Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of reader perspective on encoding, storage, and retrieval processes and how this effect differs as a function of cognitive style. In both experiments, subjects read a passage from one of two assigned perspectives (a burglar or a prospective home buyer) or from no assigned perspective. In the first experiment, 54 college students completed measures of immediate recall and recognition and the Group Embedded Figures Test; in the second experiment, 50 college students completed measures of delayed recall and recognition and the embedded figures test. On the immediate recognition measure, subjects who read a passage from either of the two assigned perspectives correctly recognized more items that were important to the burglar perspective, but subjects not assigned to any perspective showed no difference in recognition of burglar and home buyer information. These findings suggest that assigning subjects a perspective induces them to think more about the passage and relate it to their prior knowledge. The results of the immediate recall measure suggest that readers used their knowledge associated with the assigned perspective as a retrieval plan. Finally, the pattern of individual differences on the delayed recall measure suggests that structural characteristics of the text itself might affect storage and retrieval but not encoding processes. (FL)