Three experiments examined children's strategic regulation of memory accuracy. Found that younger (7 to 9 years) and older (10 to 12 years) children could enhance the accuracy of their testimony by screening out wrong answers under free-report conditions. Findings suggest a developmental trend in level of memory accuracy actually achieved.…

Design strategies directly related to the development of instructional materials for rule learning were investigated. Findings indicated: 1) the degree of divergence between instances showed that contrasting, not matching, features resulted in better performance; and 2) two contextually similar rules learned simultaneously, not successfully,…

Two studies compared the effects of spontaneous and controlled imagery on reality monitoring decisions. Reality monitoring refers to the decision processes involved in discriminating perceptual memories from imaginal ones. In Experiment 1, 6-year-olds and adults were shown pictures and words and they responded to one of two questions: (1)…

To investigate developmental differences, preschoolers' performance on four tasks frequently used to measure their understanding of causal and temporal relationships was studied. Based on an analysis of cognitive processes involved in recognition, completion, construction/seriation, and verbal explanation tasks, the prediction was made that…

This paper reviews the aspects of cognitive science that relate best to using electrical and magnetic recording to understand the function of brain systems. It outlines a framework for relating cognitive activities of daily life (typing, reading) to underlying neural systems. The framework uses five levels of analysis: task, elementary operations,…

The factors underlying memory performance in learning are shown to be affected by strategic processing and by automatic processing. Strategic processing is under the conscious control and effort of the learner while automatic processing is dependent on the strength of associations between new concepts and known concepts in a given domain.…

The present study attempted to identify and describe individual differences in concept learning. It was hypothesized that if a significant portion of the reliable individual variation in a complex learning situation could be identified and described, it would be reasonable to expect that subsequent predictions could be made about the conditions…

Compared the cognitions of high and low math anxious undergraduates (N=71) who were asked to think aloud while solving mathematical problems. Results showed no anxiety-related differences for either performance or 11 categories of cognitions, and no sex differences in performance or for a linear combination of cognitions. (JAC)

Reviews the effects of vision changes commonly associated with aging (e.g., cataract, presbyopia, pupil changes) and examines their relationship to intellectual performance. Discusses variables related to intellectual functioning including motivation, education, test anxiety, and fatigue. (LLL)

Richard E. Snow conceived of an individuals' performance as the result of a transaction between her aptitudes and the particular characteristics of the situation in which that performance occurs over time. By aptitudes he meant the cognitive and motivational resources that an individual brings to the situation. By situation he meant the…