Two experiments provided tests of predictions about children's use of semantic contextual information in reading, under conditions of minimal experience with graphic processes. Subjects, aged 6 1/2, 8, and 11, orally read passages of continuous text with normal and with low semantic constraints under various graphic conditions, including cursive…

Focusing on the question, "Can chimpanzees produce new sentences or merely sequences?" Terrace describes his efforts to teach the chimpanzee Nim to communicate through sign language. From his results, and the Gardners' experiments with Washoe, he concludes that no proof yet exists that chimpanzees can use language as humans do. (SJL)

Earlier research with the lexical decision task led to the hypothesis that semantic context facilitates the encoding of words related to the context. Six experiments which employed different tasks (e.g., making a lexical decision) and different experimental paradigms (e.g., tachistoscopic exposures with masking stimuli) further investigated this…

Analyzes the roles of verbal coding skills, processing efficiency, and memory ability in accounting for individual and developmental differences in the reading comprehension of children in grades 3 through 8. Results indicate that skill differences can arise through ability differences at two independent levels--processing speed and memory.…

Reviews the conceptual differences among the various kinds of learning experiences which are provided for adults, particularly by employing organizations. Also examines labels and semantics, implications of the various concepts, who should bear the responsibility for human resource development, mutual expectations, fade-out of unused skills, and…

Reports on a study which sought to determine the effect of family tactile history on attitude toward touch in public, and the relationship between this tactile history and the frequency of public touching behavior. (Author/AM)

Studies the developmental stages deaf children pass through in acquiring the adult forms of pronominal classifiers in American Sign Language. Data were obtained on production, comprehension, and imitation from nine children aged 3 to 11. Complexities of classifier usage influence the learning strategies used. (PJM)

Discusses the effects of marathon group therapy on attitudes of former drug users in a residential drug treatment center. Experimental group members responded higher on the group counseling evaluative subscale and lower on the guilt evaluative subscale than control members. (Author)

Presents a three-stage process for teaching the logical relationships that exist in paragraphs to aid high school students in differentiating main ideas from subordinate statements. (MKM)

Provides information concerning the value of letter names in the teaching of reading and spelling. Presents specific discussions about the importance of letter names to prereading phonics abilities, the phonemic values in letter names, and the use of letter names in word analysis, semantic word recognition, and semantic spelling. (MKM)

The pragmatic and semantic categories used by Ss varied across age groups. Results are discussed with regard to age, expressive modality, mean length of utterances, and hearing loss. There was much variation among these parameters in communicative development across Ss. (Author/DLS)

The influence of the oral input of five deaf mothers on the language development of their two-year-old children was investigated. The results indicated that children, when cognitively ready, need little exposure to the normal model language to learn to speak during the early stages of development. (Author/DLS)

Using data from descriptive essays written at three grade levels, this study examined the theoretical assumption that semantic abbreviation (an inadequate representation of situational and cultural contexts of language in student writing) is attributable to the influence of spoken language. (HOD)

The authors discuss the uses of portable videotape recorders (VTRs) and portable teletypewriters (TTYs) in teaching English to mainstreamed deaf junior high school students. The role of VTRs and TTYs in bridging the gap between students' semantic intent and standard English syntax is discussed. (CL)

Reaction time to detect a phoneme target in a sentence was faster when the target-containing word formed part of the semantic focus of the sentence. Sentence understanding was facilitated by rapid identification of focused information. Active search for accented words can be interpreted as a search for semantic focus. (Author/RD)