Using a memory for sentences procedure, 50 learning disabled boys, with and without motor impairments, were compared with normal controls when trained with and without motor enactment. Memory in both normal and learning disabled Ss (with and without motor impairment) improved significantly following motor enactment with a trend for greater…

Considers the use of picture-word and bilingualism research together to look for parallels at both the theoretical and empirical levels. Describes some of the criteria that have been used in both fields to infer common or separate codes and points out how conclusions based on the various criteria proposed can differ. (EKN)

In two experiments, students (10 learning disabled ninth graders and 45 nondisabled seventh graders) were taught the hardness levels of minerals according to either a keyword-pegword mnemonic, a questioning procedure, or free study. Mnemonic students significantly outrecalled both questioning and free-study students regardless of students'…

Reviews recent memory development research and general principles of memory strategy development: (1) almost continuous nature of strategy acquisition; (2 and 3) trainability and effectiveness of strategies in younger children; and (4) reversion to nonproduction after instructed use. Argues that training should address children's knowledge and…

Uses personal reminiscences to show how the past does not die but becomes part of an understandable pattern in life. Suggests that keeping a journal increases that understanding. (MM)

By studying forgetfulness in humans and monkeys, scientists are learning about the anatomy of normal memory. Results of amnesia studies, indicating that memory collapse occurs in a selective fashion depending on the cause, may help resolve a fundamental dispute among learning theorists. (JN)

Twelve mildly mentally retarded and 12 MA-matched nonretarded individuals were tested for speed and accuracy in responding to questions requiring different processing depth and then given an unexpected recognition task. Retarded individuals required progressively more encoding time relative to nonretarded individuals as processing depth increased.…

Findings from studies of attention, semantic memory, and the pragmatics of language are reviewed and implications for intervention with children whose language is disordered are discussed. Selectivity and resource allocation are the attention topics considered while schemata, frames, inferences, and narrative discourse processing are addressed…

Examined age differences in memory in 12 younger and 12 older adults who kept diaries of memory failures and use of memory aids. Results suggested that older adults experience more memory failures and are more upset, but deal with this problem by increased use of memory aids. (JAC)

Two subjects read short stories while writing lists of words at dictation. After weeks of practice, they were able to write words, discover relations among dictated words, and categorize words for meaning while reading for comprehension at normal speed. These subjects' performance is not consistent with the notion that there are fixed limits to…

Competing explanations of the beneficial effect of spacing in retardate discrimination learning were tested. Results are inconsistent with consolidation and rehearsal theories but support the prediction of the Geber, Greenfield, and House spacing model that forgetting from short-term memory facilities retardate learning. (Author/SB)

Study is a further examination of the conditions under which retroactive inhibition occurs in prose. The two variables manipulated are the similarity of the interpolated stories (similar vs. dissimilar) and the response requirements (recall vs. recognition). (Author)

Results of experiments have demonstrated the reliability of a spatial attribute of memory for verbal recall of text material. (Authors)

Reviews Piaget's theories concerning the development of operational thought which includes as a prerequisite the differentiation of oneself from all other phenomena, and presents an experiment in which first and second graders conserved the mass, weight, and volume of a ball of clay before they conserved their own mass, weight, and volume. (MB)

Data indicate that the Visual-Sequential Memory subtest of the ITPA and the Knox Cube Test measure different aspects of visual-sequential memory ability. (KW)