Keyword mnemonic and retention of second-language vocabulary words.

Use of the keyword mnemonic has been shown to substantially increase learning speed and immediate recall of 2nd-language vocabulary words in comparison with other learning strategies. Although the majority of researchers examining long-term retention of material acquired through the keyword method have concluded that these gains are maintained over time, most have relied on experimental designs based on within-S comparisons. However, within-S comparisons of retention over time are confounded by both rates of initial acquisition and level of immediate recall. In this article, data are presented from 4 experiments in which the retention interval (immediate vs delay) was treated as a between-Ss factor. The findings consistently indicated that long-term forgetting was greater for learners instructed to use the keyword mnemonic than for learners engaged in rote rehearsal. It is suggested that preexperimental associations to keywords interfere with retrieval of the interactive images established in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of keyword on long-term retention: Help or hindrance?

Three experiments assessed the long-term effectiveness of the keyword mnemonic relative to a nonmnemonic (i.e., semantic-context) learning strategy. Following incidental-learning instructions, cued recall was assessed either immediately or after a 2-day delay. The keyword mnemonic produced superior immediate performance relative to the semantic-context strategy. However, after 2 days, there was a marked reversal in performance, with higher levels of delayed recall associated with semantic-context learning. This pattern of findings was obtained when obscure English words (Exp 1) and 2nd-language vocabulary (Exp 2) were the learning stimuli. When practice frequencies were manipulated (Exp 3), increased opportunities for study were more likely to boost the long-term retention of keyword learners compared with semantic-context learners. The implication is that keyword-based memories are especially fragile over time and will benefit from repeated testing and rehearsal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Second-language acquisition and bilingualism: Research in Canada (1970–1980).

Reviews research on 2nd-language acquisition and bilingualism conducted in Canada during the 1970's. Research concerned with the learning of a 2nd language has emphasized 3 topics: approaches to language instruction, individual differences and language acquisition, and effects of 2nd-language acquisition on individual characteristics. The research concerned with bilingualism tends to emphasize perceptual processes, the representation of experience, the consequences of bilingualism, and bilingualism in interpersonal communication. It is concluded that the Canadian social setting provides a natural laboratory for research on 2nd-language acquisition and bilingualism. (French abstract) (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Second-language learning in children.

Examines a number of commonly held beliefs about 2nd-language learning. Studies of simultaneous and successive acquisition of a 2nd language in children are reviewed, and the evidence for these beliefs is critically evaluated. It remains to be proven that (a) there is a biologically based critical period for language acquisition, such that young children learn a language more quickly and easily than adults; (b) 2nd-language learning involves different processes than does 1st-language learning; (c) interference is an inevitable consequence of bilingualism; or (d) bilingualism has negative (or positive) consequences on intelligence, educational attainment, or cognitive functioning. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ingredients for a theory of instruction.

Analyzes the steps involved in deriving an optimal teaching strategy for instructional situations where a model-theoretic account of the learning process can be given. 2 examples derived from the author's research are considered: optimizing primary-grade instruction in initial reading, and optimizing 2nd-language learning by college students. In both cases, the optimal model-theoretic strategy yields large gains when compared with other strategies in widespread use in the schools. It is stated that these examples illustrate the relationship between a theory of learning and its corresponding theory of instruction. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bilingualism, Language Proficiency, and Learning to Read in Two Writing Systems.

Two hundred and four 5- and 6-year-olds who were monolingual English-, bilingual English-Chinese-, or Chinese-speaking children beginning to learn English (2nd-language learners) were compared on phonological awareness and word decoding tasks in English and Chinese. Phonological awareness developed in response to language exposure and instruction but, once established, transferred across languages for both bilinguals and 2nd-language learners. In contrast, decoding ability developed separately for each language as a function of proficiency and instruction in that language and did not transfer to the other language. Therefore, there was no overall effect of bilingualism on learning to read: Performance depended on the structure of the language, proficiency in that language, and instructional experiences with that writing system. These results point to the importance of evaluating the features of the languages and instructional context in which children become biliterate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Korean-English biliteracy acquisition: Cross-language phonological and orthographic transfer.

