This article discusses cognitive development as a primary educational objective and focuses on three cognitive processes: the prepared mind, the attending mind, and the processing mind. (PD)

Study was designed to extend previous studies on note taking and listening by investigating the effects of thematic relatedness and of opportunity for consolidation on the learner's recall. (Authors)

Author focuses on the information processing approach to interaction studies and particularly on the process, the events that occur before, during and after a learning task. (Author/HB)

How well items of information which comprise a text are learned may depend upon the semantic and syntactic relationships (ideational bonds) which exist among those items. To determine if the ability of learners to recall text information is influenced by the location of the information within the text and by syntactic contrasts among informational…

Subjects read a textual passage encompassing hierarchically related topics. A structural outline presented in advance of reading the text facilitated reproductive recall of facts. The recall of specific facts was superior to that of general facts, implying an experimental demand to be precise in learning and recalling specific factual material.…

College students studied text about an imaginary solar system. Two cuing systems were manipulated to induce a single or double set of cues consistent with one or two sets of text propositions, or no target propositions were specified. Cuing systems guided construction and implementation of prose-processing decision criteria. (Author/RD)

A total of 150 undergraduate students randomly assigned to five experimental groups studied ten paragraphs with questions interspersed at different locations in the text. Performance on incidental items was significantly lower (p < .05) in the question before (QB) than in the question after (QA), question before and after (QBA), and the…

Three studies investigated some variables involved in the psychological processes related to instruction. One study looked at the influence of notetaking, length of the listening-study interval, and thematic organization of the lecture on recall. It found that more ideas were recalled when notes were taken than when notetaking was not permitted…

Research on Trait by Treatment Interaction must become more coordinated. It should include systematic programs by individual investigators as well as those among investigators. Important factors to consider are (1) developing a clearer definition of traits which will include availability and preference as well as aptitude and ability in both the…

Using 198 college students, this study investigated the effects on performance of four variables in a concept-learning task. The variables were (1) passive and active learning; (2) contextual specificity and variability; (3) rule-examples sequences; and (4) near and far transfers as critical outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the…

One hundred-fifty subjects studied a passage with questions interspersed at different locations. Total level of acquisition was highest in treatments involving postquestions and no questions. The results were attributed to the influence of adjunct questions on learner expectations that affect the selective processing of information. (Author/JAC)

The effectiveness of pausing for learning from lectures was investigated. Pause location and kind of activity conducted during the pause were varied. Free-recall and cued-recall tests were administered immediately after the lecture and two weeks later. Interspersed pauses coupled with group discussion was the most efficient procedure. (Author/RD)

The effects of overt or covert verbalization and specific or non-specific goals were investigated. Sixty-four undergraduate students solved acquisition problems and subsequently took tests measuring near and far transfer. Results indicate that acquisition can be influenced by teaching methods emphasizing conscious attention to goals. (SLD)