Age-related deficits may exist in episodic memory (knowledge of the context in which an item appeared previously) and semantic memory (knowledge of an item's meaning independent of the context). In order to examine adult age differences in semantic priming effects and subsequent episodic retention for visually presented words, 24 young (18-22…

The meta-analysis method was used to summarize the findings of 23 studies of the word learning process that had used imagery as an independent variable as either an "imposed" or an "induced" condition. Imposed imagery investigations compared word recall on the basis of the imagery attribute of a word, while induced imagery…

Semantic priming is the process by which a subject performing a lexical decision task is prepared for a target word through the presentation of a semantically related word. Repetition of a given word at specific intervals is one form of priming that has been shown to reduce subject reaction time in word recognition tasks. A study was conducted to…

A study explored an application of rauding theory to the developmental components that contribute to elementary-age children's reading comprehension. The relationships among cognitive power, auditory accuracy level, pronunciation (word recognition) level, rauding (comprehension) accuracy level, rauding rate (reading rate) level, and rauding…

Three studies were conducted in an attempt to replicate previous research concluding that semantic meaning is accessed in the absence of conscious awareness. A pattern mask was used to interrupt the processing of stimulus words after 30 milliseconds; at this duration subjects were not able to identify the stimulus words or even to determine…

An experiment was carried out to determine how the memory search of a two-clause complex sentence in immediate memory is carried out. An item-recognition task was performed with 32 native English-speaking, right-handed adults who listened to eight two-clause complex sentences presented to the left ear, each immediately followed by a probe word…

An integrated, three-dimensional cognitive model of reading comprehension was used to investigate the relationship between Piagetian theory (classificational reasoning abilities that emphasize the tacit use of metalinguistic concepts), and reading acquisition (word recognition and reading comprehension). Twenty-four second and third grade remedial…

Forty kindergarten children participated in a study to determine (1) whether significant relationships existed among children's scores on various word boundary tasks, (2) whether scores on the individual tasks were significantly related to the children's ability to represent phonemic segments in their spelling, and (3) whether different…

Two major hypotheses are currently at issue concerning the effects of semantic context on ambiguous word recognition: (1) the selective-retrieval hypothesis (SRH) maintains that a single meaning is retrieved from memory, and (2) the nonselective-retrieval hypothesis maintains that all meanings are retrieved from memory. To help clear up this…

In order to determine whether there are developmental differences in the handling of the modality attribute 32 children from each of grades two and six and 32 college students were presented with a video-taped mixed-modality list of 32 first grade words. Subjects were asked to recall the words, to identify the presentation modality of each word on…

A study of 51 third and 47 fourth graders using a new measure of exposure to print, the Title Recognition Test, established that orthographic processing ability can account for variance in word recognition skill after variance resulting from phonological processing is removed. The importance of print exposure is discussed. (SLD)

Two experiments were conducted to determine the features of text to which skilled adult readers need to attend while reading and the features that either are of minimal importance or can be processed automatically without directed processing. In the first experiment, 12 college students attended to a timed picture naming task, in which a picture…

The comprehension of instructional text can be a cognitively demanding task because component comprehension processes compete for limited space within the readers' working memories. The component comprehension processes that readers must perform include recognizing words and retrieving their meanings, parsing sentences, identifying and organizing…

Recent cognitive research concerned with training of word recognition skills and vocabulary skills in English monolinguals has implications for second language learning theory and the teaching of English reading skills to native Spanish speakers. Researchers in reading development, cognitive psychology, and second language proficiency assessment…

The hypothesis that word context reduces visual rather than acoustic confusion between possible targets was tested in a series of experiments. All involved tachistoscopic presentation of letter strings followed by a pattern mask. Data from eight college students showed that target letters that are confusable only visually and acoustically…