Describes a study undertaken to determine the effect of note taking on immediate recognition of lecture information in English by non-native speakers, to examine the influence of short-term memory on the encoding of lecture material into English, and to assess the effect of English proficiency on learning lecture material in English. (Author/VWL)

Preschool children were given a memory task that required repeating a list of animal names and a sentence imitation task. Results confirmed a relationship between word span and language imitation in younger preschool children and the notion of a memory constraint on early spontaneous language. Increasing mastery of linguistic rules appeared to…

Examined relationships among working memory, memory span, and reading skills in children and adults. Found that working memory and short-term memory skills develop through adolescence, but working memory skills show declines in adulthood. Age-related declines in memory appear to be related to the task's processing demands, which may affect the…

Referent structures produced by the instructor, other experts, averaged experts, and the best students were compared with those of 71 college students for their ability to predict examination performance in computer-programming courses and to differentiate among levels of expertise. Differences among expert referents are discussed. (SLD)

Thirty-eight elderly control subjects performed better than did 18 patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), 33 with severe AD, and 12 with Parkinson's dementia on all measures of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Results indicate that the test is useful in distinguishing AD from Parkinson's dementia. (SLD)

Discusses the question of aptitude from within an information-processing perspective, examines how aptitude is conceptualized in this framework, and discusses one possible component of L2 aptitude: working memory. (56 references) (Author/CK)

This commentary on the article by Jones and Smith in this issue examines whether coherent conceptual cores exist in long-term memory; abstract propositions constitute conceptual cores; concepts in long-term memory control behavior; and the primary purpose of developing and using concepts is to taxonomize the environment. (TJQ)

Chinese and American kindergarten children were given a test of addition skills, a numerical memory span measure, and an addition strategy assessment. When unable to retrieve an addition fact from memory, Chinese children counted verbally, whereas American children used finger counting or guessed. This difference appeared to be related to a…

Relationships between phonological coding abilities and reading outcomes have implications for differential diagnosis of language-based reading problems. The theoretical construct of specific phonological coding ability is explained, including phonological encoding, phonological awareness and metaphonology, lexical access, working memory, and…

Discusses future increases in the number of older employees in the workforce; outlines physiological changes in vision, hearing, and memory that are known to occur as part of the aging process; and suggests training adaptations to diminish or eliminate the adverse consequences of these changes in a learning environment. (LRW)

Summarizes three phases of a research project on the educational benefits of multimedia, especially the role of animation or still imagery in enhancing text. Results indicate that animation did not help sixth graders to improve their recall, but it may be beneficial for their comprehension. (JKP)

This study with 12 2nd- and 3rd-grade students with mild disabilities compared memory for new reading words following instructional sessions in which either word meaning or phonic cues were emphasized. The phonic instruction resulted in a greater number of words remembered either within sentences or on word lists. (Author/DB)

Illustrates some of the analytic tools and conventions associated with the construction and evaluation of dynamic models of the processes underlying learning, memory, and development. Describes a study finding that children may exhibit slower disintegration of verbatim memory traces than adults due to interference; however, adults may be more…

Reviews seven books: (1) "Cross-Cultural Psychology" (Berry and others); (2) "Biological Asymmetry and Handedness" (Bock and Marsh); (3) "Interpersonal and Identity Development" (Vandenplas-Holper and Campus); (4) "Natural Theories of Mind" (Whitten); (5) "The Psychological Examination of the…

Examines how the contributions of animal research are presented in eight of the most widely used introductory psychology textbooks. The authors show that, with the exception of principles of conditioning and learning, the contributions of animal research are often not explicitly acknowledged or are obscured to look like they had been obtained with…