Educational psychology has indicated that prior knowledge is a potentially important educational variable. Recent and earlier research in educational psychology has shown that 30 to 60% of the variance in study results could be explained by this variable. Insight into these factors should influence the return on education. A common theoretical…

This three-part book, a collection of articles by some of the foremost researchers in language comprehension, examines the thought processes involved in listening to conversation or in reading a page of text. The first part of the book deals with what the reader stores from a page during and after comprehension; it investigates the reader's use of…

This book defines and reviews five central problems in the study of second language acquisition (SLA): (subconscious) transfer, staged development, cross-learner systematicity, incompleteness, and variability. The central thesis of the text is that linguistic knowledge is an autonomous component of SLA, distinct from the socially determined use of…

It is difficult to make progress in the study of emotions and emotional development if the meanings assigned to central constructs vary widely across investigators. This book clarifies and synthesizes the different ways in which emotion researchers approach fundamental questions about the nature of emotion and emotional development. Theorist and…

Despite the apparent universality of loneliness and its link to psychosocial maladjustment, research on loneliness has emerged rather recently in the history of psychology. This book brings together varied theories and lines of research on loneliness among children and adolescents to provide a source for future research. The chapters are: (1)…

This book provides a synthesis of wide-ranging research on student attrition at American colleges and universities and outlines actions that institutions can and should take to reduce attrition. The key to effective retention is shown to lie in a strong commitment to quality education and the building of a strong sense of inclusive educational and…

An examination of second language learning focuses on how universal cognitive processes in language learning and individual differences account for differences in language learning patterns. An introductory section gives background information suggesting that psycholinguistic factors in language learning should receive more attention for two…

This book presents a preschool framework that integrates literacy activities into content area lessons while embedding instruction within adult-child social interactions and realistic, playful activities tailored to each child's individual needs. Chapter 1 of the book delineates the theory and rationale behind the framework, and outlines essential…

This book discusses resource-based learning in higher education. One premise of resource-based learning is that as students become able to select their own learning materials from information resources, they become active, independent learners, while professors become learning facilitators in cooperation with librarians and other information…