Retention of prose is examined as it is affected by (1) outlines as advanced organizers; (2) preexperimental familiarity with the material; and (3) text genre. Findings are discussed in the context of current theories in cognitive psychology, particularly those of structure, organization, and representation of knowledge and prose. (Author/GK)

This study has three purposes: (1) to determine whether the graphic organizer (a schematic representation of text structure using key vocabulary terms) could be used to compensate for the effects of a passage organized with a description top-level structure; (2) to explore the effectiveness of providing students differing in reading ability with…

Essays in which 40 freshman composition students described unusual or extraordinary persons were analyzed for the charcteristic choices that males and females made and for the typical ways men and women were described. The analysis yielded seven findings with social implications. Both males and females tended to choose males as objects for…