The question of how people learn and remember information from complex written materials is explored by means of Grime's semantic grammar of propositions and the author's analysis of the content structure of prose. This paper, presented at the 1973 Interdisciplinary Meeting on Structural Learning, first discusses such elements of the semantic…

Evidence has accumulated indicating that high arousal or activation facilitates long-term retention (LTR) but depresses short-term retention (STR) relative to low activation in list learning. The present study extended this research to the learning and retention of text by children. It specifically investigated the effects of questions inserted…

Information necessary to understand many English sentences appears to be supplied by a source outside the sentence which is composed of a fund of knowledge accumulated throughout life. This fund of knowledge may be visualized and a conceptual network into which the incomplete information supplied by a sentence can be mapped, thus making it…

Three experiments investigated the hypothesis that, when interpreted in context, general terms are typically encoded on the basis of an instantiation. The results indicated that a particular term naming the expected instantiation of a general term was a better cue for the recall of a sentence than the general term itself, even though the general…

A study is reported in which short-term memory capacity, estimated by a probe digit task, and memory for structured language, measured by a probe discourse task, were investigated in an experiment with third and fifth grade IQ-matched children representing two levels of reading comprehension skill. (Author/RM)

Recent research within the framework of existential sociolinguistics is reviewed, and its implications for the interpretative processes of reading are discussed. It is argued that comprehension through language is based largely on the role that the assumptions of the speaker and the social expectations of the hearer play in symbolic interaction.…

Briefly explores logical analysis and empirical research related to the nature of reading and listening comprehension. Formulates an instructional framework to account for comprehension levels and competencies, giving attention to questioning strategies of value to the practitioner in the classroom. (Author/RK)

The extent of a child's sense of how story should progress logically from beginning to end helps him to gain fluency and pleasure in reading. (JD)

Describes schema theory, then explores the machine metaphor implicit in schema-theoretic accounts of reading. (FL)

One hundred and fifty psychology students, assigned to five groups, used different learning strategies (repetition, paraphrasing, linking, grouping, and hierarchy) to study three structurally different chemistry texts. The strategies that demanded recognition of linked relationships as well as retention of this information increased students'…

The study examined relationships between two modes of information processing, simultaneous and sequential, and two sets of reading skills, word recognition and comprehension, among 40 second and third grade students. Results indicated there is a relationship between simultaneous processing and reading comprehension. (Author)

Demographic studies and educational research document that deaf readers encounter world knowledge, linguistic, and metacognitive difficulties as they learn to read and read to learn at the interpretive level of understanding. A collaborative "externally guided thinking" approach may help deaf literal readers learn to read at the evaluative level.…

Indicates that subjects spent more time reading important information than unimportant information and that, when processing time was limited, extra cognitive effort was allocated to accomplish the same result. Finds that important information was also recalled better, confirming the "levels effect." Reports three experiments supporting…

Suggests that metaphors in text are processed differently from literal language. Indicates that more information was remembered when the context did not contain metaphors and when the target paragraph was more important in the hierarchy of the passage. (NKA)

Investigates the effects of breakdowns in referential and factual coherence on text comprehension and reveals that the processing of factually inconsistent information hindered other information in passages. (FL)