Cross-language phonological and orthographic relationship in the biliteracy acquisition of children learning to read Korean and English was investigated in this study. Forty-five Korean-English bilingual children were tested in first-language (L1; Korean) and 2nd-language (L2; English) reading skills focusing on 2 reading processes--phonological and orthographic processing. The authors found that phonological skills in L1 and L2 were strongly correlated, and Korean phonological skills explained a unique amount of variance in English pseudoword reading beyond English phonological and orthographic skills. However, there was limited orthographic skill transfer between the 2 systems. Results are discussed within the framework of universal phonological processes in learning to read. The authors conclude that bilingual reading acquisition may be a joint function of general phonological processes and orthographic-specific skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The link between form and meaning in American Sign Language: Lexical processing effects.

Signed languages exploit iconicity (the transparent relationship between meaning and form) to a greater extent than spoken languages. where it is largely limited to onomatopoeia. In a picture–sign matching experiment measuring reaction times, the authors examined the potential advantage of iconicity both for 1st- and 2nd-language learners of American Sign Language (ASL). The results show that native ASL signers are faster to respond when a specific property iconically represented in a sign is made salient in the corresponding picture, thus providing evidence that a closer mapping between meaning and form can aid in lexical retrieval. While late 2nd-language learners appear to use iconicity as an aid to learning sign (R. Campbell, P. Martin, & T. White, 1992), they did not show the same facilitation effect as native ASL signers, suggesting that the task tapped into more automatic language processes. Overall, the findings suggest that completely arbitrary mappings between meaning and form may not be more advantageous in language and that, rather, arbitrariness may simply be an accident of modality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual imagery as a mnemonic aid for brain-injured persons.

Evaluated the efficacy of visual imagery as a mnemonic aid for brain-injured persons. Performance during acquisition and during recall after 30 min and after 1 wk were compared under imagery and nonimagery conditions in 19 brain-injured and 21 normal adults (mean ages 33.9–53.8 yrs) on 2 experimental tasks each consisting of 15 items: a paired-associate learning and a face/name task. Imagery Ss completed the WAIS Vocabulary scale and the Trail Making Test. All Ss completed the Sensory Perception and Aphasia Screening Tests. The results are as follows: (a) Normals performed better than the patients on all comparisons. (b) Visual imagery facilitated performance of both patients and normals on the paired-associate task and to a lesser extent on the face/name task during acquisition and for recall after 30 min but not after 1 wk. Implications for the usefulness of visual imagery as a mnemonic device and more general issues concerning the development of effective intervention techniques for patients with memory inefficiency are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning mnemonics: Roles of aging and subtle cognitive impairment.

Previously validated methods of memory training were used in conjunction with the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to explore the relationship between complexity of learned mnemonic, aging, and subtle cognitive impairment. Subjects were 218 community-dwelling elderly. Treatment included imagery mnemonics for remembering names and faces and lists. There was a significant interaction among age, type of learning task (face-name vs. list), and improvement when controlling for MMSE score. There was also a significant interaction among MMSE score, type of learning task, and improvement when controlling for age. Scores on the more complex list-learning mnemonic were more affected by age and MMSE scores than were scores on the face-name mnemonic. Implications for the findings for cognitive training of the old and the impaired are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning botany concepts mnemonically: Seeing the forest and the trees.

