Working on the assumption that poor comprehenders of reading cannot retrieve relevant information to provide a context for the understanding of new information, a study sought to gather some empirical data about the retrieval of information. It was hoped that these data would validate some aspects of J. R. Anderson's ACT theory of memory (that elaborative processing of information should facilitate retrieval of information from long-term memory) and demonstrate certain practical and useful manipulations that should help improve student's retrieval of information. To achieve these purposes, four experimental studies of middle school students tested (1) 27 passages scaled for external links, imagery, interest, reading ease, and word frequency; (2) the role of prior knowledge in retrieval process; (3) the effects of text familiarity and cohesion on retrieval of information learned from text; and (4) methods of training seventh graders to elaborate. The results of these studies validated the theoretical point that elaborative processing of prose material enhances its later retrievability. The studies also showed that two practical ways of encouraging elaboration processing are direct teaching of elaborative processing strategies and selection of new information for which learners may have some prior related knowledge. (Appendices include complete descriptions of each study.) (HOD)