Effects of two types of letter rehearsal on word memory in skilled and less skilled beginning readers

Skilled and less skilled beginning readers were taught to read and define 10 printed pseudowords. Then they rehearsed the spellings of the words in one of two ways. Experimental subjects performed activities to retain spellings in memory as orthographic images. Control subjects rehearsed the letters similarly but with the correct spellings in view. Post-tests revealed that experimentals remembered spellings better than controls. This indicates that the activity of committing letters to memory is better for learning spellings than copying letters which is what most spelling programs have learners do. Experimental subjects' superior knowledge of spellings, however, did not enable them to read the words faster or more accurately than controls, possibly because of overlearning. Comparison of good and poor readers' word-learning behavior revealed greater deficiencies in phonological than in semantic processes. Correlational analysis indicated that background skills are much more powerful than specific learning experiences in accounting for individual differences in reading and spelling performances.     

Retention of prose following testing with different types of tests

Taking a test on a passage one has just studied is known to enhance later retention of the passing contents. This study examined the effects of three types of initial test on later retention: a short-answer test, a multiple-choice test, and a full free-recall test. Questions on the first two of these tests covered only half of the passage contents. Later retention was compared for both initially tested content and un-tested content with that of a control group not initially tested on the passage at all. The subjects were 57 secondary school students who studied a brief history text before taking one of the initial tests. All were given retention tests 2 weeks later. The classical testing effect (enhanced retention due to initial testing) was shown to be influenced by the type of initial test used. Thus, a testing effect was evident in the case of the initial short-answer test, but not in the case of either of the other two tests. A depth-of-processing view is advanced in interpreting this finding. The testing effect was found not to generalize to untested content and in one condition (the initial multiple-choice test), retention of untested content was depressed.     

Factors related to third grade achievement: Self-perception,classroom composition,sex, and race

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between self-perception and academic achievement among third grade black and white disadvantaged school children. Race, sex, IQ, self-perception, and student's perceptions of their teacher's perceptions were examined as sources of variance in academic achievement. Data from one-hundred-sixteen students were analyzed by means of stepwise multiple regression. Results suggest that self-perceptions account for more variance in academic achievement for students who are of the same sex and race as the teacher than for those who are not. Self-perceptions of black students in all black classrooms account for more variance in respect to achievement than do self-perceptions of black students in integrated classrooms.     

Contributions of existing knowledge structure to retroactive inhibition in prose learning

This experiment tested the hypothesis that prose materials related to existing knowledge structure will be less subject to retroactive interference (RI) than will materials not as easily related to existing knowledge structure. Subjects read successive passages labeled with the names of famous or fictitious characters. In comparison to control groups, subjects receiving initial passages labeled with fictitious names experienced significant RI, whereas subjects receiving famous name initial passages did not.     

Self-concept assessment for young children: Development of a self-report, peer comparison measure

The present investigation concerned the development of the Primary Self-Concept Inventory (PSCI), a group-administered self-report self-concept inventory for children of ages 5 through 8. Replicated analysis of the factor structure of the PSCI data indicated that a seven-component pattern provides an appropriate fit. As a result of this analysis, seven subscales were formed. Acceptable test—retest reliability estimates were obtained for administrations separated by a 6-month interval. On the basis of these results, the PSCI was accepted as a research tool, and recommendations for further investigation of the inventory were made.     

On the theory and measurement of reading comprehension

This paper suggests that reading comprehension must involve an interaction between the reader's world knowledge and the incoming linguistic message. We call this the minimal comprehension principle. After examining the measurement of reading comprehension from the perspective of the minimal comprehension principle, we conclude that most existing tests of reading comprehension are likely to be unsatisfactory for the purposes of assessing educational gain and diagnosing reading difficulty. We suggest several techniques which might be more suitable for these purposes.     

Individual differences in memory: Theory,data, and educational implications

This paper examines two theoretical perspectives from which the issue of individual differences in memory can be viewed and relates the perspectives to evidence available in the literature. The paper also reports the results of two studies which bear upon the issue of whether there are individual differences in the retention of learned material. The last section of the paper examines the educational implications of one of the theories presented in the paper.     

The episodic/semantic memory distinction as an heuristic in the study of instructional effects on cognitive structure

Previous attempts to measure the effects of instruction on students' cognitive structure have produced inconsistent and ambiguous findings. One reason may be that researchers have not distinguished between well-learned, abstracted information and memorized facts or formulas. Using the distinction between episodic and semantic memory as an heuristic, a procedure was designed to increase the likelihood that student performance on structure tasks was indicative of semantic rather than episodic memory. Significant correlations between measures of cognitive structure and performance on achievement test items were observed. In addition, partial correlations revealed that the measures of cognitive structure are correlated with the achievement items tapping higher-order cognitive processes and not with items tapping lower-order processes. These results are interpreted as supporting the argument that related research needs to be guided by theory-based definitions of cognitive structure.     

