The effects of mobilizing prior knowledge on information processing were studied. Two hypotheses, the cognitive set-point hypothesis and the selective attention hypothesis, try to account for the facilitation effects of prior knowledge activation. These hypotheses predict different recall patterns as a result of mobilizing prior knowledge. In experiments supporting these hypotheses, different activation strategies have been applied, resulting in different ways of information processing. The assumption was tested by providing two groups of subjects with different reading goals that would lead to the results predicted by the two hypotheses. Study time allocated to different parts of the study material and free recall were registered for two groups of six subjects (a problem group that mobilized information about the consequences of fishery policies and a tourism group that mobilized knowledge that could be important for a tour operator who had to select new holiday locations) and a control group of six that mobilized knowledge concerning a neutral topic (tennis). Results show that mobilizing prior knowledge can result in different patterns of recall and study time allocation, which supports the assumption that both hypotheses can provide valid explanations for the facilitation effects of prior knowledge activation. Two tables present study data. (Author/SLD)