The effects of prepassage questions quizzing information of different structural importance on college students' memory for expository prose passages were compared. Results indicated that questions which direct the subjects' attention to material at the top of the organizational structure facilitate the effective encoding of the central…

Phonological coding in printed-word recognition in English was studied by examining the use made of syllable information by skilled and less skilled readers in the second grade and by adults. The results are discussed in terms of an interactive model of reading. (Author/PN)

This training study examined the modifiability of older adults' (n=73) performance on measures of attentional processes and training transfer to the psychometric ability domains of perceptual speed, memory span, and fluid-crystallized intelligence. Significant training effects occurred for attention measures, and these effects were maintained at…

In two experiments, subjects were instructed to take a distinctive point of view while reading and recalling a story. The results were interpreted to mean that the schema brought into play by the perspective instructions selectively enhances encoding when operative during reading, and selectively enhances retrieval when operative during attempts…

Results from the data analysis show that children learn mathematical concepts for clear cases, and that an analysis of attributes common to examples of a given concept is not a prerequisite to concept formation. The protocol findings provide information as to why this may be happening. (Author/PN)

Two experiments examined the effects of embedded and intact (outline) headings on the processing of complex text material by college students. Results indicated that embedded headings reliably improved delayed test performance. It was further found that instructions in the use of headings as processing aids facilitated test performance. (Author/PN)

The present research makes an original contribution to the previously distinct fields of classroom environment and person-environment fit because it uses the Classroom Environment Scale, which assesses actual and preferred classroom environment, in a person-environment fit study. (Author/PN)

This study replicated Daneman and Carpenter's finding that the reading span test, as a measure of working memory storage and process functions, is predictive of performance on standard reading comprehension tests. It showed that reading span is related to the ability to draw inferences from, integrate, and encode text information. (Author/PN)

A play practicum involving kindergarten children was provided to 24 student teachers who completed a communication skills course. Comparisons were made among participants, students having only the course, and a control group. The play practicum proved more effective in assisting students to learn and to apply communication skills. (Author/BH)

Letter pairs that could not be distinguished by learning disabled children were presented using an acquisition-reversal learning paradigm. Relevant external stimuli facilitated discrimination; in reversal, the cues were irrelevant. This technique facilitated learning, as well as retention four days later. (Attentional deficits are discussed). (GDC)

The keyword method of foreign language learning was adapted for young children learning Spanish. Rather than constructing visual images relating to the word pair, the children generated sentences. Both second- and fifth-grade students experienced large vocabulary gains. (Author/GDC)

The effects of training using visual modeling prompts as preresponse and as error-correction prompting, and a combination of both procedures were examined by teaching vocational rehabilitation clients three assembly tasks. Preresponse prompting resulted in fewer total errors and more trials. The combination group demonstrated superior performance…

Taiwanese and American classrooms (grades 3-6) were examined, using a multimethod, multisource inventory. Multivariate procedures analyzed differences within Taiwanese culture, and between Taiwanese and American cultures, by sex, grade level, socioeconomic status, and achievement. The effects of achievement and intelligence were also studied in…

An open-category task was administered to 180 elementary students. Three modes of response (related to the ways students acquire attributes for objects) were used to score the tasks. Qualitative changes in the three modes were analyzed, and the results supported a qualitative change in the modes of response. (Author/GDC)

Achievement and locus of control data were gathered the first week of first grade, and seven months later, for middle- and lower-socioeconomic status (SES) children. While middle-SES children experienced greater achievement gains, lower-SES students increased in internal control. Results suggested that internal control contributed to achievement.…