A comparison of difficulty and discrimination values of selected true-false item types

Thirty-eight undergraduate students were randomly assigned one of two alternate forms of a 144-item true-false midterm examination. Whenever a statement appeared on one form as true and positively stated, it appeared on the alternate form as false and negatively stated. Similarly, a false and positively stated item on one form was true and negatively stated on the other. The subject matter of the two forms was identical and the four kinds of true-false items were equally represented on each form. Difficulty and discrimination indices were computed for each of the four item types. The statistical results showed negatively stated items were more difficult, but no more discriminating, than positively stated items. Also, false items were not statistically more difficult than true items, but were significantly more discriminating. It was concluded that test constructors should include more false items than true items in their instruments and that all items should be stated positively.     

Change in strategy: The relationship of attribution,expectancy, performance,and satisfaction

The purpose of the study was to examine the degree to which change in examination preparation is related to measures of attribution, expectancy, prior performance, perceived success/failure, and satisfaction. Subjects were students in an intermediate graduate statistics course. Although performance is the single best predictor of change in preparation, three attribution measures and satisfaction contributed unique predictive variance. While expectancy was significantly related to change in preparation, it did not add uniquely to the multiple correlation.     

Rule learning and complexity in simulated reading

Three approaches (Rule, Higher-order Unit, Whole Word) to decoding in a simulated reading task were studied. Rule complexity was varied in three experiments employing symbols ($, @, etc.) as stimuli and numbers as responses. CAI was the experimental vehicle. The 110 fifth and sixth grade boys and girls from an inner-city school were randomly assigned to one of the 11 groups in the three experiments. When the rule was simple (one-to-one correspondence) the rule approach was superior, but when the rule was complex (simulation of the final e rule in reading) the higher-order unit approach was superior. Higher-order unit subjects studied examples composed of the fewest stimuli possible to illustrate the rule.     

Visual and auditory memory: Relationships to reading achievement

In two experiments, visual and auditory memory was tested for good and for poor readers from the upper elementary grades. Under experimenter-blind conditions, no reading group differences existed for single mode presentation in recognition frequency or recognition latency. With a multimodal presentation, latencies for poor readers were similar to those for the single mode presentation. Good readers, however, had significantly faster latencies with multiple input. Generally, results supported dual coding and self-terminating memory search hypotheses for previously encoded stimuli. Implications of the latency differences between reader groups were discussed with respect to the reading process and reading theory.     

Score,rank, or evaluation: Does type of performance feedback make a difference?

Three kinds of information—a score, rank, or evaluation—were presented to subjects as feedback about their performance on a task measuring financial ability. The information was given under conditions where subjects anticipated working either alone or in a group on a similar ability-relevant task. As predicted, in the alone condition favorable evaluative information produced higher ability estimates than either scores or ranks. Only under conditions of expected group interaction did rank information produce ability estimates comparable to evaluative information. Subjects receiving raw scores generally made lower ability estimates than subjects receiving the other two types of information. The selection of riskier and more difficult future tasks was associated with higher ability evaluations. Relevance of these results to pupil evaluation in a school setting was discussed.     

Locus of control, academic achievement, and Follow Through in Appalachia

The present study explored the development of locus of control in rural Appalachian Follow Through participants and in lower and middle-class comparison groups. The IAR was administered to 249 first-, third-, and sixth-grade children along with standardized achievement tests. Contrary to previous research, participation in Follow Through did not enhance internality; no social class differences were revealed. A significant social class by sex interaction was found. Strong support was not found for a developmental trend. The patterns of correlations between locus of control and achievement indicated a stronger relationship for the lower-class samples rather than for the middle-class as has been previously reported. Implications concerning different developmental antecedents in Appalachian homes as a function of sex-role socialization as well as the nature of future intervention research are discussed.     

Differences in teachers' perceptions of personal control of positive versus negative student learning outcomes

Past research on teachers' causal attributions has shown there to be little relation between perceptions of responsibility for positive versus negative student learning outcomes. In this study, Weiner's model for causal attributions was employed to explore these perceived attributional differences. Data were gathered from 184 teachers from two metropolitan school districts. Statistically significant differences between attributions for positive versus negative outcomes were identified along the dimensions of both internality/externality and stability of cause. Relations to overall efficacy, teaching experience, grade level taught, and teacher gender were also explored; however, only grade level differences were found to be statistically significant.     

The role of fantasy figures in the regulation of young children's behavior: Santa Claus,the Easter Bunny,and donations

The present study examined the influence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny on children's donations near the Easter season. Kindergarten and first-grade children were asked to tell stories about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or pets, for which they received nine pieces of gum. They were then encouraged to donate any amount of their gum to handicapped children. Main effects were found only for grade, with first-grade children donating significantly more than kindergarten children. In addition, a significant interaction was obtained between grade and type of story elicited from the child. This interaction revealed that for kindergarten children, the type of story failed to influence donations, whereas for first-grade children, stories referring to Santa Claus increased donations relative to stories told about the Easter Bunny or pets.