This report discusses research and theory that explore relationships between comprehension and knowledge acquisition. Studies are reported that indicate the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between initial comprehension activities and abilities to remember. It is noted that the value of comprehensive activities depends on how people must later…

A top-level structure learning strategy is described in this paper. Topics covered in the paper are (1) strategic use of knowledge about top-level structure, including how the strategy works, the spontaneous use of the strategy, and the acquired use of the strategy; (2) fundamental steps in programs of instruction involving the top-level structure…

Recent research in the area of prose comprehension is reviewed, including factors that affect amount of recall, representations of text structures, and use of world knowledge to aid comprehension. The need for more information processing models of comprehension is emphasized. Elaboration is considered important for comprehension and retention.…