A solution is proposed to the traditional, unexplained use of optional backshifting in teaching past tenses of English verbs. The solution is based on correct and explicit formulation of the past tense examples used, so that optional backshifting would be unnecessary and inappropriate. (MSE)

A set of four experiments investigates the relationship between phonological coding and reading ability, using a picture-word interference task and a decoding task. Results with regard to both adults and children suggest that while poor readers possess weak decoding skills, good and poor readers show equivalent evidence of direct semantic and…

Synthesized speech stimuli with slowed-down critical formant cues were easier for 24 children with delayed language to discriminate. Further training with extended duration stimuli did generalize to stimuli of normal durations. (Author/CM)

Two experiments tested the limiting case of a multiple resources approach to resource allocation in information processing. Results contradict a single-capacity model, supporting the idea that the hemispheres' resource supplies are independent and have implications for both cerebral specialization and divided attention issues. (Author/PN)

Examines the effects of having both a semantic and a superficial perceptual category for organizing lists of words in free recall. Discusses the effect of individual difference characteristics, such as personality characteristics of the subject, on the results. (EKN)

A type of acculturation occurs in developing countries that hinders English language learning because English is the linguistic vehicle of technological and sociological influences, and culture conflicts increase when the learners arrive in English-speaking environments different from their expectations. Suggestions are given for alleviating these…

Describes experiment involving categorization of foreign words into abstract and concrete ratings to determine which were better learned under word pair and context conditions. Native language sentences were prepared in which foreign words were inserted to test whether foreign language students could correctly choose native words to replace…

Different experimental techniques for empirical assessment of children's linguistic ability have produced conflicting evidence. A number of such contradictions are discussed, in the context of an analysis of the potential weaknesses, and consequent requirements, of both comprehension and production tasks. (A commentary by P. L. Harris appears on…

Presents a computer simulation testing semantic networks and spreading activation models of human memory. Describes how a sentence is encoded by building a working memory structure from its words and from semantic memory concepts related to its meaning. Retrieval processes use cue words or sentences to locate working memory structures. (Author/MES)

Examines language effects in class-inclusion performance with 224 children ages 3 through 12 by comparing the standard Piagetian question with two alternate question forms. Overall, the findings were inconsistent with the Piagetian assertion that logical inability produces errors in comparing subclasses; inclusion performance was a function of…

Sixty middle-class and 60 lower-class children between the ages of three and five were asked to respond to six types of "wh-questions." Social class significantly affected the overall frequency of correct responses within each age group of children tested. (Author/DB)

Discusses three experiments which investigated the role of convention and context in understanding indirect requests. Experiments 1 and 2 showed the wide variety of conventions used and how context determines conventionality. Experiment 3 showed how conventional requests take less time to process than nonconventional ones. (Author/PJM)

Shows that hesitation phenomena are intricately connected with propspective and retrospective speech production tasks and mark critical points in processing. Two major hesitation categories exist: stalls and repairs. Stalls head off errors and represent error-free output; repairs take care of errors already committed. English and German examples…

Concludes (1) that both learning disabled and "normal" primary school students can learn automatic prime contrast relationships of space, time, and amount and (2) that what they learn remains with them over time. (FL)

A model of the structure of complex words based on an organization of the internal lexicon by shared-meaning content is proposed. Results of traditional linguistic experiments testing the hypothesis show that meaning content is a more salient basis for judgments of similarity and difference than is meaning structure. (PMJ)