Surveyed 100 older adults to determine kinds of memorabilia and cherished objects they would identify and how these were related to reminiscence and current mood as measured by Affect-Balance Scale. Found significant positive relationship between memorabilia and mood; total lack of cherished objects was associated with significantly lower mood…

Two experiments investigated four year olds' beliefs about the effect of effort and performance incentives on recall and the relationship of these beliefs to memory and performance. Children accurately represented the effect of performance incentives on effort but were unrealistic about the power of effort to influence recall. (PAM)

The delay retention effect was examined using a recent model of feedback for 154 undergraduates, testing the assumptions of the model and investigating the effects of different types of feedback on posttest performance. Implications of better performance after delayed feedback and the assumptions of the model are explored. (SLD)

Suggestions for teaching English vocabulary are offered. Root words, combination of forms, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, and telling stories about word origins are covered. (LB)

Investigates whether memory for positive and negative television messages differs in the amount of verbal and visual-spatial information recognized and recalled by television viewers, as a function of differential activation of the brain hemispheres elicited by emotional messages. Suggests that message valence may be related to the amount of…

Explores the function of memory in critical theory, particularly in the work of Herbert Marcuse, as the basis for a critical argumentation. Argues that Marcuse's view suggests that argument is a "re-membering" of what had been split asunder--reason, imagination, and the capacity of action. Discusses other implications of Marcuse's…

Twenty-four preschool-age girls repeatedly experienced an initially novel episode in a laboratory setting. Each child's knowledge of the episode was assessed in an effort to examine the development of the children's scripts for a recurring event. (PCB)

Explores the role of news teasers on memory and attention for commercials in evening newscasts. Finds that they enhance moderately the primacy-recency pattern found in visual and verbal memory scores. Finds that news teasers appear to have an effect on processing strategies employed by viewers. (SR)

Interviews 105 women in outpatient treatment for substance abuse to examine their recollections of childhood sexual abuse. Overall, 54% reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. Of these, 81% remembered all or part of the abuse their whole lives, whereas the remainder regained previously forgotten memories. (SLD)

Belgian participants (n=129) in seven types of memory training rated the training too short but useful. Most enrolled concern about memory deterioration; 41% increased memory awareness. However, no effect was found on pre/postprogram scales of the Memory Function Questionnaire. (SK)

Twelve women (mean age 90) in a nursing home listened to Golden Age radio programs and answered trivia questions. Reactions to musical programs showed they encouraged reminiscence; trivia stimulated recall of historical and life events. In contrast, comedy programs evoked little response. (SK)

Notes that fuzzy-trace theory has been used to understand false memories of children. Demonstrates the irony imbedded in the theory, maintaining that a central implication of fuzzy-trace theory is that some errors characterized as false memories are not really false at all. These errors, when applied to false alarms to related lures, are best…

Forty-eight children, either with or without a sensorineural hearing loss and either young (6 and 7 years old) or older (9 and 10 years old) reproduced sequences of acoustic stimuli that varied in number, temporal spacing, and type. Results suggested that the poorer performance of the hearing-impaired children was due to auditory processing…

Three experiments assessed memory skills in good and poor comprehenders, matched for decoding skill. Found that poor comprehenders showed normal sensitivity to phonological manipulations but that their recall of abstract words was poor. Poor comprehenders achieved normal spatial-memory span, but had impaired verbal-memory spans. (Author/KB)

Uses W. Kintsch's Construction Integration model as a framework to explore the effects of preexisting attitudes on memory for texts. Shows that preexisting attitudes interacted with attitude texts over delay although not in a direct or expected fashion. Emphasizes the need to manipulate representational levels of attitude texts and to consider…