Piaget's theory that distinct stages in the organization of memory correspond to successive stages in cognitive development was tested using 150 eighth graders. Cognitive levels were assessed with Inhelder and Piaget's balance beam task, initially, and again at seven months. Mnemonic levels were assessed with Piaget and Inhelder's memory of an…

Ninety-six mildly mentally retarded persons and 96 nonretarded college students estimated the frequency of occurrence of words and pictures in a study test paradigm. Frequency estimates were equal for words, but the nonretarded subjects were superior in accuracy on pictorial items. This finding points to an encoding deficiency attributed to…

Auditory and visual memory span were examined with 13 Down Syndrome and 15 other trainable mentally retarded young adults. Although all subjects demonstrated relatively poor auditory memory span, Down Syndrome subjects were especially poor at long-term memory access for visual stimulus identification and short-term storage and processing of…

Eight-week-old infants learned to execute an operant footkick to produce crib mobile movement in one of two conditions: training duration on (1) varied within single session and (2) consistent across multiple sessions. Results, in contrast with data from 3-month-olds, demonstrated that conditions of original learning influence immediate and…

This paper examines differences between students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in processing social information within the context of a social information processing model. It proposes that language problems may not be the sole cause for poor social skills in students with learning disabilities and suggests that social remediation…

A study of preclinical medical students' cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills showed students had a very recent CPR course had a significantly lower failure rate than those with courses one or two years previously. The most frequent errors were in chest compression rate and inability to adhere to the single-rescuer compression-to-ventilation…

Although cognitive psychology is concerned with the processes of knowing rather than with behavior, certain applications of cognitive psychology and learning theory have been achieved: (1) behavior modification; (2) bio-feedback; (3) psycholinguistics; and (4) information processing psychology. (CJ)

Three groups of eight Ss (Down's syndrome, CA control, and MA control) received a battery of tests to assess recall and recognition memory using either auditory or visual input with verbal and nonverbal responses. Results indicated that the Down's syndrome group possessed deficits in both storage and retrieval abilities, with storage of visually…

Examined whether writing and working memory (WM) were related to general or process-specific system, whether WM tasks operated independently of phonological short-term memory (STM), and whether WM predicted writing variance beyond that predicted by reading. Found a four-factor model reflecting phonological STM, verbal WM span, executive…

Presents new evidence that everyday mood does bring about a hypothesized effect on memory, termed mood-congruent memory (MCM). Results of three studies provided evidence for MCM among normal individuals (n=614). Findings support prior studies and bolster notions that mood and memory constantly covary in everyday experience. (RJM)

Examined performance of first through sixth graders on conditional-inference task, using causal conditionals and a generation of alternatives task. Found a steady age-related increase in uncertainty responses to two uncertain logical forms and an increase in production of disabling conditions for "modus ponens." Individual differences in inference…

A study examined the effects of strategic notetaking on the recall and comprehension of 26 high school students with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation. Students scored significantly higher on measures of immediate free recall, long-term free recall, comprehension, and number of notes recorded than controls. (Contains references.)…

Investigates the instructional effect of using selected testing sequences and gaming methods on students' delayed retention. Results of instructional treatments and criterion tests of 87 students indicated significant preferences for specific instructional strategies. The treatments were functionally identical in that they did not instigate levels…

Two experiments tested a neo-Piagetian model of verbal short-term memory, comparing it with the articulatory loop model. Findings indicated that the proposed model accounted for effects of M capacity, word length, and presentation modality on short-term memory. The model's fit to the data was acceptable, and parameter estimates were consistent…