The effect of task parameters in diagnostic reading groups

This study compared the performance of normal, primary, and secondary reading groups on intersensory and intrasensory tasks requiring paired and serial recall. Auditory and visual stimulus pairs composed of digits from 1 to 9 were presented using a Bell and Howell Language Master. Eight experimental tasks (four intersensory and four intrasensory) that required paired and serial verbal recall with an alteration of the first recalled modality (auditory or visual) were used. Ten trials of each of the eight experimental conditions were used with three pairs of stimuli presented at 2-second intervals. Three types of recall errors were scored for each task: gross (omission or substitution of digits), order (digit out of sequence), and interchange (inversion of digits). A multivariate analysis of variance was carried out for the reading groups × tasks × error types. The level of recall errors on bisensory tasks (auditory and visual) was related to the reading diagnostic groups. All readers exhibit similar patterns in the processing of bisensory information; however, unique differences were found among normal, primary, and secondary readers. A summary profile is given of the effects of task parameters among the groups (normal, primary, and secondary readers) in the processing of bisensory tasks.     

Situational Interest: A Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on situational interest. A distinction is made between situational and personal interest. The former is spontaneous and context-specific, whereas the latter is enduring and context-general. We summarize historical perspectives and recent empirical findings on situational interest. Five emergent themes are identified that focus on relationships among situational interest, information processing, and affective engagement. We also discuss important topics for future research.     

The influence of instruction on verbatim and content text recall

This investigation focuses on text recall in eight‐ and nine‐year old children. The main focus was on whether two different sets of instructions had a differential influence: one set instructed students to focus on an orally presented text verbatim, and the other instructed students to focus on its content. A differential influence on verbatim and content recall might indicate separate storage of verbatim and gist information, and could provide evidence for two subprocesses of text processing – that is, for construction and integration. The instructions were administered either before or after hearing the text, and recall was tested again one week later. The results showed differential instruction effects on verbatim and content recall. These effects depended on the time of instruction. Verbatim instruction had an enhancing effect on verbatim recall, both when instructions were given before and when given after text presentation. Content instruction given after text presentation had a suppressing effect on verbatim recall, but involved no advantage for content recall. Content recall was not suppressed by verbatim instruction at any time of instruction. Thus, the processing of content seems to be less situated than the processing of verbatim information.     

Mother-child conversational interactions as events unfold: linkages to subsequent remembering

The study reported here was designed to examine linkages between mother-child conversational interactions during events and children's subsequent recall of these activities. In this longitudinal investigation, 21 mother-child dyads were observed while they engaged in specially constructed activities when the children were 30, 36, and 42 months of age. Analyses of the children's 1-day and 3-week recall of these events indicated that at all age points, features of the activities that were jointly handled and jointly discussed by the mother and child were better remembered than were features that were either (1) jointly handled and talked about only by the mother, or (2) jointly handled and not discussed. Potential linkages were also explored between incidental memory for personal experiences and deliberate recall of familiar but arbitrary materials. In this regard, children's recall of the special activities was positively correlated with their recall of objects in a deliberate memory task performed at 42 months.     

Dialogic inquiry in life science conversations of family groups in a museum

This research illustrates the efficacy of a new approach for collecting and analyzing family conversational data at museums and other informal settings. This article offers a detailed examination of a small data set (three families) that informs a larger body of work that focuses on conversation as methodology. The dialogic content of this work centers on biological themes, specifically adaptation. The biological principle becomes visible when families talk about survival strategies such as breeding or protection from predators. These themes arise from both the family members and the museum exhibit. This study also analyzes the inquiry skills families use as they make sense of science content. I assume that children and adults offer different interest areas or expertise for dialogic negotiation and that family members use inquiry skills in dialogue to explore matters of importance. This analysis offers educators methodological tools for investigating families' scientific sense‐making in informal settings. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 138–162, 2003     

Developmental change in proactive interference

The aim of the present research was to examine age-related change in proactive interference, which refers to impaired recall due to interference from material presented previously. Study 1 was a meta-analysis based on 26 studies that included 82 data sets. The results indicated that proactive interference decreased between 4 and 13 years of age. In Study 2, children from grades 3 through 6 and college students (N = 125) were administered a short-term memory task in which they briefly remembered sets of three words. For all ages, recall was accurate on Trial 1. However, recall became less accurate over Trials 2 through 4, particularly for the younger children in the sample. In addition, structural equation modeling revealed that age-related change in interference was linked to age-related change in speed of information processing. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of age-related change in interference.     

