectively investigate the variables impacts of multisensory and non-multisensory methods of instruction on vocabulary retention concerning beta and beta1 waves frequency changes. To meet the purpose, some pre-school novice male and female foreign language learners (age: 5-6 years) participated in this study voluntarily and were assigned into two experimental groups: The Multisensory (three girls and four boys) and Non-multisensory (one girl and six boys) teaching groups. The analyses of the collected data on pre- and post-brain QEEG records of beta and beta1/SMR waves' variations indicated no significant difference between the two groups in the brain oscillatory changes. However, the case study analyses specified the supremacy of beta1 frequency ranges in the Multisensory post-records. The comparative findings of pre- and post-Expressive One Word-Picture-Matching Test (EWPMT) showed that the Multisensory group outperformed the Non-multisensory one; besides, a significant positive relationship was found between beta wave frequency changes on Fp1 and mean score of EWPM post-test in the Multisensory group. The study concluded that the multisensory approach could be a promising method to improve retention at the pre-school level.   

Abstract What is learning after all? Being the cornerstone of educational psychology, this question has not lost its appeal since there still is no consensus over it. What makes providing a careful definition of learning important is that such definitions carry important pedagogical implications which might not be equally beneficial. This theoretical paper, therefore, has tried to define learning by a novel interdisciplinary approach through connecting educational psychology to philosophy. It has started with the dilemma of a lack of consensus over the definition of definition itself and the necessity for holding a theory of definition. Consequently, Aristotle’s definition theory has been chosen. To be impartial, it has been contrasted with that adopted by Karl Popper- Aristotle’s major critic. Then, mainstream leaning definitions have been investigated. Their inadequacy has been attributed to their non-adherence to a tenable definition theory. The paper recommends a framework for learning definition studies established by adopting Aristotle’s definition theory and other points discussed. Such a framework constitutes guidelines for future studies. These guidelines give future definition studies direction and coherence and allow us to move away from idiosyncrasies reflecting personal bias and, as such, they can direct us towards developing a consensual definition.

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the effect of learning context on the acquisition of plurality agreement in English noun phrases by Iranian L3 learners of English. To this end, 64 elementary learners of English were chosen from among the students of Arabic language and literature and Persian language and literature of Ahvaz university and Yazd university via the Oxford Quick Placement test. The participants were assigned to four groups to be compared in terms of the comprehension and production of plurality agreement via a grammaticality judgment correction task and a picture description task. The first and the second groups had Persian as their first language (L1) and Arabic as their second language (L2) but differed from each other concerning their language of contact instruction, Persian and Arabic, respectively. The third and fourth groups had Arabic as the L1 and Persian as the L2 but differed from each other concerning their language of contact instruction, Persian and Arabic, respectively. The results showed that the groups which had Arabic as their language of contact instruction outperformed the other groups in both tasks, which suggests that they transferred plurality agreement facilitatively from Arabic, which was their language of contact instruction. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that the context of learning matters in the acquisition of L3 properties since the L3 learners associate their language of contact instruction with the L3 in their mind due to the similarities in the learning context.