Outlines a cognitive process model of abstracting, indexing, and classification that is based on text comprehension processes. Text comprehension for indexing versus other purposes is discussed, including conceptual and perceptual processing; conceptual knowledge and the development of expertise are discussed; and characteristics of short-term and…

The word length effect has been a central feature of theorising about immediate memory. The notion that short-term memory traces rapidly decay unless refreshed by rehearsal is based primarily upon the finding that serial recall for short words is better than that for long words. The decay account of the word length effect has come under pressure…

A study was conducted to test a model that conceives of long term memory as a propositional network of ideas made up of knowledge clusters and related subclusters. After two pilot studies suggested that recall order of ideas was unrelated to organization, the study investigated whether units of main and supporting ideas produced during…

The automatic/controlled processing theory proposal that the modification of long term memory (LTM) occurs only during controlled processing, and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no resulting LTM effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were shown words while performing tasks involving either…

The goal of this unified theory of human reasoning is to specify what constitutes reasoning and to characterize the psychological distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning. The theory views reasoning as the controlled and mediated application of three processes (encoding, comparison and selective combination) to inferential rules. (JAZ)

Story events were presented in Greek or English to 32 Greek-English bilingual children in grades 2 and 4. Children's recall 1-2 days later was organized more by story event (party versus breakfast) than by language. Cognitive processes that comprise bilingual memory, including encoding, storage, and retrieval strategies, are examined within the…

Reviews literature on development of children's and adults' long-term retention. Finds that forgetting is dominated by storage (not retrieval) failures; trace recovery is dominated by retrieval (not storage) operations; and storage failure rates decline with age in childhood, whereas only modest developments occur in retrieval recovery operations.…

Studied relationships among short-term memory, processing speed, sequencing ability, and long-term memory information retrieval in 7-year-olds. Found that when reading ability was controlled, arithmetic ability was best predicted by processing speed, with short-term memory accounting for no further unique variance. Children with arithmetic…

Compared toys and real items as props for facilitating children's reporting of an event. Indicates that the effects of props depend on the nature of the items and the age of the children with whom they are used. Suggests that real items may provide one means of supporting recall, to enable children to provide their most complete and accurate…

Describes research on young children's long-term memory under 2 conditions of acquisition: direct imitation followed by a 10-minute delay, or deferred imitation. Children were able to encode and retain as much from visual pickup of modeled acts as from feedback obtained through imitation. (Author/GH)

Working memory capacity has been suggested as a factor that is involved in long-term memory retrieval, particularly when that retrieval involves a need to overcome some sort of interference (Bunting, Conway, & Heitz, 2004; Cantor & Engle, 1993). Previous work has suggested that working memory is related to the acquisition of information during…

Results from studies of retrograde amnesia provide much of the evidence for theories of memory consolidation. Retrograde amnesia gradients are often interpreted as revealing the time needed for the formation of long-term memories. The rapid forgetting observed after many amnestic treatments, including protein synthesis inhibitors, and the parallel…

The nonword repetition (NWR) test has been shown to be a good predictor of children's vocabulary size. NWR performance has been explained using phonological working memory, which is seen as a critical component in the learning of new words. However, no detailed specification of the link between phonological working memory and long-term memory…

This study investigated whether test anxiety affected performance because: (1) examination stress interfered with retrieval of previously learned material, or (2) initial learning was less thorough. Results indicated significant negative correlations with acquisition indices and partially supported a retrieval deficit. Suggestions for further…

Goodenough's (1976) findings on field dependence/independence are extended here by focusing on the information processing stages of attention, encoding in short term and working memories, and storage and retrieval processes of long term memory. The reviewed research indicates that field independent and dependent individuals differ in the ability…