In two experiments, children and adults were exposed to four different information-processing tasks to measure speed and variability of performance across different age groups. It was found that 10- and 11-year-olds were about 1.7 and 1.6 times slower than 19-year-olds, differences that were not affected by allowing both groups practice on the…

Writers often must summarize others' texts as part of their own work. To succeed at this, they must first read and understand new information and then transform that information to fulfill a specific purpose. Concept mapping, used as a visual organizing technique, can be an effective link between the two processes. In a preliminary study, students…