In this experiment we investigated whether the presentation of domain principles within one text facilitates reading to learn from multiple exemplar texts that feature the importance of the principles. There were five texts about natural selection: a principles text, which described principles of natural selection, and four exemplar-based texts…

This study examined the impacts of 2 different graphic organizers (filled-in graphic organizers and interactive graphic organizers) on middle school students' learning processes, outcomes, experiences, and preferences. In Experiment 1, 60 students were assigned to read a short expository passage in 1 of 3 conditions: text-only, filled-in graphic…

Misconceptions impair not only learners' comprehension of a text but also the accuracy with which they judge their comprehension, that is, "metacomprehension accuracy." Refutation texts are beneficial to elicit conceptual-change processes and thus to overcome the detrimental impact of misconceptions on comprehension. However, it is…

Behavioral self-regulation supports young children's learning and is a strong predictor of later academic achievement. The capacity to manage one's attention and control one's behavior is commonly measured via direct assessments of executive function (EF). However, to understand how EF skills contribute to academic achievement, it is helpful to…

In this study, 9th-grade students (N = 196) with a mean age of 14.7 years read a scientific text explaining the chemical process of doing laundry with soap and water and then took 3 tests. Students who were instructed to generate drawings during learning scored higher than students who only read on subsequent tests of transfer (d = 0.91),…

The combined use of rational sets of concept instances and of a concept definition is validated as a powerful controllable variable in instructional material that is designed to facilitate concept attainment. (Author)

The effects of number signals on text recall were investigated using college-age subjects who read and recalled two texts containing 10 target sentences each. Results demonstrated that number signals directed attention to the sentences they marked, led to better encoding of target information, and influenced the process recall. (Author/LMO)

In two experiments, instruction in a hierarchical summarization study strategy focusing on the organization of ideas in a text was compared with the procedure of answering questions after reading. Fifth-grade student comprehension and memory were enhanced but were found to be affected by mastery of the strategy. (Author/CM)

Learning-disabled (LD) students showed significantly less argument on the importance ratings of story idea units than did normal students. Cue selection before recall depressed performance of the LD subjects relative to that of normal college students. (Author/PN)

Subjects read a text concerning a new computer programing language, with an advance organizer given either before or after reading. On a recall test, there were different patterns of performance. Results suggested that the locus of the effect was at encoding rather than retrieval. (Author/GDC)

Results suggest that: understanding can be defined in terms of information stored; and traditional learning concepts and measures are inappropriate for investigating the important effects involved in reading and auding'' prose. (Author/CB)

The differences among elaborative-interrogation, reading-to-understand, and no-exposure control conditions with familiar domain material in contrast to unfamiliar domain material were studied for 50 Canadian and 50 west German undergraduates. Results provide evidence of effects of both elaborative interrogation and prior knowledge on learning.…

In an experiment designed to explore the interaction of individual differences with question pacing in learning from written materials, 93 subjects were administered aptitude tests representing verbal comprehension and associative memory abilities. Posttest analysis of relevant and incidential retention showed that relevant retention increased…

Text information relevant to questions was learned better than text information irrelevant to questions. Results are predicted by a theory that readers selectively allocate a greater volume of attention to question-relevant information, and that a process supported by the additional attention causes more of the information to be learned.…