The influence of graphic patterns and their interpretive context on learning accompanying prose was studied with 128 undergraduates. Results suggest that maps, unlike diagrams, are sequentially encoded and that abstract graphic displays can adopt map-like characteristics as a result of the context in which they are presented. (SLD)

Studied whether the goal orientations of college students affect achievement, strategy use, and metacognition with 448 undergraduates. Results supported the view that a strong learning orientation facilitates the development of cognitive skills for academic achievement independent of one's performance orientation. (SLD)

Effects of 3 different instructional aids on the acquisition of information from a scientific passage were studied with 104 Spanish undergraduates. Written instructions, preparing a written outline, and seeing an illustration all led to higher performance. The outline condition led to the highest performance for questions requiring information…

Three experiments involving 218 college students demonstrated that both labeling and visually isolating a set of steps in examples independently help students learn a subgoal and makes them more likely to solve novel problems that involve that subgoal although they require different steps to achieve it. (SLD)

Two experiments, one measuring eye fixations of 38 undergraduates and the other assessing memory of 37 undergraduates, provide evidence that unsuccessful problem solvers are more likely to comprehend by direct translation and that successful word problem solvers are more likely to build a problem model. (SLD)

Three experiments with 276 college, secondary, and middle-school students extend the research of G. T. Fong and others in teaching students abstract rules. Results support a revival of formalist views of transfer: that teaching formal rules about inference making can improve reasoning and support transfer. (SLD)

A study involving 124 male and 128 female sixth graders found that sex differences existed in willingness to receive help and helper preferences, and that high-attraction subjects showed higher orientation toward including other children in their activities, accepting control from others, and being affectionate around others. (SLD)

A study with 56 sixth graders performing verb-recognition tests with pretests and posttests indicated that feedback greatly facilitated improved posttest performance and increased near-transfer performance as well. Both self-generated and traditional feedback resulted in improved performance. (SLD)

To rank departments in colleges of education, experts were asked to list the most prestigious departments, to indicate standards of productivity, and to list the best journals in their field. Staffs (approximately 20) of the prestigious departments were then asked to answer questions bearing on productivity and impact of departments. (SLD)

Two experiments, involving 195 undergraduates, investigated how different note-taking formats influenced student note taking. Results reconfirmed that a flexible outline framework in which the order of subtopics corresponds to the order of lecture presentation produces more note taking than a collapsed matrix framework presenting fewer subtopics.…

Two studies with a total of 153 junior and senior high-school students and vocational students in Finland investigated whether underachievers applied a self-handicapping or learned-helplessness strategy in achievement contexts. Underachievers seemed to apply a self-handicapping strategy rather than a learned-helplessness approach. (SLD)

Studied how preexisting beliefs about the transmission of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) interact with repeated reading of a persuasive text to influence the nature of information encoded from the text with 61 undergraduates. Preexisting beliefs appeared to influence retrieval but not encoding processes. (SLD)

Cognitive and metacognitive demands of initial information gathering for elementary school research assignments were studied for 23 6th graders during think-aloud/concurrent interviews. Results support the view that information retrieval and use in libraries is a problem solving task requiring flexible application of various forms of knowledge.…

Effects on learning of feedback strategies (answer until correct, knowledge of correct response, and delayed) were compared to no feedback and no questions strategies under two conditions of incentives. Results with 246 undergraduates are interpreted with regard to interaction of feedback form and learner disposition to process feedback mindfully.…

Effects of typographical cues on text memory were investigated in 2 experiments involving 204 college students. Findings demonstrated that effects of typographical cues on memory were mediated by effects on attention during reading. Typographical cues appeared to increase attention only to the signaled content, resulting in better memory. (SLD)