An investigation was undertaken to determine whether highly aroused (e.g. highly anxious) students are handicapped with regard to their ability to learn through deep processing and elaboration. The hypothesis that well-developed deep and elaborative habits of thought might counteract the disruptive effects that excessive arousal has upon students…

Fourth-grade children previously identified as poor readers comprehended more information when they read personalized, as opposed to standard, stories. Names and places given by the students personalized the stories. No difference was found among children of average reading ability on this variable. (Author/PN)

Task performance of 35 first graders was analyzed in relation to their third-grade reading and arithmetic test scores. The visual-auditory task, requiring the child to select the correct auditory representation of a visually presented consonant-vowel-consonant, accounted for 48 percent of the variance in third-grade reading scores. (Author/PN)

A modified mastery system was developed to provide a mechanism by which a student's willingness to expend needed effort could be assessed. It was possible to demonstrate that the effort variables accounted for differences in student achievement beyond the impact of differences in student aptitude. (Author/PN)

In contrast to Weiner's attributional model, these research findings indicate that attributions for performance in an actual achievement situation are not linked to self-esteem-related affect such as pride/shame. (Author/PN)

Untrained normal achievers attributed failure to adoption of specific task strategies, while untrained learning disabled boys attributed failure to task difficulty. Characteristics of learned helplessness were apparent in the impaired performance of the learning-disabled boys. Normal achievers appeared to have developed active and independent…

Memory of incidentally learned material was investigated across three developmental levels in immediate and delay conditions. Incidental learning increased with age with or without specific instructions, suggesting that previously reported divergent developmental trends may not be the result of the type of paradigm. (Author.PN)

The effect of participation in three computer simulation exercises on performance of students enrolled in an introductory statistics class was evaluated. Results demonstrated that the students who participated in the simulation exercises attempted significantly more problems on a paper-and-pencil test with greater success than did those who did…

Tenth-grade students (n=144) received training on one of three processing methods: coding-mapping (simultaneous), coding only, or decision tree (sequential). The induced simultaneous processing strategy worked optimally under rule learning, while the sequential strategy was difficult to induce and/or not optimal for rule-learning operations.…

Variations in written information had significant effects upon the college subject's perceptions of children's behavior and upon the degree to which children were regarded as able to function successfully in regular classrooms. The findings suggest attitudes toward exceptional children may be influenced by the way information is presented.…

A critical analysis of theoretical and methodological issues in research on learned helplessness is presented. As studied in achievement settings using achievement tasks, learned helplessness is perceived as maladaptive behavior. It has not been studied as an adaptive response to situational demands. New directions and educational implications are…

Two groups of undergraduates were forced to process a maplike organizer before or after reading a difficult prose passage concerning the formation of a meander. Subjects with little prior knowledge, provided with the organizer, recalled at a level similar to subjects with a good deal of background knowledge. (Author/CM)

In experiment one, subjects learned a word list in blocked or random forms of auditory/visual change. In experiment two, high- and low-conceptual rigid subjects read passages in shift conditions or nonshift, exclusively in auditory or visual modes. A shift in modality provided a powerful release from proactive interference. (Author/CM)

Fifth-grade students with high or low vocabulary knowledge were taught new words according to the mnemonic keyword method. Three instructional conditions varied by the degree of structure provided by the experimenter. All variations facilitated learning. In aptitude x treatment interaction, structure made far less difference for high-knowledge…

Study time and test performance change as a function of expecting either open or multiple-choice questions on a history test. Subjects tested in either format were led to expect the same test format on a second test. Subjects expecting open questions studied more and performed better on both test formats. (Author/CM)