Seventh- and eighth-grade students with learning disabilities (n=29) who reasoned through factual prose sentences did not recall more information than students who were prompted to try to remember the content after each sentence. However, students trained in thinking skills produced more correct explanations of the information than control…

In two experiments, students (10 learning disabled ninth graders and 45 nondisabled seventh graders) were taught the hardness levels of minerals according to either a keyword-pegword mnemonic, a questioning procedure, or free study. Mnemonic students significantly outrecalled both questioning and free-study students regardless of students'…

In two experiments, learning disabled junior high school students learned definitions of 14 vocabulary words either according to a pictorial mnemonic strategy (the "keyword method") or via principles of direct instruction. Results showed that the keyword method was substantially more effective even when keyword students were required to generate…

Junior high school aged academically precocious youths participated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, Ss were required to closely process a spatially organized map or a list map prior to hearing a related prose passage. In Experiment 2, a spatially organized map was presented either before or after Ss listened to prose passages. Results…

Learning-disabled junior high school students (N-36) were taught three dichotomous classifications for each of eight minerals; hardness level (hard-soft), color (pale-dark), and common use (home-industry). Ss were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions in order to learn this information. In the direct instruction condition, Ss were…

Two studies concerned with the effects of maps on academically gifted junior high school students indicated that prior presentation of a spatially organizing picture increased learning of prose material. (CL)

In two experiments, differences were investigated between youths (mean age 13 years) and comparison groups with respect to (1) performance on paired-associate tasks involving meaningful and nonmeaningful words, (2) reported use of spontaneously produced learning strategies, and (3) degree to which learning strategies facilitated recall. Under…

Sixty-eight learning disabled and reading disabled junior high school-aged youths participated in two experiments regarding use of spatial organizers to increase prose recall. In Experiment 1, learners were required to study either a spatially organized illustration or a randomized (list format) illustration prior to hearing a related prose…

Sixty-eight learning disabled and reading disabled junior high school students took part in one of two experiments, both using spatially organized and randomized illustrations in an effort to measure effects of the type of illustration on recall of verbally presented prose passages. Results are discussed in terms of instructional variables for…

This report describes the outcomes of a 3-year project that investigated the effectiveness of mnemonic instruction of secondary students with learning disabilities. Classroom-based mnemonic instruction was implemented in junior-high school self-contained classrooms. The report first presents theoretical and empirical support for mnemonic…

Adolescents (n=25) with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to either mnemonic conditions or experimenter-directed rehearsal conditions and individually taught difficult vocabulary words, half abstract and half concrete. Results included higher scores on both recall and comprehension tests by mnemonically trained students for both…

This paper reports on use of mnemonic strategies with eight junior high students with mild mental disabilities, involving mnemonics supplied by the teacher as well as generated by the class. Results indicate that students successfully learned content using the mnemonic strategies and reported enjoying instruction when the strategies were used.…

Learning-disabled junior-high students (N=27) were taught four chapters of U.S. history using either mnemonic instruction or more traditional, textbook based instruction. Students learned substantially more content when instructed mnemonically, on individual chapter tests as well as on the cumulative recall test. Students and teachers both…

This evaluation study (with 45 middle school students with learning disabilities) found that students trained in summarization procedures performed significantly higher on all dependent measures of reading comprehension than those receiving traditional instruction. Also, on some measures, students also trained in self-monitoring outperformed those…

Two experiments comparing the effectiveness of direct versus mnemonic instruction in teaching learning-disabled high school students (N=56) and educable mentally retarded junior high school students (N=8) about the hardness of minerals indicated that students taught with the mnemonic pictorial method substantially outperformed direct instruction…