Shows how cognitive psychology can provide guidelines to design computer systems that are easy to use, based on the assumption that prior knowledge of the real world and natural language affect users' attitudes toward the computer. Concludes that human-computer communication is facilitated when the system is consistent with this knowledge.…

Suggests that oral and silent sentence reading represent a similar cognitive process. Reports that poor readers, in particular, decrease processing time on difficult words in silent as compared to oral reading. (AEA)

The article describes a study to determine how instruction on the distinction between two theoretical ideas will affect the intake, interpretation, and recall of new information related to but different from the first. (Author/SB)

An examination was made of factors affecting reading performance of upper elementary students. Factors included effects of questions placed at various positions in the text, role of factual and inferential questions used as adjunct aids, and differences in processing strategies used by the readers in probed recall tasks. (Author/HOD)

Listening was found to be a potential avenue for learning content area material. Further, findings underscore the value of a response format that minimizes involvement of expressive language in severely disabled students with identifiable expressive language difficulties. (Author)

Previous methods of evaluating listening comprehension have been faulty in that they also tested reading ability and memory, which interfered with the assessment of listening comprehension. A method is proposed which tests students' reactions to statements made in the everyday language of the target language. Results of the method in the…

Investigates increased use of metacognition (i.e., monitoring comprehension, developing expectations, learning information sampling strategies) as reading ability develops among sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade pupils and high school students. (Author/RH)

Three problem-solving strategies--working backward from the unknown, forward from the given, and mixed--were applied to interrelated algebra equations. The mixed strategy was most popular and most efficient with grouped variables. Memory load or information-processing load differences among the strategies were evident. (CP)

Presented is a theoretical, hierarchical model of abstraction designed to provide a systematic theoretical framework for future research into abstract learning. A test of the model with 149 subjects supported the assumption that the hierarchical model of abstraction is valid. (SL)

The report presents an analysis of the underlying structure of simple stories and examines the implications of such structure for recall. Data comparing recall by children and adults suggest that story schemata differ somewhat at various points in development and that consequently there are qualitative differences in recall. (RC)

Fourteen adults who stuttered and 14 adults who did not participated in a self-paced word-by-word reading experiment. Results indicated that the two groups were not different with respect to speed of word identification but that persons who stuttered retrieved semantic information more slowly than those who did not stutter. (Author/PB)

Certain misunderstandings in science, mathematics, and computer programing reflect analogous underlying difficulties. These misunderstandings are examined through four knowledge levels: (1) content; (2) problem-solving; (3) epistemic; and (4) inquiry. Analysis of several examples shows that misunderstandings have causes at multiple levels, and…

Identifies four major assumptions that drive current psychological research on the reading comprehension process. Emerging evidence points to prior knowledge and cognitive and metacognitive processes as critical for the development of skilled reading comprehension, and suggests that instruction on the processes underlying comprehension can improve…

A discourse comprehension model is developed in which the initial processing is bottom-up. Word meanings are activated, propositions are formed, and inferences and elaborations are produced, regardless of the discourse context. A network of interrelated items is created which can be integrated into a coherent structure. (SLD)