Effect of mobilizing prior knowledge on learning from text.

68 5th graders studied a 125-word passage consisting of 18 statements about a fictional fox. Afterwards, Ss tried to reproduce the text and, 1 wk later, took a multiple-choice test. Prior to reading, half the Ss mobilized relevant preexisting knowledge. Results indicate that mobilizing significantly facilitated retention of information inconsistent with prior knowledge but did not affect retention of congruous information. A topically organized passage was not better remembered than a topically disorganized one. Results are discussed with reference to assimilation encoding theory and the failure of students to relate discourse to prior knowledge. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learner-generated organizational aids: Effects on learning from text.

Compared the effects on learning from text of 4 contexts (topic sentences, headings, related sentences, and unrelated sentences) when they were generated by readers or provided in text. 133 female undergraduates read a 522-word passage based on 15 related topics within a conceptual hierarchy on minerals, and performance under each of the treatments was examined on a free recall test, matching test, and test for knowledge of passage structure. The contexts had differential effects on knowledge of passage structure only when they were generated; readers who generated topic sentences recalled more than all other learners. The provided contexts had no effect on knowledge of passage structure but increased recall of subordinate information over generated contexts. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of pictorial and written adjunct aids in learning from text.

Compared the effects of pictorial and written (questions) adjunct aids interspersed through text on factual recall. 63 undergraduates read 1 of the following forms of text: questions before relevant passage, questions after, pictures before, pictures after, questions and pictures before, questions and pictures after, no adjunct aids. Results show that reader-generated pictures and experimenter-provided questions were equally facilitative and resulted in increased retention over the control group. Question position effects characteristic of mathemagenic studies were replicated. Identical position effects were demonstrated for reader-generated pictures used as adjunct aids. Implications for mathemagenics and prose learning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantitative and qualitative effects of repetition on learning from technical text.

Conducted 3 experiments with 147 undergraduate Ss to test predictions related to the effect of repetition, levels, categorization, and processing strategy on retention. Ss listened to a taped lecture on the topic of exposure meters for 35-mm cameras and were tested after 1, 2, or 3 presentations. Combined results indicate the influence of a repetition effect, in which the amount of correctly recalled information increased with repetition; no repetition effect was observed, however, when Ss were given an advance organizer prior to the 1st presentation. Also observed was a levels effect, in which structurally important information was remembered better than unimportant information, an effect that increased with repetition. In addition, a category effect was demonstrated, whereby functionally important information was remembered better than unimportant information, with increased effect following repetition. Primacy and recency were observed to be strong predictors of recall on the 1st presentation, while structural importance was a strong predictor of recall on the 3rd presentation, suggesting that repetition produces both a quantitative increase in amount learned and qualitative change in the reader's processing strategy. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative effects of adjunct postquestions and instructions on learning from text.

Two experiments investigated whether instructions to students about how and what to learn can facilitate learning as effectively as adjunct postquestions. In Exp I, 4 groups of 20 undergraduates each were tested: a read-only control group, an adjunct-question group, an instruction group, and an adjunct question plus instruction group. All groups performed significantly better than the control group on a test that required recall of verbatim factual information. Incidental questions were answered somewhat better by instruction Ss than by adjunct-question Ss. The 2nd experiment, with 87 adult males, replicated Exp I, except that the adjunct and test questions were derived by paraphrasing factual information from the text. Instructions on how to study for paraphrase test questions were developed for the instruction groups. All groups performed significantly better than the control group. When adjunct postquestions were repeated on the final test, they were answered somewhat better by the 2 adjunct question groups than by the instruction group. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of text-based and task-based importance on learning from text.

Examined, in 3 experiments, the interactive effects of text-based importance (i.e., intrinsically important information such as main ideas) and task-based importance (i.e., information made important by a task) on recall for text. Exp 1 indicated that information relevant to an encoding task was recalled better than was task-irrelevant information. Exp 2 revealed an interaction between text-based and task-based importance. Information that was relevant to a task was recalled well regardless of its text-based importance. Information that was not relevant was recalled better if it was of high text-based rather than of low text-based importance. Exp 3 indicated interactive effects at both encoding and retrieval. Readers used flexible, compensatory strategies that reflected a trade-off between text-based and task-based importance. The use of multiple strategies occurred spontaneously without specific experimenter-based instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combined effect of goal organization and test expectations on organization in free recall following learning from text.

