This paper discusses a study designed to evaluate the use of semantic and syntactic expectations in reading. Sixteen college-student subjects, measured for reading proficiency by the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, were divided equally into a fast-reading group (350-450 words per minute) and an average-speed reading group (200-275 words per minute).…

One cognitive theory of spelling states that the spelling of words can be produced in one of three ways, depending on the amount and kind of information stored in the memory about a particular word. Assuming this theory as a foundation, this study reviewed two forms of computer assisted instruction developed in an effort to build an instructional…

Language processing is the abstraction of meaning from a physical signal, such as a sequence of speech sounds. Processing a spoken message requires a series of transformations that begin with the acoustic signal arriving at the ears and end with meaning in the mind of the listener. The goal of this information-processing model is to describe how…

It is suggested that a reader's idea structure will affect processing of incoming information. Two aspects of the idea structure are further developed--the truth value aspect and the analytic level aspect. The idea structure can be characterized by ideas consisting of propositions which are considered to be more or less true or false (beliefs), or…

This paper discusses a study of learning retention among junior high school students involved in a field trip in a geography course. The study was based on a model of memory proposed by Robert Gagne and R.T. White. This model of cognitive processes, postulated on the belief that recall of any element is a function of its degree of interlinking in…

Cognitive change in the elderly can be due to several etiological factors which are empirically difficult to separate and clinically problematic to differentiate. Normal aging is accompanied by behavioral slowing. The slowing down of psycho-motor processes results in a lowered intelligence quotient, but cannot be taken as unequivocal evidence for…

To determine if auditory sequential memory (ASM) in young children can be improved through training and to discover the effects of such training on the reading scores of children with reading problems, a study was conducted involving 92 second and third graders. For purposes of this study, auditory sequential memory was defined as the ability to…

Ten prominent cognitive styles are discussed in a literature review. The review of each style includes an overview of the research literature; a review and evaluation of assessment instruments; and identification of styles which seem most relevant for application to Air Force Technical training. The cognitive styles covered are: (1)…

This study assessed the effects of bizarreness, prompt modality, and prompt type for 144 five and eight year-old children on recognition memory of pictorial pairs. Presentation of stimuli was self-paced, allowing for the collection of study time and response latency data, as well as recording number correct. While both bizarre and nonbizarre forms…

THIS SPEECH PRESENTS THE FINDINGS OF A STUDY OF THE VERBAL RECALL ABILITY OF 102 HIGH AND LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES) CHILDREN IN THE PRIMARY GRADES. THE HIGH SES SUBJECTS ATTENDED A UNIVERSITY SCHOOL IN AN UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS SUBURB, AND AT LEAST ONE OF THEIR PARENTS HAD ATTENDED COLLEGE. THE LOW SES SUBJECTS WERE IN A COMPLETELY NEGRO SUBURBAN…

The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of prior knowledge on reading comprehension. Twenty second-graders who were reading at, or not more than one year above, grade level were pretested to determine the extent of their prior knowledge about the topic they would be reading. Based on their pretest scores, the students were divided…

This study examining children's ability to organize information for the purpose of recall was designed to control for verbal ability differences. The participants were 10 boys and 10 girls each from kindergarten, 2nd, 4th and 6th grades. A modified "Simon Says" game was used to enable the children to respond to eight selected verbal and motor…

This paper explores the concept of metamemory, generally defined as the individual's knowledge of and awareness of memory. The concept of metamemory is compared to three other categories of memory and a model of what the growing child could conceivably acquire in the domain of metamemory is presented. Brief reviews of existing research relations…

This research explored the fundamental processes involved in comprehending linguistic material: the duration of the process, the sequence of processes, and the sources of errors. One project examined the comprehension of affirmative and negative sentences that are read and verified with respect to a picture. A model developed to account for the…

This study involved fifty-eight 3-year-olds. It sought to determine whether the preschoolers could learn to discriminate visually the critical elements of shape through a program of perceptual-motor training, transfer such knowledge to similar but different shapes, and then resist the process of forgetting the critical elements. The children were…