Uses Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to predict how much readers would learn from texts based on the estimated conceptual match between their topic knowledge and the text information. Shows a nonmonotonic relationship in which learning was greatest for texts that were neither too easy nor too difficult. Finds LSA was as effective at predicting…

Discusses affective behaviors as complex sets of mental processes and actions that are affected by current context, past learning, and present need state. Highlights include motivation, emotion, and cognition; relationships between the affective and cognitive domain; and ways to achieve desired affective outcomes. (LRW)

By using ill-structured problems and examining problem- solving processes, this study was conducted to explore the nature of solving complex, multistep problems, focusing on how prior knowledge, problem-solving process utilization, and analogical problem solving are related to success. Twenty-four college students qualified to participate by…

A study examined whether the reading comprehension of students with rich domain-specific knowledge will be better than that of students without it and whether assessed general skills will be correlated significantly with reading comprehension performance for students without specific knowledge, but negligible for the students with much specific…

F. C. Bartlett's concept of "attitude" is used in this paper as a point of departure for the creation of a model of the complementary functioning of discursive and experiential memorial representation. The paper first discusses several of the memorial functions of experiential representation, in particular the integrative function…

Prereading teaching strategies that help students connect schemata in their head with the information on the page are important components of reading instruction. Three prereading strategies that serve the purpose of stimulating linking activity are posing related questions, presenting reaction statements, and introducing concept stimuli. Related…

In a study investigating the nature of questioning, a group of subjects with little relevant knowledge and a group with a great deal of relevant knowledge were asked to prepare a chocolate mousse. During the preparation, the subjects were allowed to ask any number of questions and each was answered immediately. Results showed that the number of…

Sex differences in influencability have emerged when discrepant advocacies were accompanied by greater expertise in the subject matter by men or women. Two types of stimuli, one about which men relative to women had high prior knowledge (football tackles) and one about which women had higher prior knowledge (women's fashions), were selected. Men…

Describes 10 categories of inferences and proposes a three-step procedure for teaching students to make inferences while reading. (HOD)

Argues that there is more to background experience than general knowledge--that concepts of print, language, story structue, and of reading's usefulness are equally important in developing early reading skills. (FL)

Experts' perceptions of mathematical problem structures were compared with students' perceptions before and after a course on mathematical problem solving. After the course the students perceived problem relatedness more like the experts, indicating that criteria for problem perception shift as a person's knowledge bases become more richly…

Argues that children develop knowledge in layers, increasing those layers each time the topic is covered. Reviews three sets of materials that provide a background of experience, vocabulary, and text structure for use in science instruction. (FL)

An overarching learning theory is presented, based on assumptions that all learning includes (1) external learner-environment interaction and internal acquisition and elaboration and (2) cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions. The framework depicts four types of learning: cumulative, assimilative, accommodative, and transformative. (Contains…

A total of 108 eleventh and twelfth graders were given a strategy questionnaire and sample Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) math items in an attempt to explain gender differences on this test. Results showed that, although male students performed better on the SAT math items, prior knowledge and strategies explained nearly 50% of the variance. (MDM)

Presents the epistemology of scientific concepts from a schematic modeling perspective. Discusses students' initial cognitive states based on the level of commensurability between students' own concepts and their scientific counterparts. Contains 87 references. (DDR)