24 high school students read a 10-page passage with a list of learning goals available that was organized either by topic or attribute. Prior to reading they were trained to expect (a) a completion test, given a topical organization of the goals list; or (b) a sorting test, given an attribute organization of goals list. After reading, Ss took a free-recall test. Results indicate that the combination of topic goals and an expectation for a completion test produced topical organization in free recall, while the combination of attribute goals and an expectation for a sorting test produced attribute organization in free recall. The practical implications for the use of goals to produce organizational effects is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of different types of organizers on students' learning from text.

Prior to reading a text about computer crime and prevention, eighth graders read one of four types of operationally defined organizers: concept, analogy, outline, or dummy. While reading the text, students matched paragraphs of the text to numbered sections in the organizer, leaving a trace that was scored to reflect their actual use of the organizer while reading the text. Multiple regression analyses of multiple-choice and short answer achievement measures showed no main effects of type of organizer. However, students in true advance organizer groups (concept and analogy) who were able to use the organizers effectively, as indicated by higher trace scores, outperformed students in the outline and dummy groups. Analysis of trace scores revealed that students had difficulty connecting information in the concept and analogy organizers to the text. These findings indicate that simply presenting a genuine advance organizer does not guarantee that students will use it effectively. However, when students did use an advance organizer effectively, achievement increased slightly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drawing construction as a strategy for learning from text.

Classroom use of student-generated drawings has been encouraged for a number of purposes (e.g., R. Hubbard & K. Ernst, 1996). The present study examined the use of drawing as a learning strategy for 5th- and 6th-grade students reading science text. Three experimental drawing conditions and a reading control tested the hypothesis that drawing is effective only when students are supported during the construction process. Drawing (draw) participants constructed drawings only, whereas illustration comparison participants compared drawings with a provided illustration. Prompted illustration comparison (PIC) participants answered prompting questions to guide this comparison process. Dependent measures included a free-recall and recognition posttest, drawing accuracy, on-line self-monitoring behaviors, and time on task. PIC participants constructed the most accurate drawings and also scored significantly higher on the free-recall posttest. No differences were found on recognition posttest items. Although all drawing conditions spent significantly more time on task, these participants also engaged in significantly more self-monitoring events than did reading control participants. PIC participants also engaged in more events than did draw participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word learning in predictable text.

Predictable text has become widely used for beginning readers but has not been the subject of much research. This study used predictable books to compare 3 reading treatments reflecting different components of a whole-to-part instructional model. In 3 first-grade classrooms, beginning readers working with isolated words in a modified word bank activity learned more words than when they worked with sentence strips. They also learned more words using sentence strips than when they simply read and reread the books. There was a significant treatment effect, justifying the theoretical position that beginning readers learn more words when those words are removed from the supportive context offered by predictable text. Students with higher levels of literacy skill learned 5 times as many words as those with lower levels. The overall number of words learned in these predictable books appears limited. These findings have important implications for the use of texts in beginning reading programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of topical learning and indirect learning directions on prose recall.

Studied the recall effects of telling readers what sentences to learn by referring to words in sentences or to topics of sentences. Ss were 130 undergraduates. There were 5 sets of learning directions: (a) Control directions told Ss to learn the text; (b) word-positive directions gave the 1st few words of relevant (to be learned) sentences; (c) word-negative directions gave the 1st few words of incidental (not to be learned) sentences; (d) topical-positive directions gave the topics of the relevant sentences; and (e) word-negative directions gave the topics of incidental sentences. Word reference (but not topical reference) facilitated relevant recall and depressed incidental recall. Results support the importance of precise reference in the use of learning directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postreading question–answer interactions and children's learning from text.

111 average and above-average 5th grade students read 1 of 7 short, nonnarrative passages and wrote answers to a set of either textually explicit (TE), textually implicit (TI), schema-based (SB), or text-irrelevant (control) questions. One week later Ss were given a written free-recall test. The results of the analysis of the S's responses to the treatment questions indicate that TE and TI questions promoted text-based question–answer interactions, whereas SB questions promoted both text-based and SB interactions. The recall data indicate that TI question–answer interactions resulted in the generation of larger proportions of text-based inferences than the other types of interactions, without any loss in the amount of explicit information, text-based inferences, and SB inferences. Finally, SB question–answer interactions and interactions with text-irrelevant questions both resulted in larger proportions of SB inferences than either TE or TI interactions. These results are consistent with a schema–theoretic view of reading comprehension. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory two-factor model with offenders.

