Experimental evidence strongly supports the assumption that knowledge of results (KR) is necessary for learning to occur. This study compares the effects of KR or no-KR with the effects of an interpolated verbal activity on learning and performance of a timed motor task. Results are presented. (Author/MT)

To validate their use in a natural environment with realistic learning materials and conditions, the efficacy of adjunct questions was tested in a college biology course with a double-crossover design. Mixed results were obtained. It is concluded that it would be better to make adjunct questions optional. (Author/LMO)

An irrelevant auditory probe procedure was employed to evoke brain event-related potentials (ERPs) in 56 right-handed Caucasian males while they learned concepts presented to them in study booklets. A mastery test was administered to assess concept acquisition. Subjects were divided into two groups according to whether or not their achievement…

This article presents a new method of inferring students' cognitive structures and their development. A modification of Reitman and Rueter's "ordered tree technique," the method generates a structure that displays important relationships assumed to be in a student's memory about concepts taken from a specific field of study. (Author/LMO)

The problem-solving performance of elderly individuals was facilitated by manipulating the demands of problem-solving tasks. The fact that elderly individuals can use more efficient strategies under certain circumstances suggests that the elderly have such strategies in their repertoires. (Author)

Discussion of subliminal stimuli focuses on a study of undergraduates that was conducted to determine the feasibility of presenting subliminal information in a passive manner to reinforce the learning process involved in computer-based text editing. The Texas Instruments microcomputers used in the study are described, and further research is…

A study investigated the effect of providing students with varying forms of feedback during reading on students' estimates of understanding, actual comprehension scores, and students' use of rereading and reading rate adjustment. The 67 subjects were presented with passages to read, and their reading behavior was monitored via computer. Although…

It was hypothesized that the use of fading in response items of stimulus-response pairs constructed to simulate learning of a foreign language vocabulary would result in fewer errors than would the use of regular flash cards used in typical trial-and-error fashion. Subjects were college women volunteers randomly assigned to one of two experimental…

This study extended concepts derived from Rothkopf's mathemagenic hypothesis to problem solving. While previous mathemagenic research has established that adjunct questions interspersed with written prose facilitates learning, it has been criticized as educationally nonsignificant because the research has focused on verbatim learning. To test…

The current study attempted to further clarify the relationship between speed and span by directly examining whether slower identification of item information is the source of memory span difficulties in learning disabled children. Results indicated that span performance varied directly with naming speed. (Author/LMO)

The relationship between field dependence-independence (FDI) and the ability to read and comprehend printed text was examined in this study. The effect of the structure of instructional text on the learning process of individuals at various points on the continuum of FDI was also studied. The following hypotheses were developed: (1) there would be…

Examined and measured effects of individual differences among the elderly in a cognitive training program emphasizing general learning skills. Memory improvement was greater for learning skill training and social support compared with a waiting list group. Individual variability obscured statistical differences in treatment effect. Examined…

Describes a study that used a computer as a research tool to investigate the role of questioning in the way information is used and interpreted. The effects of self-generated questions, external higher order questions, and external lower order questions on thinking processes are examined. (35 references) (LRW)

Describes study of 122 undergraduate and graduate students that contrasted the effects of two error correction procedures on student achievement when using computer assisted instruction. Analyses of variance were used to determine whether question type or error response affected subsequent responses to factual and higher cognitive questions.…

A biochemistry examination administered to 114 dental students consisted of 20 items that measured knowledge and 18 items that measured either comprehension or application. Each item was written with five choices, half the class being presented the original version, half a content-similar derivative that included three choices. (Author/LMO)