Purpose: Orthographic facilitation describes the phenomenon in which a spoken word is produced more accurately when its corresponding written word is present during learning. We examined the orthographic facilitation effect in children with dyslexia because they have poor learning and recall of spoken words. We hypothesized that including…

Participants learned foreign vocabulary by means of the paired-associates learning procedure in three conditions: (a) in silence, (b) with vocal music with lyrics in a familiar language playing in the background, or (c) with vocal music with lyrics in an unfamiliar language playing in the background. The vocabulary to learn varied in concreteness…

The present study aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation of flashcard software for learning vocabulary in a second language. Nine flashcard programs were analysed using 17 criteria derived from previous studies on flashcard learning as well as paired-associate learning. Results suggest that in general, most programs have been developed in a…

In a series of experiments, participants learned to associate black-and-white shapes with nonsense spoken labels (e.g., "joop"). When tested on their recognition memory, participants falsely recognized as correct a shape paired with a label that began with the same sounds as the shape's original label (onset-overlapping lure; e.g., "joob") more…

Studies of monolingual speakers have shown a strong association between lexical learning and short-term memory (STM) capacity, especially STM for serial order information. At the same time, studies of bilingual speakers suggest that phonological knowledge is the main factor that drives lexical learning. This study tested these two hypotheses…

This article focuses on the early research domains investigated by Michael Pressley, along with the integrations and initiatives that were inspired by them. These research domains include verbal and imagery elaboration memory strategies, and developmental aspects of them; interrogative elaboration; pictorial strategies for language and literacy…

In 3 experiments, 9-month-old infants' expectations for what distinct count noun labels refer to were investigated. In Experiment 1, a box was opened to reveal 2 objects inside during familiarization: either 2 identical objects or 2 different objects. Test trials followed the same procedure, except before the box was opened, the contents were…

Twelve- and 18-year-olds learned a list of paired associates; experimental subjects were instructed in mnemonics, while controls simply learned the pairings. When subjects were presented a list of Latin nouns and their translations to learn, spontaneous transfer of the mnemonic strategy occurred only among 18-year-olds. (Author/GDC)

This study examined the effects of three stimulus variables and background music on paired-associate learning of foreign language (FL) vocabulary. The stimulus variables were the frequency and concreteness of the native language (L1) words and the (phonotactical) typicality of the FL words. Sixty-four L1-FL pairs were presented for learning six…

Seventy-nine first-year and 85 third-year students were tested on the meanings of French words from vocabulary lists. Twenty percent were then taught memory-improvement strategies, 20 percent were taught strategies and given guided practice, and 20 percent learned the lists without aids. The strategies significantly improved the performance of…

In an investigation of the degree to which children learn associations in the direction opposite to the one in which they were taught, 20 preschool children were instructed in letter-sound correspondences in one of two ways. One group was presented with the letter symbol and asked to produce the sound, while the other group was presented with the…

The keyword method of foreign language learning was adapted for young children learning Spanish. Rather than constructing visual images relating to the word pair, the children generated sentences. Both second- and fifth-grade students experienced large vocabulary gains. (Author/GDC)

Investigates differential effects of reading and paired associate learning on vocabulary acquisition of adult English-as-a-Second-Language learners. Two groups of university students participated. One group read "Animal Farm" while the comparison group memorized a list of words preselected from the novel. Suggests that for encouraging long-term…

A series of four experiments explored a discrepancy in the findings of research regarding the use of the keyword method for learning vocabulary, specifically whether the presentation method (paced vs. unpaced) or the treatment administration (subjects in groups vs. subjects as individuals) determines its effectiveness. Two experiments involved…

Study investigated effectiveness of two techniques in second-language vocabulary development: spacing of first-language (FL) and second-language (SL) words and reversal of the conventional FL/SL order in paired associate learning. Subjects were 16 English-speaking grade-seven students of French. Results showed superior performance in both spacing…