In multiple-list learning, retrieval during learning has been suggested to improve recall of the single lists by enhancing list discrimination and, at test, reducing interference. Using electrophysiological, oscillatory measures of brain activity, we examined to what extent retrieval during learning facilitates list encoding. Subjects studied 5…

The word length effect, the finding that lists of short words are better recalled than lists of long words, has been termed one of the benchmark findings that any theory of immediate memory must account for. Indeed, the effect led directly to the development of working memory and the phonological loop, and it is viewed as the best remaining…

This paper begins with a brief review of research trends in the area of organization and memory. A discussion in them presented their relevance to the study of children's processing abilities, and the suggestion is presented of a possible useful tool in the application of knowledge about information processing to the educational experience of the…

Cognitive style mapping enables adult basic education (ABE) teachers to more readily identify a student's cognitive styles, or preferred way of acquiring information, as well as the specific areas where improvement is needed. The procedure prescribes techniques and resources for enhancing both academic skills and interpersonal relationships. The…

The New Jersey Task Force on Thinking has taken the first steps toward statewide assessment of students' thinking skills. Efforts were made to (1) define requisite thinking competencies, (2) explore measurement of thinking competencies, and (3) make recommendations accordingly. Preliminary findings are reported. (TE)

Mentally retarded persons in sheltered workshops in West Virginia were studied in order to determine their learning styles and how these learning styles related to the populations studied by Witkin and others. (Witkin classified learning styles as either field independent--i.e. task oriented--or field-dependent--i.e., oriented to the social…

OVER 40 ARTICLES AND STUDIES RELATED TO THE PIAGETIAN THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT ARE CRITICALLY REVIEWED AS A BASIS FOR SUGGESTING APPLICATIONS OF THE THEORY TO EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION. PIAGET'S CONCEPTS ARE ANALYZED WITHIN TWO BROAD CATEGORIES, THE STAGE OF CONCRETE OPERATIONS, FROM APPROXIMATELY SEVEN TO 11 YEARS OF AGE, AND THE STAGE OF…

Scores on the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, and the Wechsler Intelligences Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) were obtained for 30 adults with mental retardation. Correlations between the Vineland domains and ABLA were all significant. No participants performing below ABLA Level 6 were testable on the…

The Analogical Reasoning Learning Test (ARLT) was developed for use with individuals with IQs lower than 55. A study involving 58 students (ages 6-19) with moderate to severe mental retardation found the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of this measure are high. Discriminant and predictive validity are satisfactory. (Contains…

Ascertaining changes in cognitive correlates of learning as students advanced through hierarchical instruction, 24 individual difference measures were obtained from 166 Navy trainees who had completed a computer-managed mastery course in electricity and electronics. Three types of cognitive characteristic measures were used in the study--tests of…

Research summarized here demonstrates how similarity thinking can be used in training programs to help ethnic minority children acquire basic skills. Current achievements are often attenuated by poor language skills, especially when English is not the first language of the child. Similarity thinking assesses the child's ability to learn without…

Reviews the current literature concerning prior knowledge in an attempt to clarify problems with the terminology. Identifies the three main problems: lack of definition or vagueness, nominal versus real definitions, and different names/same constructs or same name/different constructs. Includes a conceptual map of prior knowledge terminology. (MJP)

Recent theorists have begun to re-conceptualize the construct of "intelligence." This paper reviews recent theories of intelligence and indicates implications for practitioners, educators, and individuals. Theories and theorists discussed include the following: (1) Robert Sternberg has advanced the "triarchic theory" of…

Piaget's model of children's conceptual learning and development was compared with Klausmeier's Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) model in a longitudinal study. The CLD model suggests four successive levels of concept learning: (1) concrete--recognizing an object which has been encountered previously; (2) identity--recognizing a known…

The Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) Model specifies four levels of concept attainment (concrete, identity, classificatory, and formal) and three uses of concepts (problem solving, subordinate-supraordinate, and principles). Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of concept attainment may be conducted. The results of this study of 300…