Synonyms within languages were compared with exact repetition of words as aids to recall. Interlingual synonyms had effects identical to those of exact repetition, whereas intralingual synonyms were less effective than exact repetition. Bilingual equivalence of words does not appear to be due to common underlying semantic structures. (Author/RD)

Three experiments (which used adults and 14-year-old children) studied the congruence between textual input at encoding and output in the form of memory reproductions. Results verified a very close correspondence between encoding and retrieval regarding hierarchically structural operations on the information in simple stories. (AN)

This paper reviews current models of problem solving to identify results relevant to teachers or instructional developers. Four areas are covered: information processing models, approaches stressing human abilities and factors, creative problem solving models, and other aspects of problem solving. Part of a theme issue on intelligence. (Author/SJL)

Discusses a method used at DePaul University of Chicago, Illinois, in a relativity course for students who are not science majors, emphasizing logical reasoning rather than memory of facts. (HM)

Addresses the questions of whether young children would differentially utilize spatial and thematic cues for recall and/or organization and whether such effects would persist over time. Subjects were 60 fifth-grade and 60 preschool children. (MP)

Two experiments, involving 90 first-grade children, were conducted to test a retrieval-inefficiency explanation for the failure of visual imagery to facilitate young children's prose recall. (Author/MP)

Reports three experiments investigating the relationship of the suffix effect and echoic memory. Shows that echoic memory persists for at least 20 seconds. Illustrates that echoic memory can be used to establish a more effective nonechoic memory. Shows that recency recall is higher to auditory than to visual items. (PMJ)

A schema-based framework for representing knowledge and prose organization was studied. Testing of a script pointer and tag hypothesis confirmed that memory discrimination is better for atypical actions in a passage than for typical script actions and that there is no memory discrimination for very typical actions. (SW)

Investigated was the hypothesis that high arousal increases processing of physical characteristics and reduces processing of semantic characteristics. While introverts and extroverts had equivalent scanning rates for physical features, introverts were significantly slower in searching for semantic features of category membership, indicating…

This review of the concept learning literature indicates that the greater effectiveness of field-independent learners is related to memory efficiency and the ability to conduct combinatorial analysis. Short-term memory and free recall studies suggest factors contributing to the less efficient memory of field-dependent learners. (Editor/SJL)

The influence of feedback on the cognitive task performance of 30 adults with mental retardation having either high or low self-esteem was assessed. All subjects performed two memory tasks (easy, difficult) under one of three feedback conditions (social, computer, and no feedback). Social feedback was most effective in altering the positive…

Examined the role of individual differences in working memory and lexical access in age- and reading skill-related differences in performance on phonological synthesis tasks. The performance of 28 kindergarten, first-, and second-grade students with normal reading skills, and that of 28 reading-disabled second graders, was compared under four…

Uses autobiographical information constructed by John Brown's family in the aftermath of Harpers Ferry to illustrate the issue of rescripting of history. Points out that this nondeliberate rewriting of the past is a result of the personal need to refocus self-schema and the validation of false memories as authentic. (KO)

Describes an artificial intelligence system known as SOAR that approximates a theory of human cognition. Discusses cognition as problem solving, working memory, long term memory, autonomy and adaptability, and learning from experience as they relate to artificial intelligence generally and to SOAR specifically. Highlights the status of the…

Two experiments examined the development of children's memory for spatial location or color. Results refuted the proposal that in contrast to color, spatial location would not show developmental improvement because it is remembered automatically. Suggests that, for the age range studied, there was developmental change in the efficiency of…