Sixty-one college students read a passage that described a plant classification system and the distinguishing characteristics of the plant groups within that system. There were three experimental conditions: taxonomic, which included a standard figural taxonomy (boxes connected by lines) as an instructional aid; mnemonic, which included pictorial mnemonic (memory-enhancing) representations of classification and characteristics information; and free study, in which the students were instructed to use their own best method(s) to master the passage content. Students were tested on a variety of learning measures immediately after reading the botany text, 2 days later, and 2 months later. Mnemonically instructed students statistically outperformed free-study students on every measure taken and performed better than taxonomically instructed students on almost all of the measures. These findings (a) establish the versatility of mnemonic strategies by extending their benefits from simple factual memory tasks to tasks requiring the manipulation of knowledge in novel problem-solving contexts and (b) points to the potency, durability, and educational utility of mnemonic techniques, relative to other instructional strategies, on tasks that involve remembering and creatively applying both factual and structural information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of aptitude, attitudes, motivation, and language use on second-language acquisition and retention.

Examined retention of 2nd-language skills of 128 9th graders after a 9-mo absence of instruction in French as a 2nd language. Students were tested 3 times: at the beginning of the term, at the end of the semester, and 9 mo later. Ss perceived significant losses in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding French 9 mo after training ended. Written production skills also declined significantly, though recognition skills did not. Ss' attitudes toward the 2nd-language community and the learning situation also declined significantly, while their anxiety about using French increased. Few of the correlations of aptitude, attitude, motivation, or language anxiety with proficiency change scores were significant, although the correlations were substantial and stable from pretest to posttest. A casual model linking these measures to objective indices of French achievement explained the correlation among the variables. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The spatial-arrangement mnemonic.

The spatial-arrangement or word-arrangement mnemonic suggests that lists of words can be better remembered if they are arranged into distinctive spatial patterns. In the present study, 97 undergraduates studied 6 lists of 12 words each. In one condition each list was spatially arranged in the same pattern, and in the other condition each list was formed into a distinctive pattern. A 2nd factor was also tested. Ss were instructed either in the use of the link mnemonic or were given no special learning instructions. Three learning trials were followed by a 1-wk retention interval. It was found that both the link mnemonic and the distinctive word arrangements enhanced recall during acquisition, but only word arrangement had a significant effect on retention. Ss presented with distinctive word arrangements could recall 63% of the words originally learned, compared to 51% for Ss presented homogeneous patterns of words. It is suggested that the word-arrangement mnemonic may be valuable both as a study procedure and as a factor in the design of educational materials. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A mnemonic based on arranging words on visual patterns.

Conducted 3 experiments with 264 undergraduates to demonstrate that arranging word lists on distinctive visual patterns results in better recall performance than does presenting the same word lists on a pattern that is always the same. In Exp I, lists of concrete nouns placed on different visual patterns were recalled better than those lists placed on the same pattern. This was true immediately after learning and 1 wk later. In Exp II, abstract terms taken from an introductory textbook in psychology were arranged on the same or on different drawings. When placed on the different drawings, the words were better learned, and what was learned was better retained in memory for 1 wk. In Exp III, both visual-pattern mnemonic aids and story mnemonic aids were provided to Ss for different lists. The story mnemonic was found to be superior. Possible reasons why the spatial-arrangement mnemonic and story mnemonic are effective are discussed. One important factor seems to be the discriminability among the representations of the word lists in memory. By placing words on distinctive visual patterns, this discriminability can be increased and recall performance can be enhanced. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade.

First-language (L1) and 2nd-language (L2) oral language skills and L2 word reading were used as predictors to test the simple view of reading as a model of 2nd-language reading comprehension. The simple view of reading states that reading comprehension is related to decoding and oral language comprehension skills. One hundred thirty-one Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) were tested in 1st grade and many were followed into 2nd grade, including a full sample of 79. Structural equation modeling confirmed that a 5-factor measurement model had the best fit, suggesting that L1 and L2 phonological awareness should be viewed as separate but related constructs and that L1 and L2 oral language proficiency, measured by vocabulary and grammatical awareness, were separate constructs. The structural model indicated that for this group of ELs, who were educated in English, English oral language proficiency and word reading were the strongest predictors of English reading comprehension. Other models that deleted 1 of these crucial components resulted in significantly poorer fit. Therefore, the results support the validity of the simple view of reading as a model for the development of reading comprehension in young ELs. Implications for theory and practice, specifically assessment of ELs, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A peculiar pattern of temporal involvement of rat perirhinal cortex in memory processing.

