Study conducted by the Aptitudes Research Project at the University of Southern California, under Contract Nonr-228(20) with the Office of Naval Research, Personnel and Training Branch.

In a study of second graders, results supported the hypothesis that recognition memory would be disrupted when children's attention control strategy required the same cognitive operations as the task material to be studied. (Author/MP)

Indicates that the way different languages reduce speech to script affects how visual information is processed in the brain, suggesting that the relation between script and speech underlying all types of writing systems plays an important part in reading behavior. Compares memory performance of native English/Chinese speakers. (JN)

Three experiments examined whether the phenomena of visual search for single characters (Sternberg, 1966) generalizes to word and word-category search when target and distractor sets had varied and consistent mappings across trials. Previous results were replicated. Four principles of search are discussed within a theory of automatic/control…

Concludes that the general theory of text processing proposed by Kintsch and van Dijk is able to account for the memory of radio news bulletins in a number of respects. (FL)

Experiments demonstrating that perceptual identification and recognition memory both rely on memory for single prior processing episodes, contrary to common assumption, are reported. The balance between data-driven and conceptually-driven processing in reading is explored, and the effects of changing the subject's reliance on one or the other…

Provides direct evidence of developmental differences in the processing of item-specific information, discussing how these differences affect recognition as well as recall performance in second graders, fifth graders, and college adults. Results suggest that retention varies as a result of the degree to which children differ from adults in…

Discusses research on mechanisms that determine the temporal properties of the retrieval of information, represented in long-term memory as a network of associations among concepts. A theory is developed concerned with processes leading from presentation of a probe to levels of activation in the network. (JN)

Describes components contributing to memory development, including: (1) capacity or processing allocation features of the information processing system; (2) strategies or control processes for problem solving; and (3) knowledge or semantic features acquired through experiences. Empirical evidence is reviewed supporting the psychological reality of…

In a memory search task with context recognition, three groups of children were examined: hyperactives, somewhat hyperactives, and controls. Both groups of hyperactive-rated children were slower in their cognitive processing than controls. (MP)

Memory for reactions and judgments about a biographical passage was examined following presentation of subsequent information relevant to the passage. The different ways that memories are influenced by various types of later information were discussed in terms of the loci of reaction and fact generation (internal and external). (Author/RD)