The ability of six-month-old infants to remember a functional category acquired in a specific context was assessed in three experiments. Findings revealed that at six months, information about the place where categories are constructed is prerequisite for retrieval of a category concept from long-term memory. (GLR)

Through working with a woman abused as a child, a teacher concluded that the violence of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse is common among many adults who read and write poorly. Their experiences should be acknowledged in literacy programs that encourage people to develop skills with which to tell their stories. (SK)

Thirty-four children (ages 8-10) participated in an activity, and their memory of it was tested 2 weeks later in a law school's mock courtroom or in the children's school. Children questioned at court showed impaired memory performance and increased stress levels. Children's perceptions of courtroom stress were negatively correlated with…

Examined prevalence and correlates of self-reported memory problems among 1,250 black elders. Over 48.3% of sample reported poor memory/forgetfulness as very or somewhat serious problem. Subjects with hearing impairments, higher number of stressful life events, higher level of depression, and poorer health were more likely to complain of memory…

A psychological theory of the logical particle "if" is presented that consists of a lexical entry, a set of pragmatic comprehension processes, and a reasoning program. The core of the theory is two inference schemas originally proposed by logicians. The theory can account for available data from children and adults. (SLD)

Results of investigations into associative priming are summarized and the relative strengths of spreading activation and nonspreading activation theories of priming are assessed. The explanatory power of spreading-activation theories is at least as great as that of nonspreading-activation theories. (SLD)

The best gifts are those given by a deeply caring parent, a special relative, or a friend. Presents seldom last, but memories do. Parents are advised to create memories for their children this holiday season by giving them their time, caring, and love. Parents should make and keep promises to spend time with their children. (MLH)

Investigated the relationships among individual differences in reading ability, phonological awareness, and short-term memory. Also examined the mechanisms responsible for differences in short-term memory skills between good and poor readers. Found that reading differences were associated with verbal short-term memory differences. (TM)

In three experiments, 172 college students repeatedly read and recalled stories presented in good and poor form to determine whether the memory-enhancing effect of good text organization is transitory or long-lasting and whether it pertains to forgetting as well as learning. Advantages of good form are discussed. (SLD)

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that aging is associated with an increase in schema-related influences on memory performance. Attention allocated during the study was disrupted more by lack of scene organization in older adults. There were relatively systematic age differences for retention. (RH)

Twenty-two five-year olds who judged, identified, repaired, and explained phonological and morphological errors performed significantly better on phonological task than on the morphological task. It is proposed that results are due to differences in the type and location of linguistic information to be analyzed and to differences in memory demands…

In this study of the distinction between temporal distance and location, children were asked to judge the relative recency and time of target events that occurred one and seven weeks before testing. All judged recency and localized time of day correctly. Six- and eight- but not four-year olds localized longer time scales. (BC)

Discusses the cultural, ontological, and epistemological principles on which knowledge is organized in Japanese culture. Topics discussed include public knowledge and corporate knowledge; cognition, including field dependent knowledge and group dependent knowledge; communication and image oriented knowledge; memory; and patterns of…

Three experiments involving 222 undergraduates investigated whether and when human memory retrieval is influenced by structural consistency. In all experiments, retrieval competition was manipulated. Results indicate that both retrieval competition and structural consistency influence reminding. Implications for psychological and artificial…

Provides an account of how one English teacher fosters awareness of the metaphorical nature of language and the sensory experience of poetry. Shows how the poem "Mnemonic" by Li-Young Lee can be used to instruct students concerning how poetry speaks to the memories of the reader. (HB)