Memory modality differences in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder with and without learning disabilities

This study assesses information processing and memory functioning in 50 children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) with and without learning disabilities (LD). Mode of presentation (visual vs. auditory), type of memory processing (immediate, short-term, and long-term), and order of recall (ordered vs. unordered) were assessed using the Learning Efficiency Test-II (LET-II). Both groups demonstrated difficulty with auditory ordered recall and lost substantial information from immediate memory to short-term and long-term memory stores. The ADHD/LD group also demonstrated more difficulty with ordered recall than the ADHD only group. While there were no differences between the two groups in regard to immediate recall, the ADHD/LD group demonstrated more problems transferring information into short-term and long-term memory stores than the ADHD only group. Verbal interference effects significantly decreased retention for both visual and auditory processing. Results indicate that ADHD alone presents significant problems in information processing, but the comorbid effects of a learning disability further intensify the negative impact of ADHD. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Team-Based Learning: Moderating Effects of Metacognitive Elaborative Rehearsal and Middle School History Content Recall

Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content through Text (PACT) and similar team-based models directly engage and support students in learning situations that require cognitive elaboration as part of the processing of new information. Elaboration is subject to metacognitive control, as well (Karpicke, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 138(4):469–485, 2009)—successful learners use metacognitive elaborative rehearsal to process and make sense of incoming information even in the absence of structured opportunities or instructional prompts for elaborating. Levels of processing and cognitive load theories suggest that students in PACT classrooms may outperform students in comparison classes because PACT engages and supports deep cognitive processing (via elaboration and discussion) at the time of learning, allowing participants to better conserve and more consistently reallocate cognitive and metacognitive resources (compared to students in the non-treated group) for encoding content. In other words, PACT may moderate the relationship of metacognitive elaborative rehearsal and content retrieval. Extant data from years 1 (n?=?419) and 2 (n?=?704) of the PACT/RFU project suggests such an effect. As hypothesized, there were no mean differences in reported metacognitive rehearsal use across the groups because metacognitive elaborative rehearsal was not taught. However, regression coefficients for content recall on metacognitive elaboration were greater in the treatment group in both samples suggesting that an instructional emphasis on deep processing leads to better content recall. The findings are discussed in the context of the Common Core State Standards and the large-scale testing programs in place currently across the USA.     

Memory for Expository Text: the effects of verbal and pictorial enhancements

Previous research has shown that pictures can be effective in enhancing text memory. For example, Waddill and McDaniel (1992) found that pictures depicting detail information in an expository text effectively enhanced recall of those details and pictures depicting relational information effectively enhanced recall of those relations. However, the research on picture enhancement effects raises the question of whether the mnemonic value of pictures is simply a by‐product of having drawn attention to parts of the text through selective repetition of text content. The present study addressed the question by comparing the relative effectiveness of pictures versus simple verbal captions in promoting text memory. The results replicated the Waddill and McDaniel (1992) pictorial enhancement effect. However, the results showed that repeating the targeted information in a verbal caption was as effective as providing a pictorial illustration, thus suggesting that repetition of text content rather than nonverbal pictorial illustrations produced the effect. The findings generalized across three texts that differed in the amount of spatial content they conveyed.     

An exploration of anatomists’ views toward the use of body painting in anatomical and medical education: An international study

Previous research has explored the experiences of medical students using body painting as a learning tool. However, to date, faculty experiences and views have not been explored. This international qualitative study utilized a grounded theory approach with data collection through interviews with academics and clinicians who utilized body painting as part of their anatomical teaching. Twenty‐six anatomists participated in the study from 14 centers worldwide. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) the efficacy of body painting, (2) the promotion of knowledge retention and recall, (3) considerations and practicalities regarding the use of body painting as a teaching tool. Subthemes show that body painting is used as an adjunct to the curriculum for teaching surface anatomy and peer examination. Benefits included diffusing the formal curricula, high student engagement and learning for future clinical practice. Body painting was advocated for promoting knowledge retention and recall, particularly learning through the process of cognitive load due to combining the use of color and kinesthetic learning with anatomical theory. Critical discussions surfaced on the topic of undressing in the classroom due to cultural and personal considerations possibly leading to unequal involvement and different learning experiences. Overall results support previous research showing that anatomists appreciate body painting as an effective, enjoyable, engaging and cost efficient adjunct to the multimodal anatomy curriculum. The role of cognitive load theory in learning anatomy through body painting emerged from the data as a possible theoretical framework supporting learning benefits from body painting and is suggested for further investigation. Anat Sci Educ 11: 146–154. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Anticipated future interaction and conversational memory using participants and observers

For interactants to build a relationship over the course of several encounters they must be able to remember at least some of what transpired in earlier interactions. This study investigated two questions: do expectations about future interactions influence conversational memory, and do conversational participants remember more than observers? Subjects with a choice about whether to interact with their partner again (or about whether to interact with one of the persons they observed) remembered less in general than those expecting to interact with the same person or expecting to interact with a different person. This may be because interactants with a choice focused on securing non‐discursive information in order to reduce uncertainty, rather than on remembering details of what was said in the conversation. Participants remembered significantly more conversational information using cued recall than observers. They also remembered more than observers using recognition items for actual communication behavior. Participants are likely to have stronger memory traces than observers, which explains generally superior memory performance.     

