Writing samples were examined from 42 post-secondary students with or without writing difficulties. Guided by the Simple View of Writing (Berninger et al., 2002), the samples were examined for evidence of difficulties with lower-order transcription processes and higher-order composition skills. Retrospective reports on writing strategies were also…

A study of children's and young adults' retention of words and their presentation modality addressed three issues: (1) how long the modality information is retained, (2) whether children or adults lose it more rapidly, and (3) whether the word or modality information is lost more rapidly. The study consisted of two experiments. In the first, 32…

A study compared the way in which subjects belonging to four different age groups produced written recall and summary responses after being presented with a narrative story. A seventh-grade-level, 500-word story that contained 78 idea units was presented to two groups of adolescents (mean ages, 14.14 years and 17.55 years) and two groups of adults…

Twenty-four children (aged 7-16 years) with seizure disorders (SD) were compared to 30 children with diabetes mellitus (DB) and 30 children with no chronic illness. Using a variety of assessment devices, the children were compared on intelligence, academic achievement, attention, memory, perceived competence, and parents' perceptions of child and…

The effects of daily training in visual memory and basal reader instruction were investigated. Training and tests on 295 first-graders indicated that visual memory training resulted in more growth in visual discrimination and higher levels of reading achievement than reading instruction alone. (SDH)

Results suggest that a significant proportion of observed race differences on some performance tasks may be attributable to a failure of many blacks to use spontaneously an efficient verbal strategy rather than a genetic reasoning deficit. (Author/DEP)

As part of a long term project relating individual differences in performance on paper and pencil tests of intellectual aptitude and achievement to differences observed in laboratory studies of cognition, data have been collected comparing test scores with simple choice reaction times. The three studies summarized here suggest that the…

Two modes of story telling, live reading and recorded reading, were compared. Each child heard a story presented by the teacher or a recording and then retold the story. Children in the live group used significantly more words and more correct themes in retelling than did those in the recording group. (Author)

Subjects who read about the legislative process in Oklahoma demonstrated slightly better factual recall of the material than subjects who saw a film version of the same material. (GW)

Investigates the extent to which learning disabled readers' atypical encoding relates to their deficiencies in semantic memory by comparing learning disabled and nondisabled readers in two age groups on dichotic listening tasks that included orienting and nonorienting instructions. (HOD)

Examined and measured effects of individual differences among the elderly in a cognitive training program emphasizing general learning skills. Memory improvement was greater for learning skill training and social support compared with a waiting list group. Individual variability obscured statistical differences in treatment effect. Examined…

Compares data on recall of stories by Liberian nonschooled children, nonliterate adults, nonschooled literate adults and schooled literate adults to similar data on American children and adults. Results indicate a universality of certain kinds of schematic organization and their control of memorial processes. (CM)

Reports on a study in which 40 disabled and 40 normal sixth-grade readers read short paragraphs and were given recognition tests containing sentences similar or identical to those in the paragraphs. Notes that the results fail to support previous research suggesting that global memory deficits are primary factors in reading disability. (GT)

Education and entertainment both seek to create memorable events. This article explores memory enhancement techniques in each field, the potential role of multimedia in these techniques, determining appropriate and inappropriate merging of education with the emotionalism of entertainment, and assessing one's options for edutainment purchases.…

Examined memory functions in individuals with and without autism. Found that the group with autism performed significantly worse than the nonautistic group on temporal order memory, source memory, supraspan free recall, working memory and executive function but not on short- and long-term recognition, cued recall, or new learning ability. (MOK)