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The flash visual evoked potential P2 (FVEP-P2) has been identified as a potentially useful clinical, diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCIa) due to its association with cholinergic functioning in the brain. The FVEP-P2 is the second positive component of the VEP waveform elicited by a single strobe flash. Despite finding a selective delay in the latency of the FVEP-P2 in AD and MCIa groups, adequate levels of sensitivity and specificity have not been achieved due to natural group differences and inter-individual variability. In response, Fix and colleagues introduced a novel, double-stimulation paradigm that contained two strobe flashes (i.e., stimulations). The first stimulation served as a visual challenge while the second stimulation produced the recorded FVEP-P2 component. The results of that investigation indicated that the latency of the FVEP-P2 could be used to reliably discriminate between aMCI and healthy controls when the ISI of the double-stimulation condition was 100 ms or higher. Unfortunately, very little is known regarding the psychometric properties of the FVEP-P2 when produced by a double-stimulation condition. Consequently, we assessed the test-retest reliability of the FVEP-P2 latency produced by a single- and twelve double-stimulation conditions in a sample of young, healthy individuals (N = 20). Results indicated that while the FVEP-P2 latencies produced by the single- and double-stimulation paradigm were reliable, the intra-individual variability continued to be too high for the FVEP-P2 latency to be used clinically. Methods of reducing the intra-individual variability are discussed, including the use of monochromatic light.

Executive function (EF) skills (cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory) and syntactic awareness of monolingual (English) and bilingual (English–Spanish) language brokers and nonbrokers were examined. EF skills may be salient for brokers, who must not only inhibit interference from another language but also exhibit EF skills when translating. The brokers displayed better cognitive flexibility when compared to the other groups. For the bilingual groups, cognitive flexibility was also a predictor of English syntactic awareness when accuracy was taken into account. Cognitive flexibility and inhibition were important factors on a Spanish syntactic awareness measure. These results are discussed in terms of how linkages between EF skills and syntactic awareness may be moderated by language group.

Robust evidence exists for the shape bias, or children's tendency to extend novel names and categorize objects more readily on the basis of shape than on other object features. However, issues remain about the conditions that affect the shape bias and its importance as a linguistic device. In this research, we examined how type of instruction (common noun naming, proper noun naming, same kind, and goes with), animacy of objects (animate, inanimate), and dimensionality of objects (two‐dimensional, three‐dimensional) affect the shape bias in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children. Overall, all children showed strong use of the shape bias with categorization (same kind, goes with) instructions, the former in line with the shape‐as‐cue theory. Additionally, the shape bias was quite robust in the inanimate condition, regardless of type of instruction or dimensionality of objects. However, in the animate condition, a proper noun naming instruction coupled with an animate object cue reduced the shape bias across both two‐ and three‐dimensional objects. Implications of these findings are presented. Highlights This study assessed the “shape bias,” a linguistic strategy young children routinely use when confronted with the task of extending a novel name from one object to another. Novel name extension and categorization tasks were used in this study. Shape bias was affected by the type of instructions, animacy of objects, and dimensionality of objects.

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