Working memory is the mental ability to temporarily store and manipulate information. Its functioning is distinct from the vast storage capacity of long-term memory and is crucial for optimal learning and development. There is considerable research on several theoretical aspects of working memory. Far less research has explored the application of…

In this "FastFacts," a state's Department of Education requests information from the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) on how the research defines skills in social-emotional development, approaches to learning, and executive function, to inform planned revisions to the early childhood indicators of progress for children…

The four sections of this paper provide an analysis of the structure of human memory. The first section, intended to provide a clear example of personal memory, examines a hypothetical episode in the life of an undergraduate student, and shows how one episode can give rise to three different forms of memory: personal, semantic, and rote…

Although cognitive psychology is concerned with the processes of knowing rather than with behavior, certain applications of cognitive psychology and learning theory have been achieved: (1) behavior modification; (2) bio-feedback; (3) psycholinguistics; and (4) information processing psychology. (CJ)

Reviews three theories of how we retain order in memory and their predictions for errors people make when they recall a sequence incorrectly. A new model of short-term memory is presented, the Start-End Model (SEM), in which the positions of items in a sequence are coded relative to the sequence start and end. (SLD)

The human brain appears to have several "regions" that are structured to do different kinds of spatial thinking, according to a large and rapidly growing body of research in a number of disciplines. Building on a previous review of research with older children and adults, this article summarizes the research on spatial thinking by young children.…

Describes a seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous "false memory" defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory. Each of 22 of the more commonly used components of this defense is described and discussed with respect to what the science says about them.…

Generation is thought to enhance both item-specific and relational processing of generated targets as compared with read words (M. A. McDaniel & P. J. Waddill, 1990). Generation facilitates encoding of the cue-target relation and sometimes boosts encoding of relations across list items. Of interest is whether generation can also increase the…

Reviews literature from neuroscience and mass communications regarding how media affects learning and memory and relates research findings to interactive multimedia. Topics discussed include knowledge and media; neurological conceptions of memory; media and memory; and interactive multimedia and memory. (Contains 24 references.) (LRW)

Presents a literature review that covers the following topics related to Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA): (1) LSA overview; (2) applications of LSA, including information retrieval (IR), information filtering, cross-language retrieval, and other IR-related LSA applications; (3) modeling human memory, including the relationship of LSA to other…

Provides an overview of hypermedia, including a history of hypertext and multimedia, and discusses how they have been combined into the term hypermedia; a cognitive overview; dual coding and cue summation; and theories related to learners, including field dependence-independence, memory, and metacognition. Contains 156 references. (LRW)

Translates Oskar Pfister's 1930 article proposing that persons faced with extreme danger exclude reality from their perceptions and lapse into pleasurable fantasies that constitute a form of psychic protection against the threat of death. Notes that depersonalization takes place and prevents the conscious experience of fear. (Author/RC)

This paper discusses several critical issues concerning feedback in instruction and proposes a text synthesis research paradigm to investigate these variables. The paper is based on the assumption that feedback, a significant adjunct aid in instruction, is currently by and large ineffectual except in some simple instructional contexts. Section 1…

The author reports on recent Soviet studies of developmentaly delayed (DD) children, which compare clinical characteristics of DD, mentally retarded, and normal children relative to such aspects as attention, memory, intellectual functioning, and verbal facility. Noted is the similarity of DD children to American learning disabled children.…

Many students find it difficult to learn the kinds of knowledge and thinking required by college or high school courses in mathematics, science, or other complex domains. Thus they often emerge with significant misconceptions, fragmented knowledge, and inadequate problem-solving skills. Most instructors or textbook authors approach their teaching…