Many consider the use of adjunct questions (mathemagenics) to be a means by which the instructional value of a text can be increased with relatively little difficulty, and this explains the appeal they have generated over the years. Yet this appeal is seldom tempered by a consideration of the ecological validity of the experimental studies on…

Results obtained from the research were inconsistent, indicating no support for the thesis that objectives aid learning. Research recommendations are submitted, with conclusions drawn reflecting the positive attitudes toward presenting objectives. (JB)

The testing effect is a phenomenon that may be described as follows: following the reading of a prose passage, a group of students who are given a posttest on the passage immediately or shortly afterward will later recall more of the passage on a retention test than will a similar group of students who are not given the posttest. Testing as a…