The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the following memory encoding variables on human learning: depth (implying progression through levels of encoding); spread (elaboration of information at a given level) and; congruence (integration of the form of encoding and the material to be learned). Encoding refers to the way in which…

This paper presents a developmental study of the effects of item rehearsal on children's short term memory. Two experiments are discussed. The first, involving second and sixth grade children, concerned the relationship between item retrieval ability and rehearsal strategies in item recall. The design of the experiment involved varying the visual…

The nature of young children's inaccuracy in predicting their own memory performance was studied using categorical and unrelated material. Twenty-four children at each of four grade levels (kindergarten and grades two, four, and six) were presented with 18 cards bearing pictures of concrete nouns. Categorical pictures were presented on the right…

Brown and Barclay (1976) trained educable retarded children to use either of two memory search strategies, Anticipation or Rehearsal, involving a self-checking component. Following the training, both their free recall performance and their ability to estimate their readiness for a recall test improved significantly. In the present research, the…

The present study was conducted to demonstrate the power of imagery instructional sets to improve the recall of units more complex than in the traditional paired associate (P-A) paradigm and to evaluate imagery as a memory organizer. Forty-eight sixth grade children were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, defined by the…

This research project investigated some of the characteristics of primary and secondary memory. In the primary research, subjects were given a list of words followed by an interpolated task. The data of interest were the recall for terminal items in the list. Using this procedure, the researchers have demonstrated negative recency in initial…

The history of basic research in the area of memory development is briefly reviewed as part of an attempt to illustrate how basic research can inform educational practice. The historical overview is supplemented by more detailed consideration of a few prototypical research studies. This is followed by a description of the progress, problems, and…

It was found that those doing copying practice exercises achieved significantly higher posttest scores than those doing tracing practice exercises. (PCB)

Explains why the frequently taught study skill method SQ3R--survey, question, read, recite, review--works is based on an information processing theory of learning. (MKM)

Examines the development of organization and retrieval strategies in free recall in relation to the development of memory attributes. Second and sixth grade children and college students participated in the study. (BD)

Ten principles to apply in teaching children to memorize basic facts are discussed. (MN)

Presents a study of age differences in memory organization during repeated recall tasks. Second and sixth grade children served as subjects. (BD)

Two free-recall experiments were performed in which the subjects were required to rehearse items an equal number of times, but the number of items presented at a given time was varied. The main hypothesis was that increasing the number of items presented at once would increase processing demands and decrease performance. (Editor)

Proposes a criterion for selecting a sequence of objectives from a learning hierarchy and describes a sequence generating algorithm which is designed to generate a minimal memory load sequence from a learning tree. Its effectiveness in generating low memory load sequences from hierarchies that are not trees is also discussed. (RP)

Making a list of essential information is seen as a hopelessly inadequate, and perhaps even dangerous, way to face America's educational problems. Opposition to E. D. Hirsch's book, CULTURAL LITERACY: WHAT EVERY AMERICAN NEEDS TO KNOW, is discussed. (MLW)