The question of how people learn and remember information from complex written materials is explored by means of Grime's semantic grammar of propositions and the author's analysis of the content structure of prose. This paper, presented at the 1973 Interdisciplinary Meeting on Structural Learning, first discusses such elements of the semantic…

The author's stated purpose is to convince the reader that there is practical and theoretical importance in a general principle whereby the greater the amount of interference present during the initial learning of a particular task, the better the subsequent retention to new situations. The author attempts to convince the reader with empirical…

A study is reported in which short-term memory capacity, estimated by a probe digit task, and memory for structured language, measured by a probe discourse task, were investigated in an experiment with third and fifth grade IQ-matched children representing two levels of reading comprehension skill. (Author/RM)

The ability of subjects to scan only one of two sets of items in short-term memory was investigated as a function of the similarity between the items in the two sets, the type of test used to evaluate retention of sets, and the number of items in each set. Results indicated that this one-set scan ability is limited by the capacity of short-term…

Skilled and unskilled readers from grades 3, 5, and 7 performed one of three memory tasks on a randomized list of primary word associates. Examined reading skill differences in relation to memory skills. (BD)

Assesses the influence of rehearsal on recognition reaction times for items from target lists of a length exceeding the span of immediate memory. Also determines what effect, if any, the length of the target list has on recognition latencies that involve only retrieval from inactive memory. (Author/RK)

Reports bita-Adrenergic antagonists injected into rats trained in a passive avoidance task produced time-dependent and dose-dependent decreases in retention of the task. Results were stereospecific and reversed by norepinephrine. (SL)

This paper is addressed to the process of learning to retrieve learned verbal material. Retrieval itself may be viewed as involving a plan or strategy for recovering the appropriate material in the particular situation for recall. (Author)

A model is proposed in which information processing is accompanied by dynamic processes, including the reorganization of items into active patterns and their subsequent displacement. Research using category names and instances showed that reaction times decreased with each successive repetition under one condition, but longer latencies were…

The "property-set model" is proposed for concept learning and subsequent recognition and classification of old and new exemplars. In an experimental evaluation of alternative models, the property-set model was the best predictor of both recognition and classification performance. (Author/RM)

The use of consonants and digits as encoding categories in short-term memory by 32 educable mentally retarded children and 32 nonretarded children of the same chronological age (10-12 years) was investigated. (Author)

Reviews a study which sought to obtain a quantitative metabolic map of the neurons mediating a specific memory. Research results support notions of cooperative processes in which nonrandom behavior of high ensembles of neural elements mediates the integration and processing of information and the retrieval of memory. (ML)

The neurochemistry and physiology of memory and learning should be relevant to classroom techniques and methods of study. Findings should be examined to discover where positive and negative cross-correlated effects might occur between basic science information and educational methods. (MLW)

Skilled and less skilled beginning readers (n=54) were taught to read and define 10 printed pseudowords. Post-tests revealed that experimentals retaining spellings in memory as orthographic images remembered spellings better than controls who received comparable training without the memory component. (PN)

When subjects learned paired associates that, on the study trials, consisted of a stimulus (cue) and its correct (target) response plus two other (distractor) responses from within the list, the presence of the distractor items interfered with learning, especially when overtly pronounced as opposed to silently studied. (Editor)