Topic structure representation and text recall.

Tested the hypothesis that readers represent a text's topics and their interrelations as they read and then use those representations to access information about each topic. In 2 experiments, 222 undergraduates were required to read and free recall an expository text of approximately 1,100 words in length. Exp I manipulated both the order of topics in the stimulus text and whether the introductory paragraph stated the topics and their organization. It was found that Ss recalled information about fewer topics if the topics were randomly ordered and the introductory paragraph was uninformative than if topics were logically ordered or if the introductory paragraph was informative. Differences in recall of topics accounted for much of the variance in overall recall and recall errors. Exp II examined the effects of the presence or absence of topic sentences and of variations in the physical marking of paragraph boundaries. Findings show that Ss recalled information about more topics if the text contained topic sentences than if it did not. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that readers use a representation of a text's topic structure to guide recall. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading in perspective: What real cops and pretend burglars look for in a story.

Tested 2 explanations of how readers' existing knowledge structures (their schemata) function during reading. According to the selective attention (SA) hypothesis, activated schemata identify certain text elements as important and direct increased processing toward those elements. According to the slot-filling hypothesis, schemata provide ready structures into which relevant information can be assimilated without additional processing. Two experiments were performed. 55 Ss participated in Exp I and 106 in Exp II. In both experiments, Ss chosen to represent 3 naturally occurring perspectives (police, real estate, and education students) were assigned to 1 of 3 perspectives (burglar, homebuyer, control). In Exp I, text elements relevant to readers' assigned perspective were rated more important. In Exp II, text was presented by computer, and reading times for individual sentences were recorded. Results confirm the powerful influence of assigned perspective on recall. Consistent with the SA hypothesis, readers spent more time on sentences containing information important to their assigned perspective. Naturally occurring perspectives had little effect in either experiment. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note-taking, individual differences, and memory for lecture information.

Investigated the encoding function of note taking and processing differences between successful and less successful students in lecture situations in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 48 undergraduates either took notes or listened during a lecture. Different memory patterns were found for these 2 groups, with note-takers recalling many more high- than low-importance propositions and listeners recalling an equal number of high- and low-importance propositions. Results suggest that note taking enhanced organizational processing of lecture information. In Exp II, the notes and recall of 80 successful and less successful students were compared. Successful Ss recalled more of the most important propositions, but these 2 groups of Ss did not differ in their recall of less important propositions. For both groups of Ss, recall content was closely related to the content of the notes, with successful Ss recording more high-importance propositions in their notes. Also, successful and less successful Ss were similar in their note-taking styles and the degree to which they benefited from reviewing their notes. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibitory effect of schematic processing on perceptual encoding.

Hypothesized that although schemata facilitate organized conceptual processing, and hence recall, they simultaneously inhibit perceptual encoding. This inhibitory effect should emerge because schemata allow perceivers to rely on prior knowledge in place of incoming information and because schemata facilitate selective attention. Exps 1 and 2 demonstrated that Ss encode less relevant perceptual information when they are provided with or are able to induce a schema. Exp 3 demonstrated that Ss encode less relevant perceptual information when they are self-schematic in a domain, even though they have better recall for that information. Exp 4 demonstrated that Ss encode less irrelevant perceptual information when they are provided with a schema. Thus, results show that although schemata facilitate recall, they simultaneously inhibit perceptual encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of information below fixation in reading and in visual search.

Two experiments examined whether or not readers obtain useful information from below the currently fixated line. In Exp 1, 15 adults read passages of text, and the availability of visual information below the line fixated was manipulated using a variant of the moving window technique. Reading was no slower when there was no letter information below the fixated line than when there was full information below the fixated line. However, a condition that made the strings of letters below the fixated line less wordlike caused reading to be slowed down by about 6%. In Exp 2, 15 adults searched for a target word through passages of text. There was no clear evidence that the availability of information below the line made search more efficient. It appears that in reading, little visual information is extracted below the line of text fixated. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exact and conceptual repetition dissociate conceptual memory tests: Problems for transfer appropriate processing theory.

Tested whether a conceptual implicit memory test exhibited repetition effects similar to those found in free recall. 555 Ss participated in 3 experiments. In Exp 1, Ss rated a series of target words and their associates according to their degree of pleasantness in the implicit word-fragment completion and cued recall, and category cued and free recall tests. In Exp 2, Air Force recruits were tested on the category instance generation (CIG) and 4 additional tests in Exp 1. Exp 3 tested the Ss for CIG or category cued recall using instructions for relational process. Both CIG and category cued recall exhibited conceptual repetition effects. Category cued recall showed important differences between CIG and free recall. Theoretical implications are discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of signaling topic structure on text recall.

