A study of 11 kindergarten and 11 second-grade students evaluated the effects of target word frequency and age on normally achieving children's performance of naming and phonological awareness tasks. Results supported an explicit connection between lexical retrieval and phonological awareness, mediated by working memory. (CR)

Presents a literature review that covers the following topics related to Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA): (1) LSA overview; (2) applications of LSA, including information retrieval (IR), information filtering, cross-language retrieval, and other IR-related LSA applications; (3) modeling human memory, including the relationship of LSA to other…

Three studies investigated the role of 8- and 10-year-olds' and adults' metacognitive monitoring and control processes for unbiased event recall tasks and suggestibility. Findings suggested strong tendencies to overestimate confidence regardless of age and question format. Children did not lack principal metacognitive competencies when questions…

Reviews three response rate measures (in a baseline measurement, immediately after acquisition, and at a long-term retention test) of infant memory that are used in experiments involving infants' conditioned kicking. Compares these measures to a new measure, the fraction of kicking rate remaining after the retention interval. Explains the…

Case studies of four Korean Americans ages 64-81 found a unique interplay among memory self-efficacy, well-being, and memory performance. Perceptions of memory functioning and well-being were influenced by the adaptability of the aging self rather than being directly related to age-linked losses or memory performance. (SK)

Examined effects of training in sequencing pairs of visual stimuli on subsequent six-stimuli or five overlapping two-stimuli sequencing. Subjects were 3- and 4-year-olds. Found that few succeeded with untrained two- and six-stimulus sequences derivable from the two-stimulus training, but when given training on only the overlapping sequences,…

Proposes a variant of mental model theory which suggests that the development of conditional reasoning (if--then) can be explained by such factors as the capacity of working memory, range of knowledge available to a reasoner, and his/her ability to access this knowledge "on-line." Finds much empirical data explained by this model.…

Investigated the role of "nonlogical" perceptual cues to differential absolute size in the transitive inferences of 6- and 7-year-olds. Found that both age groups showed identical overall premise memory, but the younger group tended to reason more on the basis of perceptual information rather than on successfully encoded premise…

Examined memory in 8- to 12-year-olds classified as either strategic or non-strategic on a sort-recall pretest. Found, at the end of 11 weeks, that changes to strategic behavior occurred suddenly rather than gradually. Once children began using organizational strategies, recall improved immediately. Deliberate strategy use was reflected in sorting…

Tested predictions of dynamic field theory in study of 3-year-olds' location memory errors in task with homogeneous task space. Found that young children's spatial memory responses are affected by delay- and experience-dependent processes as well as the geometric structure of the task space. Both dynamic field theory and category adjustment models…

Offers a brief overview of what is generally accepted about how human memory works as it applied to computer assisted language learning (CALL). Discusses a number of interactions from various CALL products in light of the research summarized. (Author/VWL)

Two experiments examined effects of event modality on young children's memory and suggestibility. Findings indicated that 5-year-olds were more accurate than 3-year-olds and those participating in the event were more accurate than those either observing or listening to a narrative. Assessment method, level of event learning, delay to testing, and…

Presents a rapid memory game that allows students of Spanish to distinguish promptly between the uses of the prepositions "por" and "para." Explains the game and various accompanying activities. (AS)

Explored effects of naturally-occurring peer interactions and repeated suggestive interviews on preschoolers' event memories. Found that suggestive interviews, combined with peer exposure, led to children's claims of witnessing target activities comparable to those of children who actually witnessed these activities. Assent rates for misleading…

The memory processes of 24 learning-disabled adolescents were compared to those of 13 nondisabled age-level and 13 nondisabled reading-level counterparts. Subjects performed similarly to reading-level peers on global recall measures, but actual processing was more similar to their age-level counterparts. (Author/JDD)