This discussion uses the topics imagery and elaboration as vehicles for speculating about the psychological character of knowledge, about its relationships with learning and development, and about its implications for education. In brief, the argument presented suggests that elaboration facilitates learning, that such facilitation signifies an…

In a study of alcohol knowledge among college students, 180 students completed a 24-item questionnaire. Fifty-four percent of the respondents were male and 46 percent were female; 56 percent were freshmen or sophomores, 44 percent were juniors or seniors; 51 percent were commuters and 49 percent lived on campus. Seventy-one percent of the…

Misconceptions regarding sickle cell disease are qualitatively different among latency age patients as compared to adolescents. The evolution and resolution of these misconceptions determine the effectiveness of self-help programs for sickle cell patients. The Mount Sinai Hospital Sickle Cell Counseling Service is a coordinated center for sickle…

A study was designed to investigate forms of human internal knowledge organization that facilitate the recall of information or its use for complex problem solving tasks. Three experiments, using college and high school physics students, were performed. The effects were studied by: (1) formulating explicit models of organization; (2) using…

The need for international education is undeniable when we examine the interdependence of our economic and environmental systems and the declining knowledge base of Americans concerning international issues. The President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies was established to address this problem, and focused on the…

An experiment, which replicates an earlier study conducted in Sweden, was performed to study the effects of prior knowledge of relevant subject matter on reading comprehension and on memory. Fifty college students read one of two contrasting passages that presented two opposing points of view after they had recorded their beliefs about the subject…

The Consultant/Linker Knowledge and Skills Inventory is used to assess both existing and needed levels of knowledge and skills for consulting with school staff. The inventory is self-administered, and requires 20 to 30 minutes to complete. For each item, knowledge and skill are rated low, medium, or high; and need for improvement is rated none,…

Developmental and individual differences in mathematical aptitude were investigated as a function of knowledge structure and processing variables. Results indicated the relative importance of knowledge structure and strategy skills in aptitude test performance. Protocol data further elaborated the interrelationships between knowledge and process…

Previous research conducted from a schema theory perspective has neglected those instances where the reader is confronted with unfamiliar text. This issue is addressed, and initial results on training students to acquire and use form schema in processing relatively unfamiliar descriptive prose are presented. Thirty-two college students were…

A study was conducted to determine the effect of the direct and systematic teaching of the nature, purpose, and language of instruction of reading on first grade children's knowledge of this information, on their attitudes toward reading, and on their reading achievement. Subjects were 60 first grade students randomly assigned to one of two…

Telephone interviews with 118 adults in the Gainesville, Florida, area were used to determine the relationships between the number and diversity of social problems mentioned by cable television subscribers versus nonsubscribers, socioeconomic status (SES), and media use. Media use was found to be associated with the type and number of problems…

In this analysis of prior knowledge and bilingual literacy, it is suggested that the basis upon which cognitive decisions are made and nonvisual inferences are drawn comes from the background knowledge that the reader possesses as tacit or prior knowledge. It is claimed that the only model that can account for the pluralistic nature of language is…

To develop environmental education in Australia, a survey of tenth-grade students was undertaken. Thirty knowledge items and ten belief items were constructed. A panel of environmentalists and educators identified best responses for the knowledge items, and a common reference point, preservation of homo sapiens, for the belief items, so a…