A study of the effectiveness of the personalized system of instruction (PSI) for teaching dental materials to dental hygienists compared the technique's effects to those of conventional instruction on end-of-course achievement, aptitude-achievement relationships, long-term retention, and course attitudes. (MSE)

This book is a comprehensive guide to learning and memory strategies for all students and especially those with learning problems. Chapter 1, on memory and the brain, explains brain cells, the cortex, function of the cerebral lobes, and other brain structures. Chapter 2 examines the memory process and discusses sensory memory, short-term memory,…

Speculates that physiological changes resulting from repeated, long-term stimulation in human and laboratory animal brains are related to short- and long-term memory processes. Describes a physiological-based model which may explain many current learning theory principles and can serve as a foundation for developing new learning theories based on…

Investigated the relationship of two memory components involved in the retrieval of information from long-term memory--one process-oriented and one structure-oriented-- to variability associated with age and ability differences. Striking developmental differences obtained for retrieval efficiency were highly related to scores on tests of ability,…

Examined relations between phonological processing and emerging individual differences in math computation skills. Found that phonological memory, access rate to phonological codes in memory, and phonological awareness were uniquely associated with growth in number of computation procedures mastered from 92.5 to 134.8 months. Phonological…

Two experiments investigated whether young and old adults can temporarily remove information from a capacity-limited central component of working memory (WM) into another component, the activated part of long-term memory (LTM). Experiment 1 used a modified Sternberg recognition task (S. Sternberg, 1969); Experiment 2 used an arithmetic…

Synaptic plasticity is thought to contribute to memory formation. Serotonin-induced facilitation of sensory-motor (SN-MN) synapses in "Aplysia" is an extensively studied cellular analog of memory for sensitization. Serotonin, a modulatory neurotransmitter, is released in the CNS during sensitization training, and induces three temporally and…

This report describes a simulation of adults' retrieval of arithmetic facts from a network-based memory representation. The goals of the simulation project are to: demonstrate in specific form the nature of a spreading activation model of mental arithmetic; account for three important reaction time effects observed in laboratory investigations;…

This report describes the first of three stages in a study in the domain of problem solving: the definition and explication of schema knowledge. One objective of this research is to understand how schema knowledge is acquired and used in the chosen domain. The focus is on ways in which instruction influences the development of specific knowledge…

The "levels effect," the finding that the more central to the meaning of a passage an idea is the more likely that idea is to be retained, does not seem to hold for immediate recognition. Therefore, a study was conducted to test a model of information storage that predicted that when surface structure information was preserved in its…

Projects that soon a complete mechanistic understanding of simple forms of learning will be available. Describes some of the recent advances in neuroscience and psychology in understanding the changes in neural circuits that occur during certain behavioral situations. Suggests that learning involves the activation of second messenger systems. (TW)

Discusses the value of memorized factual material in science. Describes the use of mnemonic devices to facilitate memorization. Provides a list of 14 mnemonic devices commonly used in science other than ROY G. BIV, which is used to remember the colors of the visible spectrum. (CW)

Explores the central thesis of cognitive science that the mind is an information processor. Discusses the study of reading as an opportunity to gain insight into how that processor works. Provides several examples that illustrate some of the relationships between eye movement, short-term memory, and long-term memory. (TW)

Young, middle-aged, and older adults practiced a squaring algorithm. Working-memory and calculation errors were counted. Practice reduced the number of both types of errors; eliminated initial age-related calculation error differences; and slightly reduced initial age-related working-memory error differences. (BC)

Comparison of three training conditions for Spanish-vocabulary development with 30 deaf undergraduates found no significant differences for short-term memory. However, long-term-memory scores under the repeated writing condition were significantly higher than scores under the fingerspelling or silent-reading conditions. (Author/DB)