Describes an instructional procedure based on the findings of schema research and illustrating the truth that the more students know about a subject, the better they can comprehend what they read about that subject. (FL)

Finds evidence that the reading of content area materials is done less effectively than is the reading of basal readers or trade books, particularly at the lower grade levels. (FL)

Examined is the effectiveness of three imagery learning strategies (copy, relational, and hierarchical) for acquiring different outcomes when individuals received visual instructional information varying in visual stimulus complexity. The hierarchical strategy was generally more effective in processing the different levels of information than the…

Individual differences in digit span, susceptibility to proactive interference, and various aptitude/achievement test scores were investigated in two experiments with college students. Results indicated that digit span was strongly correlated with aptitude/achievement scores, but did not indicate that susceptibility to proactive interference…

This study replicated Daneman and Carpenter's finding that the reading span test, as a measure of working memory storage and process functions, is predictive of performance on standard reading comprehension tests. It showed that reading span is related to the ability to draw inferences from, integrate, and encode text information. (Author/PN)

This study was conducted to determine the cognitive demand made by an eighth-grade science textbook. Reasoning patterns and science concepts were listed and compared. Concrete reasoning was required more often than formal reasoning, but some points of difficulty for students who are not formal reasoners were noted. (MNS)

Three developments over the past 15 years--our understanding of cognition, new techniques in technical psychometrics, and the computer explosion--form the basis for a proposal for new intelligence tests. These developments are reviewed, and both leaps and steps in intellectual assessment are proposed. (Author/RD)

Reaction time and movement time were negatively and moderately-to-strongly correlated with Ravens matrices performance and with reading comprehension and performance on the California Test of Basic Skills for 20 ninth-grade girls. Weaker relationships were found for mathematics and English grades, although the direction was consistently negative.…

In two six-month longitudinal studies of intellectually advanced preschool children, letter naming time and background digit span were moderately good predictors of concurrent reading achievement, while no other standard cognitive indices, including mental age, were associated with reading achievement. Both memory span and retrieval were related…

Reports on research that reviewed 142 current middle and secondary school content materials to discover the organizational patterns used in each. Concludes that four such patterns are commonly used: enumeration, relationship, persuasive, and problem solving. Discusses each pattern and how it affects comprehension. (FL)

Argues that there should be no equation between modern methods of teaching science and discovery methods, suggesting that the emphasis on discovery has resulted from confused thinking among science educators. Also, describes research-based developments promising better theoretical/practical perspectives for improved science teaching, focusing on…

Investigated development of propositional logic and three formal logical schemata (underlying generic problem solving processes/operations) in adults (N=59) enrolled in their second year of medical school. Two students were formal on the 12-Piagetian tasks used, and the 57 remaining were classified as transitional formal. Implications are…

The present findings imply that a readability formula is not an effective writing production criterion, even when the writer does not deliberately write to the formula. Comprehensibility of text might be better controlled through the proper use of the transformer concept (MacDonald-Ross and Waller). (Author/PN)

Three experiments report additional evidence that it is a mistake to account for all interletter effects solely in terms of sensory variables. These experiments attest to the importance of structural variables such as retina location, array size, and ordinal position. (Author/PN)

Studied competing process models of counselors' clinical judgment for their capacity to account for variance in prognostic judgments and further tested for parsimony. Patton discusses problems of logic and data analysis in the model's formulation. Provides Stromer's response to the critique. (RC)