By means of the fully reversible tetrodotoxin inactivation technique, perirhinal cortex (PC) mnemonic function was investigated in rats trained to a passive avoidance response (PAR). It was shown that PC functional integrity is necessary during PAR acquisition, during late and very late consolidation (from 24 hr up to 192 hr after the training session), and during retrieval. An unexpected finding was that the PC was not involved in the early consolidation period. Thus the PC may play a relatively simple relay or connective role during acquisition, but its very late and very long consolidative involvement may indicate a peculiar function in consolidation and possibly in the storage of the PAR engram. The results are discussed in terms of the mnemonic characteristics of other neural sites (amygdala, hippocampus, and entorhinal cortex) involved in the same learning process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude, aptitude, and type of instructional programme in second language acquisition.

Administered a battery of tests, including the Student Attitude Questionnaire, Modern Language Aptitude Test, and Canadian Achievement Test in French, to English-speaking 9th graders taking French courses which were either traditionally oriented (n = 78) or audiolingual (n = 93). Data were analysed separately for each sample by means of factor analyses. Considerable agreement was found between the factor structures for the 2 samples. Results support R. Gardner and W. Lambert's 2-process approach to the study of 2nd-language acquisition. Several obtained differences in French performance are discussed with reference to the kind of course to which Ss were exposed. (French summary) (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the utility of the keyword mnemonic for vocabulary learning.

Examined the use of the keyword mnemonic for vocabulary learning by university students given extensive keyword training. Keywords were identified by the learners rather than supplied by the experimenter. In Exp 1, Ss studied and recalled English equivalents of German nouns before and after mnemonic training under different presentation conditions. Before training, learning was 60% better with 4 list presentations at a 2.5-s rate (4?×?2.5) than with 1 presentation at a 10-s rate (1?×?10). Learning was better after training, especially in the 1?×?10 condition; Ss reported difficulty using the keyword mnemonic in the 4?×?2.5 condition despite higher learning scores in that condition after training. In Exp 2, Ss learned brief definitions of unusual words with self-paced presentation. The keyword Ss scored significantly more poorly than controls on items not selected for keyword suitability, and additional data indicated that it was difficult to generate keywords for many of those items and that an alternative mediational strategy was preferred. A 3rd experiment showed no learning difference between the keyword-generated version of the keyword method used in Exps 1 and 2 and a keyword-supplied condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do pictorial mnemonic text-learning aids give students something worth writing about?

In 2 experiments, college students read a historical passage on aspects of human intelligence. Students were randomly assigned to 2 different instructional conditions to process the passage: mnemonic, where keywords for intelligence theorists' surnames and line drawings linking the theorists and their contributions were provided, and free study, where participants were given summary paragraphs and were instructed to use their own preferred study methods. In both experiments, mnemonic participants remembered more names and contributions than did free-study participants: (a) on immediate and 1-week delayed matching tasks and (b) in written essays, with no compensating decrement in the essays' structural coherence. The findings illustrate that mnemonic techniques are useful in improving both students' memory for and application of central textual information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of mnemonic instructions on paired-associate recognition memory for faces or names.

96 undergraduates (4 experimental and 2 control groups) learned 2 lists of 10 pairs of number-faces or number-names. Experimental Ss learned the 2nd list under a mnemonic rhyme condition. 1/2 of the experimental Ss used imagery as a mediator while the remainder were given verbal mediation sets. Ss took longer to learn faces than names and longer to learn under mnemonic than control conditions. On recognition tests, faces evoked slower latency responses than names, whereas mnemonic sets, in particular imagery as opposed to verbal, reduced response time. Names were recognized better than faces, mnemonics improved recognition scores, and recognition of faces but not of names was facilitated by the mnemonics. Control-group data show that results are not attributable to practice effects. Questionnaire reports of learning strategies are also examined. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)