Much of the research on psychopathy has treated it as a unitary construct operationalized by total scores on one (or more) measures. More recent studies on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) suggest the existence of two distinct facets of psychopathy with unique external correlates. Here, the authors report reanalyses of two offender data sets that included scores on the PPI along with various theoretically relevant criterion variables. Consistent with hypotheses, the two PPI factors showed convergent and discriminant relations with criterion measures, many of which would otherwise have been obscured when relying on PPI total scores. These results highlight the importance of examining facets of psychopathy as well as total scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-situational consistency among problem adolescents: An application of the two-factor model.

Conducted a study to measure cross-situational consistency of the orthogonal dimensions of the 2-factor model of social–emotional functioning. According to this model, large proportions of variance in social–emotional functioning can be accounted for by 2 orthogonal, highly replicable dimensions. Ss were 206 residents of a long-term institution for emotionally disturbed and delinquent youths; they represented various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Cross-situational correlations between school and cottage settings were found to be .52 for Factor 2 (Cooperation–Compliance vs Anger–Defiance) and .42 for Factor 1 (Interest–Participation vs Apathy–Withdrawal). Results confirm the consistency and discriminant validity hypotheses—specifically, correlations between the corresponding factors of different instruments measuring behavior in different settings were large, whereas correlations between noncorresponding factors were very low. The value of using broad, higher order factors in personality research on the trait vs situation issue is discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of experience and subjects' use of directions upon learning from prose.

Investigated the effects of 4 objective treatments (none, before text, after text, and combined before and after text) and 2 types of experience (practical and experimental) for intentional and incidental learning. A 1st analysis showed (a) greater overall performance with, rather than without, experience, (b) greater intentional than incidental learning, and (c) an Objective * Learning interaction. The primary finding of a 2nd analysis was that 2 types of experience (practical and experimental) did not differentially affect learning with the 4 objective treatments. The main finding of a 3rd analysis was that the inclusion of additional test items to measure incidental learning did not differentially affect learning with the 4 objective treatments. The 4th analysis showed that the 4 objective treatments consumed varying amounts of inspection time when the Ss were inexperienced, but not when they were experienced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generation effect: Support for a two-factor theory.

When a response word bearing an orthographic, acoustic, or semantic relation to a stimulus word is generated rather than read, later recall is enhanced. Such "generation effects" have been attributed to the activation or strengthening of response-specific features in memory and to the activation or strengthening of the relation between a stimulus and response. This series of experiments yields evidence suggesting that both mechanisms are involved. The pattern of interactions in the size of the generation effect across type of recall test (cued or free) cannot be accommodated by any one-factor theory. The results of these experiments also suggest that within-subjects manipulations of read and generate study conditions inflate the apparent size of the effect of generation on a given pair by confounding such pair-specific effects with certain whole-list effects, such as differential attention and output interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactive and proactive aggression: Evidence of a two-factor model.

This article examines the construct validity of reactive and proactive aggression, as assessed by the teacher-rating scale developed by K. A. Dodge and J. D. Coie (1987). In Study 1 (n?=?149 boys), confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a 2-factor model, in which a substantial correlation was observed between the 2 latent factors, presented a better fit than a single-factor model. Study 2 (n?=?193 boys) examined the relations presented by the 2 forms of aggression with peer status, leadership, social withdrawal, and victimization by peer. Reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors presented distinct patterns of relations consistent with the theoretical definitions. The results of these studies suggest that the questionnaire measures 2 forms of aggressive behavior that, although being substantially related, have a unique discriminant dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning from instructional text: Test of an individual-differences model.

An individual-differences model of learning from instructional text was tested on 211 Air Force recruits. The results strongly supported the model, with a high level of fit for a structural equation modeling analysis using LISREL 8 (K. J?reskog & D. S?rbom, 1993). According to the model, learning from text is determined by making connections among ideas, including ideas from the text and from prior knowledge. Making the connections depends in part on 4 variables that differ among individuals: metacognition, specifically the ability to sense that one's mental representation is not coherent and consequently needs extra connections; inference-making ability, which spreads activation among the elements within working memory, which provides the arena in which the connections are made; and domain knowledge, which provides prior knowledge elements for use by the inference-making process to make connections. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)