In secondary-task reading experiments, easy text filled cognitive capacity more completely than difficult text. A cognitive interpretation is that, in reading easy passages, the cognitive processors are full. But in difficult passages, frequent breakdowns in comprehension temporarily empty processor spaces, leaving cognitive capacity for the…

Research on the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) is reviewed, including the relationship of Memory Quotient to Full Scale IQ. Despite its limitations, WMS has been a sensitive test of short-term memory, which may be helpful in identifying dominant (left) temporal lobe impairment. (Author/SJL)

Presents research findings that support the use of mnemonic devices that improve spelling ability by linking the difficult part of a word to its correct spelling in a memory cue sentence. (RL)

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)

Effects of verbal and pictorial elaboration on long-term memory were assessed. Second-graders learned a list of nouns by the paired-associate method, and long-term retention was assessed after seven days. Results indicated that although elaboration facilitates initial acquisition, it neither helps nor hinders long-term retention. (Author/RD)

Individual differences in memory can be studied from two theoretical perspectives: Reappearance Theory or Constructive Theory. To test the Constructive Theory, two experiments examined the retention of high and low ability students. The results of both experiments supported the hypothesis that learners who acquire information rapidly also display…

Aims of this study were to determine whether the factor structure produced in earlier research by Kear-Colwell (1973, 1977) on the Wechsler Memory Scale could be replicated in a non-patient population (most research uses patient populations) and also to examine the effects of age, sex, and social class on the performance of normal adults on this…

The accuracy of the feeling-of-knowing was assessed with regard to recall and recognition under three conditions: advanced or nonadvanced organizers; learned or nonlearned information; and sex differences. Twenty subjects learned pair-associates and were tested for recall and recognition, accompanied by ratings of feeling-of-knowing strength.…

A directed forgetting task was used in an investigation of the conditions under which normal and educable mentally retarded junior high school students would disregard irrelevant information. Results showed that irrelevant information in memory interfered with the performance of only the retarded group, when given a minimal explanation of the…

Experiments tested the predictions that words are perceived more accurately in strongly constraining word contexts than in weakly constraining word contexts, and that a strong perceptual advantage would be present for letters in words vs. letters alone or in unrelated-letter strings. Several alternative theories of word perception are discussed.…

Given the currently numerous applications of word-nonword classification tasks in psychological research, the present study was designed to determine the relative influences of a large number of potentially important variables on response time in tasks of this sort. (Author/NCR)

The probability of recognizing a member of a word pair tested with the pair intact was shown to equal the probability of recognizing a single word plus the probability of recalling an unrecognized word. (Author/NCR)

In three experiments, deaf children, aged 6 years 10 months to 15 years 5 months, were presented with continuous lists of items; for each item, they indicated whether it had appeared before on the list. The findings showed consistently strong semantic effects on word memory of young deaf children. (Author/MV)

A correspondence exists between a simplified data collection method employing results from a post test for graphic skills in kinematics, and a rigourous validation method. Examination of test responses for discrepant instances yielded further information of value. Hierarchical patterns of learning and remembering are identical. (Author/CP)