Specific comparisons for a categorized set of items indicated that recall of detailed drawings and outlines was superior to recall of words. For an uncategorized set, outlines were recalled significantly better than pictures and both were recalled better than words. (Author/PN)

Relatively simple changes in cognitive activities during prose learning can substantially affect information acquisition, yet many students' strategies are ineffective. A prose learning strategy training program using network models of long-term memory structure and depth-of-processing theory is presented with evidence of its effectiveness among…

First grade students were administered a screening battery that included the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test, the Metropolitan Readiness Test, the Bender Gestalt Test, and the Visual Memory Technique. Stepwise regression equations revealed that the Bender Gestalt Test significantly increased the predictive power of the test battery. (FL)

Jorm's proposal (EJ 205 636) that developmental dyslexics resemble brain-damaged deep dyslexics is not grounded on firm evidence. Holmes' likening of developmental dyslexia to acquired surface dyslexia at least demonstrates clear similarity between the errors made by the two groups. (Author/CP)

Adults read stories; then made plausibility judgments about statements with respect to the stories. The inherent plausibility of the queried statements, the amount of attention subjects focused on information necessary for making a judgment, and the interval between presentation of the relevant information and the test probe were varied.…

Analyzes the roles of verbal coding skills, processing efficiency, and memory ability in accounting for individual and developmental differences in the reading comprehension of children in grades 3 through 8. Results indicate that skill differences can arise through ability differences at two independent levels--processing speed and memory.…

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)

This paper presents evidence that the Snyder/Pope Visual Memory Technique using the Bender-Gestalt Test is a useful predictor of reading ability for first-grade children. Short-term visual recall appears highly related to the Grade 1 reading task and should be assessed when children begin learning to read. (Author/SJL)

First, third, and eighth graders performed four different orienting activities to different words. Under an incidental learning paradigm, the children's recognition was tested after the orienting activity. Age differences in recognition were absent, and the effect of the orienting activity responses on recognition supported depth of processing…

Four-year-olds attending traditional and Montessori preschools were compared on two memory tasks and on three social cognitive reasoning tasks. Although the Montessori students performed better on the recognition task, there were no other significant differences between the groups. Conclusions about the Montessori curriculum were made. (GDC)

Decision-making processes were investigated in a laboratory analogue of clinical diagnosis and through computer simulations of decision making. The data indicated that nonprobabilistic theories can provide plausible and complete accounts of decision behavior and can improve quantitative accuracy of predictions that are based on traditional…

Coed undergraduates were assigned to three groups: a talk about daydreaming emphasizing its adaptive qualities, attention control, or a no treatment control. Results suggested that providing undergraduates with positive information about daydreaming leads to an increased frequency of self-reported daydreaming. (Author)

Undergraduates were induced to expect a recall or recognition test and then to remember a critical list consisting of both high-frequency and low-frequency words. Groups received either an expected or unexpected recall or recognition test. People expecting recall did better, especially with high-frequency words. (Author/RD)

Reports on three experiments that: (1) extend the findings of Scarborough et al. (1977) that exposure to single words facilitates lexical judgments of single words, and (2) suggest that recency of exposure may contribute to word "frequency" effects in reading and in learning from written material. (Author/AM)