Free recall of concrete and abstract words, following imaginal, associative, or anagram incidental learning tasks, was tested. Recall was significantly greater for concrete than abstract words, and recall for the imaginal task exceeded that of the associative task, which exceeded that of the anagram task. The interaction between kind of word and…

Two separate studies were conducted: 1) one examining the effect on sixth grade subjects (N=113) of relevant questions occurring shortly after reading textual material on posttraining tests to a control condition not receiving the questions, and 2) one replicating it and also examining learning in small group (individual-like situations) as well…

The purposes of this study were to replicate and extend the list learning results in a prose context, and to explore both the learning of incidental material and the effect of a text organization pretest and posttest information about passage structure. One hundred twenty-eight college undergraduates read a 460 word prose story, which mentioned…

It was hypothesized that one role of instructional objectives in learning is to serve as orienting stimuli so that the learner can decide which material to concentrate on and which to pay less attention to. With a brief text to learn, 58 college students received either one-half of the 24 objectives for the text, or no objectives at all. As…

A central-incidental learning paradigm was used to measure the selective attention of 176 children at ages 9 and 12 years. (MP)

This paper examines the assumptions underlying and implicit within Paul Goodman's critique of the process of formal schooling. Three dimensions of this critique, historical, pedagogical, and social-psychological, are advanced to explain the precise manner in which Goodman analyses past, present, and future arrangements for educating. (Editor/RK)

This study examined the relationship between cognitive style and information processing in preschoolers, and described developmental changes in their performance on a central-incidental learning task. Sixty preschoolers, in two age groups (mean ages of 4-1 and 4-11), were administered tests of reflection-impulsivity, field dependence-independence,…

The study examined the process of informal learning in the context of family caregiving for the frail elderly in the community. Sixty ethnographic interviews were conducted with 15 family caregivers. A model of informal learning as reflection-in-action emerged from the data. Five themes of meaning and six types of informal learning were derived…

Educable mentally retarded (EMR) 13- to 15-year-olds (N=19) and matched mental-age comparison subjects (N=22) participated in an imagery-based, associative learning pictorial elaboration task, followed by a delayed test of incidental learning. Both groups were able to generate original elaborations, although fluency and incidental learning scores…

The main findings of a meta-analysis of 23 research reports were the following: giving behavioral objectives, learning directions, or questions before an instructional text is read leads to some improvement in the learning of goal relevant material; however, these preinstructional acts impede the learning of goal irrelevant materials. (Author/BW)

Faculty preferences for and interest in a course were compared with student attitudes toward that course to determine whether they would have a positive, negative, or zero affect. Data supports the hypothesis that students do tend to mirror the genuine interest and enthusiasm of a teacher. (Author/CB)

A study of developmental aspects of selective attention and task-related strategies of attention in 2nd and 6th graders. Age differences were found and interpreted as reflecting the development of flexible as well as selective attention strategies. (DP)

Study demonstrates that the curvilinear relation between age and peripheral learning from films may not be so general a phenomenon as it appeared from previous research. (Author/CB)

These results suggest that, for the purpose of measuring children's incidental learning, materials with integrated components such as color and shape are functionally different from stimuli with spatially independent components. (Authors)

Discusses the varied adult activities now available in many museums throughout the country, the adult clientele that attend, and the future of these programs. (RB)