This monograph analyzes theoretical and methodological problems that may have prevented previous research from detecting retroactive inhibition with meaningful discourse and reports on two experiments based on the analysis. (Author/TA)

From evidence of this study it appears that a person will learn more from a prose passage if he forms images of the things and events described in the passage. (Authors/MB)

This paper attempted to offer a theoretical framework on the action of Orienters on initiating attentional processes. (Author/RK)

This article examines the research on different levels of questions inserted in prose. The first section defines the level of questions and presents a number of theoretical issues. The second section discusses methodological issues in research, such as inadequate directions to subjects. The final section provides recommendations for further…

A review of recent ERIC materials concerned with textbooks, prose learning, and learning strategies, to determine factors that contribute to learning from textbooks. (DD)

This report concerns the effects of prequestion and postquestion formats in prose learning in computer-assisted instruction. Five experimental groups studied a set of eight passages under different prequestion-postquestion combinations. Twenty-five subjects, volunteers with high school degrees, were randomly assigned to each group. A final…

Two experiments are reported in which recall of the same information is compared following different priming passages. In one case the subjects were primed by material that was consistent with the content of the main passage; in a second case, the priming introduced information in conflict with it. It was found that inconsistent priming led to…

This study examines the utility of an elaboration hypothesis as a means of predicting the recall of major ideas from text through the manipulation of paragraphs and via the use of inserted questions requiring different levels of elaboration. (PN)

This study supported the hypothesis that the same prose passage would be stored in different memory locations as a function of its relationship to previous knowledge. Subjects told that a reading passage was about a famous person before reading the passage made more false positive errors in a recognition test. (Author/BH)

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the relative efficiency of verbal and visual adjunct aids for concrete and abstract prose learning. For the abstract passage, verbal aids worked best and visual aids were somewhat disruptive. The concrete passage did not demonstrate the equivalency for two types of aids. (Author/PN)

Context orientation and depth of processing were tested as possible explanations for thematic organization. The process of searching for the theme of prose passages was detrimental to recall. Theme statements facilitated recall when provided prior to each passage. The theme search process was beneficial only when the correct theme was identified.…

The effects of level of adjunct question (factual, application) and type of feedback (no feedback, correct answer feedback, self-correction feedback) on learning concepts from prose were examined in a study of 135 volunteer undergraduates at Iowa State University. Adjunct application questions produce better performance on subsequent new…

The experiments described in this report attempt to further understanding of the storage and retrieval of factual information. In the first five experiments, organization of simple prose materials is varied. Effects upon both accuracy and order of recall are discussed in terms of retrieval strategies determined by organization. The fourth and…

This paper identifies and describes three distinct variables on which prose passages can differ, from a linguistic point of view. Each of these variables relates to the way in which the content of prose is organized to convey meaning to the reader. The first variable is the position of information in a structure representing a passage's…