Examined memory for the lateral orientation of scenic pictures in young (N=112) and older (N=109) adults in two experiments under incidental or intentional learning conditions. Results suggested an age-related deficit in truly non-intentional encoding of orientation and pose a challenge for capacity theories of memory across the lifespan. (JAC)

In two experiments, instruction in a hierarchical summarization study strategy focusing on the organization of ideas in a text was compared with the procedure of answering questions after reading. Fifth-grade student comprehension and memory were enhanced but were found to be affected by mastery of the strategy. (Author/CM)

In order to determine whether non-Western children would show a memory deficit for contextually organized spatial ability, the performances of 30 Mayan and 30 American nine-year-olds on reconstruction of an organized three-dimensional miniature scene were examined. (MP)

Previous research indicated that primary memory processes are unaffected by advancing age, except that material is scanned more slowly with age. In the present study, comparing memory scanning rates of young and elderly subjects, there were no age differences in scanning speed or accuracy. (Author/CM)

Evaluates the efficacy of the "levels hypothesis" (the prediction that ideas residing at superordinate positions in a text hierarchy are most memorable) as a suitable descriptor of children's reading comprehension of expository prose. (HOD)

Three groups of older adults were compared on a free recall task with categorizable lists. Data showed that older adults' memory performance is modifiable and that efficient performance is obtained when instructional training is aimed at the processes that are crucial to task performance. (Author)

Examined the hypothesis that the self-devaluative aspects of the Velton Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP) do not lower mood but that the depression-related somatic states of the VMIP do lower mood. Found that both aspects of the VMIP have a powerful impact on mood. (Author/RC)

A review of all available experimental data indicates that the task-evoked pupillary response, a physiological measure of processing "mental effort," accurately reflects within-task, between-task and between-individual variations in processing demands. (Author/RH)

The accuracy of sentence memory and the retrieval speed are jointly measured using a speed-accuracy trade-off paradigm. Results indicate that speed of retrieval from network representations is remarkably invariant over network size and distance, although increased sentence size results in a slight slowing in retrieval-speed parameters. (Author/PN)

Findings indicate that, when skimming, readers find it difficult to perceptually select from a passage information that is relevant to their goal in skimming. There was a reaction time advantage for verification of gist-relevant information as opposed to details, which tended to increase with reading rate. (Author/PN)

Experiment I establishes that the ability to remember the slope of a line develops between three and four years of age. In Experiment II, 15 children with a mean age of four years and six months who had discriminated both slope and left-right problems under successive presentation were tested on these same discriminations under simultaneous…

The development of probability judgment is explained in terms of working memory, composed of four types of storage operations and three types of processing operations. Age changes in probability judgment were related to changes in frequency retrieval, which stem from changes in constraints on work-space capacity. (Author/RD)

Inspected reports on 59 patients who completed the Modified Word Learning Test (MWLT), Memory for Designs Test, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale to assess the validity of the MWLT. MWLT scores were correlated with age, verbal scale and full scale IQs and verbal performance discrepancies. (Author)

Describes a study of gist recall in language impaired children. Stories were read to groups of normal and language impaired children and oral recall was requested immediately. The groups differed primarily in the amount of accurate recall. It seems that language impaired children are deficient in recall for material within their linguistic grasp.…

The present study was designed to determine whether a reactivation procedure (consisting of the experimenter's manipulation of a previously experienced overhead crib mobile) would alleviate infant's poor retention after a 14-day interval. It is concluded that forgetting by young infants may result from failures in retrieval, and not failures in…