Successfully retrieving information protects it against later forgetting. Failed retrieval attempts are also beneficial if followed by study of corrective feedback. To explain both of these findings, researchers have proposed the "mediation hypothesis." In the case of learning from corrective feedback, initial errors may serve as…

Although the seductive details effect, a phenomenon where interesting but irrelevant pictures impede comprehension, is well documented, studies examining ways of moderating its detrimental impact on learning remain few. The present study examined the effect of note-taking on the seductive details effect. Chinese undergraduate participants (N = 91)…

This observational, cross-sectional study examined students' retrospective recall of emotional distress when studying sensitive topics in psychology, and whether hardiness had a mediated pathway to emotional distress through a mental health condition (MHC). Psychology undergraduates (155 women, 34 men) from South Australian universities completed…

The traditional view of satiation is that repeated consumption produces an unavoidable decline in liking according to the quantity and recency of consumption. We challenge this deterministic view by showing that satiation is instead partially constructed in the moment based on contextual cues. More specifically, while satiation is a function of…

Researchers are increasingly interested in working memory (WM) training. However, it is unclear whether it strengthens comprehension in young children who are at risk for learning difficulties. We conducted a modest study of whether the training of verbal WM would improve verbal WM and passage listening comprehension and whether training effects…

Student approaches to learning have been a popular area of research in educational psychology. One useful framework for understanding student approaches to learning is through Biggs' presage-process-product model. The purpose of this study is to examine the process stage of the 3P model. Undergraduate students (N = 67) thought aloud while…

Understanding how labels and prior training affect teachers of students with a disability is a step toward creating effective educational environments. Two goals of the present study were to examine how teacher training (special education vs. general education training) and labeling of students (either as having attention deficit hyperactivity…

Mediated priming refers to the activation of a target (e.g., "stripes") by a prime (e.g., "lion") that is related indirectly via a connecting mediator (e.g., tiger). In previous mediated priming studies (e.g., McNamara & Altarriba, 1988), the mediator was associatively related to the prime. In contrast, pure mediated…

In a study of development of organization strategies in rehearsal processes, children in the first, third, and fifth grades were exposed to a memory task which involved multiple overt rehearsal and recall phases. (SB)

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…

In 3 experiments the role of mediators in task switching with transparent and nontransparent cues was examined. Subjects switched between magnitude (greater or less than 5) and parity (odd or even) judgments of single digits. A cue-target congruency effect indicated mediator use: subjects responded faster to congruent cue-target combinations…

To determine whether young children consistently employ a visual code for remembering pictures in serial recall, 36 preschool children were asked to match picture lists composed of visually similar, phonetically similar, or unrelated items. (JMB)

It is suggested that the theoretical stance of Nisbett and Wilson's work on the limitations to conscious awareness of mental processes is not clearly formulated. Some methodological recommendations are listed, and a brief report is given of some experimental findings that seem counter to those of Nisbett and Wilson. (RL)