Personal narratives are integral to autobiographical memory and to identity, with coherent personal narratives being linked to positive developmental outcomes across the lifespan. In this article, we review the theoretical and empirical literature that sets the stage for a new lifespan model of personal narrative coherence. This new model…

Modeling and attention-retention were examined in 20 boys (ages 9- to 14-years-old) attending a residential school for children with learning disabilities. (Author/DB)

The article provides a rationale for the consideration of the processing differences of exceptional learners and discusses how these differences influence the development of the skills necessary for normal school achievement. (PHR)

Discusses the need for new models and understanding of how we learn and develop independence to successfully prepare our youth for the 21st century. Topics include a new model of learning based on current understandings about the brain, human intelligence, and memory; and a transnational program called the 21st Century Learning Initiative.…

Based on three areas of research (memory, selective attention, and metacognition), three strategy training interventions with learning disabled children are described: Lloyd's academic strategy training, Torgeson's strategy training, and Deshler's learning strategies model. Individual approaches may be appropriate only for selected subgroups of…

This article reviews the literature on three aspects of memory: (1) an information processing model of memory (including the sensory register, attention, short-term memory, and long-term memory); (2) instructional strategies designed to enhance memory (which stress gaining students' attention and active involvement); and (3) reasons why…

This paper outlines Explanation Construction Theory, a psychological theory of how people come to comprehend scientific explanations. Explanation Construction Theory has three components: (1) a theory of how scientific knowledge is represented in memory; (2) a taxonomy of different representations that can be formed in response to an encounter…

Students often fail to store new information in memory in a way that is accessible or useful. The information they have acquired is inert. This paper examines the inert knowledge problem in the context of learning from informational expository text. Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) have suggested a framework for understanding learning from expository…

A model of memory developed by information processing psychologists is described, illustrating how such a model could be used to guide science education research on learning and problem solving. (Author/SK)

A survey of the literature concerning the mental processes used in reading reveals a proliferation of molecular theories which explain only a small (and frequently neurological) component of the reading act. Enough information exists, however, to sketch an integrated, molar model of the reading process, which stresses the interrelationships…

Discusses learning behaviors where the "picture superiority effect" (PSE) seems to be most effective in biology education. Also considers research methodology and suggests a new research model which allows a more direct examination of the strategies learners use when matching up picture and text in efforts to "understand"…

This paper examines differences between students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in processing social information within the context of a social information processing model. It proposes that language problems may not be the sole cause for poor social skills in students with learning disabilities and suggests that social remediation…

Method is presented for displaying the sequential and multirelational ideation of scientific narrative elicited from respondents. The flow map provides a figural representation of the flow of information, the points in the flow where multirelational and recurrent linkages are made, and the time required to retrieve and express the information at…

Studied characteristics of nonparental significant adults that 285 university students recalled from when they were in elementary and secondary school. Minority students identified ethnically alike adults, with Caucasians selected second most often. Teachers and coaches represented more than half the nonrelated significant adults recalled. (SLD)

This article uses a self-organizing systems (SOS) framework to explain the complexity of learning disabilities (LD) and suggest that traditional classification schema may be inadequate. It explains principles of self-organizing systems and reviews research concerning reading and math disabilities and the roles of language, attention, working…