In two experiments, first and fourth grade subjects performed a speeded card sorting task with either integral or nonintegral dimensions. The dimensions were arranged so that subjects sorted on three types of task: (1) single dimension, (2) correlated dimensions, and (3) orthogonal dimensions. (Author/MS)

Argues that J. R. Kendall and J. Hood have not clearly demonstrated that contextual strategies play a significant role in the ability of some disabled readers to understand passages, as well as or better than other students, although they read with less word recognition accuracy. (HOD)

Discusses the structure of a problem-based curriculum based on the complexity of the problems that the students must solve, taking into account the level they must attain and their previous experience with problem-based teaching. This approach is compared with the conventional teaching methods. Twenty-two references are listed. (CHC)

Thirty students with dyslexia (mean age 13.5), 30 readers without disabilities, and 30 younger readers (mean age 8.9) were assessed to test the validity of the Reading Style Inventory (RSI). The RSI was not able to accurately profile children with dyslexia in terms of their cerebral hemisphere preferences. (CR)

Tests the effectiveness of CONTACT-2, a revision of CONTACT strategy, which uses continuous, computer-assisted activation of learner conceptions in text processing. CONTACT-2 was found to be more effective as a process-oriented instructional strategy. Student subjects in grades five and six with the CONTACT-2 condition constructed better…

Videotaped observations were made of seventh and eleventh grade students using an instructional hypermedia system. Three profiles of hypermedia navigation emerged with each style characterized by distinct information processing strategies. Analysis of the characteristics of learners revealed that students within each profile group had similar…

The cognitive revolution began in the 1950s as researchers began to move away from the study of knowledge acquisition and behaviorism to the study of information and the way it is processed. Four factors are discussed in chapter 1 as contributing to the increase in popularity of the "cognitive revolution" (increasing enthusiasm for the…

This paper discusses the concept of information literacy as the main framework within which the concept of computer literacy may be defined, describes in detail the design of a complete curriculum in information literacy intended for all students in elementary and junior high schools, and provides an example of this design with a specific learning…

Overviews of schema theory, which focuses on the cognitive operations engaged in by the reader, and discourse analysis, which focuses on structural characteristics of the text itself, are presented in this paper. The first section explains the notion of cognitive schemata (patterns of expectations that are applied to incoming information) and…

Depressed individuals seem to believe that they are qualitatively inferior; they tend to misinterpret and exaggerate losses and overgeneralize the meaning of self-relevant information. The way in which information about the self is processed by depressed individuals, in particular, the differences in self-schema content (the constellation of…

This paper discusses the differences between the storage problems encountered in a large library and those encountered in the human memory. Some of the properties of the human memory system and some of the major issues which affect the interaction between human users and the existing library systems are outlined. The problem of browsing is used as…

Most research on information utilization in judgment and decision making has followed two basic approaches: "regression" and "Bayesian." Each has characteristic tasks and characteristic information that must be processed to accomplish these tasks. There has been a tendency to work within a single approach with minimal communication between the…

Progress is reported on four research tasks. An experiment tested the effectiveness of a computer-based phonology instructional system for second-language learning. In research on models of human-computer interactions, experiments were performed demonstrating that the provision of certain incentives to the users of a time-sharing system can have…

Learning is not a simple unitary process. This paper identifies three qualitatively different phases of the learning process. In one phase, the learner acquires facts and information, accumulating more structures onto the already existing knowledge structures. This phase of learning is adequate only when the material being learned is part of a…

The article provides an overview of a special topical issue on information processing as it relates to learning disabilities. Components of information processing theory are described, a model of information processing is presented, and subsequent articles in the special issue are summarized. (JW)