This research investigated the cognitive demands of reading curricula from 1910 to 2000. We considered both the nature of the text used and the comprehension tasks asked of students in determining the cognitive demands of the curricula. Contrary to the common assumption of a trend of simplification of the texts and comprehension tasks in third-…

The author reviews research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals, delineating strengths and weaknesses. Among the areas of weakness that are reviewed are sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Areas of strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery, and dual encoding.…

This paper will review research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals delineating strengths and weaknesses. The areas of memory reviewed include weaknesses such as sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery and dual encoding.…

Current research on information processing suggests that short term memory plays a central role in the sorting and manipulation of text information during reading. Because an entire text cannot be processed simultaneously, successive "chunks" or units of information enter the short term memory where they are compared to the reader's previous…

Discusses the use of story retelling as an instructional strategy, describing its potential benefits, including improvement in reading comprehension, use of oral language, and memory. (ARH)

Examines four specific areas of reading readiness--visual discrimination, visual memory, auditory discrimination, and auditory comprehension--and reviews teaching strategies in each of the four areas. (FL)

A reader's ability to recognize an author's top-level structure in a passage is a useful strategy for organizing textual information for memory purposes. Even without specialized training, many adults and some fifth grade children have this ability. Other children in fifth and ninth grades, and in classes for the mildly mentally handicapped, have…

Discusses three strategies that help students remember information from the author's point of view: webbing, pyramiding, and think sheets. Notes that each strategy highlights superordinate ideas and shows how ideas relate to each other. Offers instructional techniques for using the three strategies. (FL)

The 34 summaries contained in this collection represent the theoretical positions and the empirical studies of a wide variety of investigators currently working in the field of language comprehension. The entries summarize contributions from the areas of assessment, artificial intelligence, cognition (including schema theory), instruction,…

Describes transactional strategies instruction, an approach to teaching reading comprehension in elementary classes that focuses on student and teacher transactions with text. Contends that the approach differs from traditional strategy instruction. Provides examples of transactional strategies instruction, including dialogs between teachers and…

Prompted by current theories in reading suggesting that variation in word knowledge affects the processing of not only individual words but also clauses and sentences, this report explores some different ways in which children's comprehension processes may be affected by variation in word knowledge. The report first examines whether the effects of…

The movement away from a stimulus-response to a constructive view of memory and reading comprehension has had an impact on both reading research and teaching. Viewing memory as not simply the recollection of sensory data, but as the complex interaction of the sensory experience with its immediate context and the perceiver's previous knowledge,…

Designed to assist educators in making a more knowledgeable selection of reading methods and techniques, this paper integrates the findings of eye processing research with classroom reading practices. Following a review of eye movement and visual processing research, the paper presents a discussion of research on the process by which a reader…

The thesis presents a literature review of selected characteristics of learning disabled children and the relationship between these characteristics and reading. Thirty-three characteristics are discussed, divided into three categories: selected cognitive abilities, speech and language development, and selected behavioral and emotional-social…

Summaries of several papers are presented to develop a working theoretical analysis of reading comprehension and an understanding of development in language comprehension based upon empirical studies. Contributions from the areas of assessment, artificial intelligence, cognition (including schema theory), instruction, linguistics, learning…