An explanation is sought for the striking apparent failure of the interactions of intelligence and memory factors with socioeconomic status predicted by Jensen's Level I/Level II theory, in a study by Stankov, Horn and Roy (EJ 239 630). It is suggested that Level I ability is a category of narrower abilities involving rote learning and primary…

A study of foreign students' English acquisition used short-term memory tasks to determine if phonological encoding of visually presented verbal material occurred during reading. Students not using oral repetition in English showed greater phonological interference and longer reaction times. Correlation with reading proficiency was small.…

Three treatments based on the model of memory proposed by R.M. Gagne and R.T. White were compared in their effects on eighth- and ninth-graders' learning and retention of geographical facts and skills. The first treatment had an active excursion, the second had a passive excursion, and the third had no excursion. (Author/PN)

The long-term impact of a cardiovascular school health curriculum was tested with 112 ninth-grade students. Six months after the course, participating students retained higher knowledge levels on cardiovascular disease and risk factors than did control group students, although attitude differences between the two groups were not significant. (FG)

Obtained normative data from 305 children on a Coding Recall Measure adapted from the WISC-R. Although coding recall has face validity as a visual memory measure, there are some contradictions to such clinical use in view of possible lack of representativeness of the sample and limited reliability and validity. (Author/JAC)

A collection of articles on the lifelong process of motor development focuses on: (1) neural changes in lifespan motor development; (2) the effects of developmental memory differences on learning motor skills; (3) physical growth and motor performance; (4) motor development in children with learning disabilities; (5) a motor development program…

Discusses recent studies of aphasia from the perspective of theories of normal language structure and processing. Patterns of language breakdown are considered to reflect the componential structure of the language system. Brain damage is seen to fractionate language along lines suggested by existing psycholinguistic models. (Author)

Revises the concept of verifiability of life events by requiring that they be verified. Presents three design issues which interact with verifiability and event qualification, which may result in threats to their validity. Suggests all three types of objectivity-subjectivity should be considered in designing life event studies. (Author/JAC)

Two experiments on multiple-choice assessment of students learning from sentences were conducted. Interference arising from intersentence similarity was a function of both the kind of learning strategies students were instructed to employ and the kind of strategies they reported having employed spontaneously. Implications for test construction and…

Investigated the use of organizational schemes in memorizing prose. Adult organizational schemes were a function of the structure of material to be remembered and the individual's plan to recall the material. Age and sex differences were discovered in an experiment assessing developmental changes in recall plans of children and adults. (Author/DB)

Assesses the sensory and cognitive functions in a right-handed male before and after partial and complete callosal commissurotomy. (Author/SK)

Ratcliff's theory of memory retrieval which posits parallel processing and Sternberg's serial processing explanation of memory scanning are reviewed and contrasted. Discrepancy between the two theories may arise because they focus on different aspects of the data. If scanning without comparisons takes place, the two views may be reconciled.…

The material presented in this article is intended to help students learn how to learn. The seven key concepts of David Ausubel's assimilation theory for cognitive learning are discussed with reference to the classroom. Concept mapping is suggested as a tool for demonstrating how the seven key concepts function. (SA)

Listening comprehension and recall abilities for social studies lectures were examined and compared in 20 adolescent males with language-learning disabilities (LLD) and in 29 controls. Regardless of lecture type (comparison or causatory expository discourse structures) or question type (literal or inferential comprehension), the performance of the…

Assessed effects of sleep restriction and extension on 9- to 12-year-olds' neurobehavioral functioning. Found that modest sleep restriction led to improved sleep quality but to reduced reported alertness. Children who extended sleep improved significantly from baseline their performance on the digit forward memory test and reaction time on the…