In Experiment 1, students received an illustrated booklet, PowerPoint presentation, or narrated animation that explained 6 steps in how a cold virus infects the human body. The material included 6 high-interest details mainly about the role of viruses in sex or death (high group) or 6 low-interest details consisting of facts and health tips about…

College students read passages describing quantitative relations among elements, and answered either 12 numeric (A=20C?) or 12 comparative (A .gt. C?) questions. When they received both types of questions, subjects performed better on the type they had received previously. Information stated as meaningful stories resulted in better performance…

In four experiments involving 357 undergraduates, students who read expository passages with seductive details (interesting but irrelevant details) recalled fewer main ideas and generated fewer problem-solving transfer solutions than those who read passages without seductive details. Results suggest that seductive details may prime inappropriate…

A review is made of that literature which focuses on the relationship of instructional method, internal cognitive activity and performance measures. This includes literature concerned with the issue of "discovery versus reception learning" and the effects of different instructional methods on retention, delayed retention and transfer tasks. The…

Two experiments involving skilled readers (159 college students) explored the benefits to student attitude and content retention of adding emotional interest, through seductive text, or cognitive interest, through signals for structural understanding, to scientific text. Results support the benefits of cognitive over emotional interest. (SLD)

The emergence of cognitive approaches to instruction is traced, beginning with a historical analysis of the relationship between psychology and education, and continuing with an overview of learning as response acquisition, as knowledge acquisition, and as a knowledge construction. Examples of progress in cognition and instruction are provided.…

Three limitations of the Barnes and Clawson review (EJ 135 379), which concluded that advance organizers do not facilitate learning, are discussed. Several theories of the effects of advance organizers on internal cognitive processes are presented, and theory-related studies provide evidence that advance organizers can affect learning in…