Ten possible sources of individual and developmental differences in memory span--rehearsal, grouping, chunking, retrieval strategies, item identification, item ordering, capacity, susceptibility to interference, search rate, and output buffer--were examined in a review of the literature. Speed with which presented items can be identified emerged…

The role of memory problems in the attentional difficulties of learning disabled children is examined, and the existence of control processing inefficiencies related to memory problems is suggested. Three intervention approaches--reinforcement programs, direct instruction in efficient processing behaviors, and use of orienting tasks to induce…

Describes the Elaboration Theory of Instruction (ETI) and charts its correspondence with several major principles drawn from contemporary cognitive psychology. Components of the ETI are related to current models of knowledge representation, schema theory, memory processes, and earlier cognitive based instructional frameworks. Fifty-three…

Seven- and ten-year-olds listened to taped stories. In one version, familiar television characters were described as having attributes incongruous with those the children knew from television. Three weeks later, children's recall of the stories indicated considerable shifts in memory toward their preexperimental knowledge of the TV characters.…

Subjects decided whether sentences as "The treaty passed" were "true" or "false," given number of votes cast for the bill and criterion that determined its status. An additive-stages model was applied to verification times from the present and prior studies, and was used to describe certain markedness and congruity…

Reports two studies demonstrating the ability of nonverbal contextual cues to act as retrieval mechanisms for co-occurring language. Suggests that visual contextual cues, such as speech primacy and motor primacy gestures, can access linguistic target information. Motor primacy cues are shown to act as stronger retrieval cues. (JMF)

Tests semantic integration and frequency tally models of memory among 60 first-, third-, and fifth-grade children. Data from third and fifth graders show different patterns of results for regular and anomalous stories. The true-inference error rate was significantly greater than the error rates for false premise and false-inference sentences in…

Children between ages 9 and 13 were tested for recognizing and remembering words from 6- and 12-word lists. Developmental functions showed different growth patterns for remembering the items in a short list than for remembering order, and different patterns for storing items from a long list, than for retrieving them. (Author)

Presents argument that many factors affecting retention can be understood in context of a distinction between relational and individual item processing. Describes experiments which demonstrate that variables influencing the type of processing produce differential effects upon certain dependent measures. (Author/BK)

The visual short-term cued recall memory of 8-, 12-, and 16-month-olds was assessed in two experiments using an operant indirect delayed-reaction procedure. In each experiment, 12- and 16-month olds performed better than chance, whereas 8-month-old infants did not. (Author/DB)

Two tasks were used to evaluate the relationship between concept usage and the organization of knowledge in semantic memory for 7-, 11-, 15-, and 18-year-old subjects. (JMB)

Subjects undergoing assertion training experienced a decrease in dream recall and dream pleasantness. The measures of repression did not account significantly for dream recall or pleasantness variance. Findings are more supportive of interference theory than repression theory. (Author)

Reviews J. Rohrer's work on the role of memory in language learning. Evaluates the practice-oriented treatment, which is in opposition to current concepts when practical considerations require it. (IFS/WGA)

Suggests that it is sometimes useful to consider information as being encoded as images, sometimes as language, and sometimes as propositions, and describes research that provides evidence of processing in all these forms. (Author)

This article discusses implications of dialectics for strengthening scientific inquiry. Three types of dialogic behavior are used as illustration: within the researcher, between the researcher and research participant, and between the researcher and the sociohistorical context. (Author/DB)