Information exchange in classroom conversation: Negociation and extension of the focus

This research is concerned with clarifying whether teacher’s communicative strategies affect children’s conversational relevance in classroom discourse. 34 conversations between teacher and children in a nursery school in a Rome suburb of low social class, collected with a «quasi-experimental» methodology, have been audiotaped and analysed. 5961 turns at talk have been categorised in order to identify different levels of relevance of the teacher’s and children’s conversational contributions. Categories describe the links between the present turn and the focus or the topic of the preceding turn. Frequencies of turn categorization were elaborated by computing transitional probabilities. Results of sequential analysis show that the children most often extend or elaborate on the information introduced by the teacher when the teacher has just extended the topic of a child speaker. In the group observed in this research peer interaction can however take on a function similar to that of teacher-children interaction: high relevance to a preceding utterance somehow «activates» a subsequent highly relevant contribution by another child.     

Differences in concept mapping,hypertext architecture,and the analyst–intuition dimension of cognitive style

There is now evidence to suggest that the degree to which hypertext or web‐based instructional systems facilitate recall of information appears to be contingent on an individual’s cognitive or information processing style. Concept maps also reflect the way in which individuals process information and therefore it is possible that cognitive style and hypertext architecture might influence concept map drawings produced by hypertext users. In this study, 55 participants were assigned to one of three hypertext conditions and were required to recall information and produce maps of the hypertext. Cognitive style was assessed using the analyst–intuition dimension of cognitive style. The findings confirmed earlier research that individuals possessing different cognitive styles differed in recall performance when using different hypertexts. Furthermore, the concept maps produced by participants with different cognitive styles differed between architecture conditions. The findings are explained partly as being due to differences between individuals’ perceived ease of use of hypertext.     

Performance Approach,Performance Avoidance and Depth of Information Processing: A fresh look at relations between students' academic motivation and cognition

This study examines the effects of motivational approach on the recall of verbal information processed at shallow and deep levels. Two hundred students attending the same primary school were randomly assigned to either a mastery focused condition, performance approach condition, performance avoidance condition, or a control group. The participants were motivationally manipulated prior to receiving 12 stimulus words designed to be encoded at either shallow or deep levels of processing. A free recall test followed, then a cued recall test. Results indicate that students remembered more stimulus words during cued recall than free recall. Recall of verbal information was superior when processed according to the deeper (category and sentence) levels of processing. Performance approach and avoidance goals resulted in superior recall during free and cued recall, compared with a mastery goal or with the control group. The usefulness of these findings for promoting greater clarity among motivational frameworks and ideas for further research are discussed.     

Perceptions of Counselor Expertness: The Effects of Interpretation Content,Discrepancy, and Type

This study addresses limitations of previous research examining the effects of the counselor's use of interpretation on participants' perceptions of counselor expertness. Three factors (interpretation content, degree of interpretation discrepancy, and interpretation type) were crossed in a 2×2×2 factorial design. A main effect for interpretation type (propositional versus semantic interpretation) and an interacton between degree of discrepancy and interpretation type were found. These findings suggest that the relationship between the use of interpretations and perceptions of counselor expertness may be more complex than indicated by earlier research.     

Policy and Perspective

Abstract

An experiment to determine what effect students’ perceptions of (1) the social role of a video-taped speaker and (2) the speaker’s personal experiences with drugs had on (a) their recall of drug information presented and (b) their opinions and attitudes about drugs, Three hundred eighth grade students were randomly assigned to 15 groups and viewed the same video-taped talk about drugs. Different introduc tions were used to ascribe to the video-taped speaker social roles and experiences with drugs. Analysis of variance yielded results, significant at the .05 level, for the treatment dimension, ascribed social role of the presenter, on student recall of drug information. In addition, the interaction of the ascribed social role of the speaker and his ascribed experience with drugs contributed to significant differences in student recall of drug information. Sex of the respondent was found to have a significant effect on students’ scores on the Drug Opinion and Attitude Test.     

The effect of learning background and imagery cognitive development on visual perception

This research looked into the effect of how cognitive development toward imagery is formed through visual perception by means of a quantitative questionnaire. The main variable was the difference between the learning backgrounds of the interviewees. A two-way ANOVA mixed design was the statistical method used for the analysis of the 2 × 4 (2 by 4) study design. The analysis on the main effect was conducted, and a significant difference was also shown in the result. First, the two variables of student learning background and imagery cognitive development interact with one another. Second, there is a significant difference in students’ learning backgrounds. The cognitive level between the two was visibly apparent. Last, the four aspects that made up the visual perception all showed significant difference. Therefore, cognitive development will be affected by lifestyle, personal preferences, interests, and biological conditions which will have different levels of influence on visual perception.     

Effects of Processing Time on Comprehension and Calibration in Print and Digital Mediums

This study explored the effects of processing texts in print or digitally on readers' comprehension, processing time, and calibration. Eighty-six undergraduates read print and digital versions of book excerpts about childhood ailments presented in counterbalanced order. Comprehension was tested at three levels (i.e., main idea, key points, and other relevant information). Direct comparisons between print and digital reading demonstrated a significant advantage for reading in print on students' recall of key points and other relevant information but not the main idea. When processing time was added as a mediator variable, it significantly affected the relation between medium and comprehension for all question levels. In terms of calibration, students read more quickly and judged their performance higher when engaged digitally, although their actual performance was much better when reading in print. Implications of these findings for subsequent research are considered.