Two experiments studied effects of signaling devices (headings, overviews, and summaries) on text memory. In Exp 1, Ss read a text with or without signals, then recalled the topics of the text. Signaling produced better memory for the topics and their organization. In Exp 2, Ss recalled the content of the text they read, and recalls were scored for the number of accurately recalled ideas. Signals produced recalls that were better organized by text topics. Signals also influenced the distribution of recall of ideas: Ss remembered more topics but recalled less about each accessed topic if the text they read contained signals than if it did not. The results are interpreted as supporting a model in which signals influence readers' representations of a text's topic structure, which, in turn, is used to guide the recall of text content. (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)     

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)     

Learning-disabled adolescents' comprehension of naturalistic narratives.

The ability of 20 normally achieving and 20 learning-disabled 8th- and 9th-grade readers to comprehend and interpret 2 fairly long and complex narratives, describing the emotional reactions of characters to realistic situations, was compared. The pattern of recall across story categories was similar for both groups. However, the learning-disabled readers not only recalled less overall than the normal readers, they were also less successful at differentiating levels of importance in the macrostructure of the stories. All students included less of the information needed to understand the characters' interactions in the more difficult story than in the easier story. Although normal readers could supply this information when directly probed for it, learning-disabled students were less successful in this respect, suggesting serious weaknesses in their ability to construct an appropriate situation model. Implications for the instruction of learning-disabled students are discussed. (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)     

Effects of across-chapter signals on recall of text.

Investigated 2 forms of across-chapter text signals: "preview" sentences, which signal contents in upcoming chapters, and "recall" sentences, which are backward signals that signal back to previously read materials. These signals may influence readers' recall of text material by guiding their attention during reading. They also may facilitate readers' activation of memory representations of previous content, thereby enhancing integrative processing. Seven experiments examined the effects of preview and recall sentences. The results of 4 experiments indicated a clear signaling effect across chapters. In Exp IV, there were significantly longer inspection times and reaction times (RTs) to secondary probes in signaled than in unsignaled paragraphs. The results of Exp V indicate that backward-signaled materials were recalled at a significantly greater rate than unsignaled materials. In addition, the signaled materials in Ss' recalls were clustered together at a significantly greater rate than unsignaled materials. Results of Exp VII indicate significantly longer inspection times and RTs to secondary probe tasks in the reading of paragraphs containing recall sentences than in the reading of paragraphs not containing signals. Results indicate that across-chapter signals have a strong effect on readers' recall of prose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive effort and word distinctiveness on learning disabled and nondisabled readers' recall.

Explored the notion that differences in word recall between skilled and learning disabled (LD) readers are related to cognitive effort in 3 experiments. Ss were 12 skilled readers (mean age 13.6 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 13.5 yrs) in Exp I, 12 skilled readers (mean age 12.20 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 11.63 yrs) in Exp II, and 24 skilled readers (mean age 8.75 yrs) and 24 LD readers (mean age 8.55 yrs) in Exp III. Cognitive effort represents the mental input to which a limited-capacity attentional system expands to produce a response. Manipulation of primary task difficulty (anagram solutions) and subsequent performance on a secondary task (word recall of correctly solved anagrams) was used to infer cognitive effort. The primary task included manipulations of word list organization and task orientation instructions. In general, after a difficult primary task, secondary task performance was higher for skilled readers than it was for LD readers. Ability group interactions occurred for word list organization and task orientation instructions. It is suggested that the amount of cognitive effort that can be effectively expended to produce a distinctive memory trace is related to individual differences in attentional capacity. Specifically, skilled readers' encoded memory traces under high-effort conditions contained more distinct semantic information than did the traces of LD readers. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.

The demand that text processing imposes on learners' cognitive capacity was measured with a secondary-task technique; the meaning of the textual materials was held constant while several structural (surface) variables were manipulated. Exp I (36 undergraduates) showed that text versions with simplified vocabulary and syntax (but equivalent content) required less cognitive capacity to process than standard versions. Exp II (96 Ss) revealed that the reduction in use of cognitive capacity was due primarily to syntactic factors. Exp III (72 Ss) demonstrated that texts containing signals about idea importance and relations required less cognitive capacity to process than texts with approximately the same propositional content but no such signals. Measures of total inspection time and content recall were also secured. In general, findings indicate that aspects of the surface structure of text made demands on Ss' cognitive processing capacity. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctiveness of encoding: The effects of paraphrasing and drawing inferences on memory from prose.

Examined in 2 experiments with 236 undergraduates the possibility that readers would differentially recall passage material as a result of differing levels of processing during reading. It was hypothesized that as the level of reader schema–text base interaction increased Ss would generate greater numbers of idea units and logical intrusions. Exp I varied the schema–text base interaction through tasks designed to increase interaction of Ss' existing schemata with the text material. In Exp II, an additional factor of student compliance with the tasks was examined. Results support the hypotheses and indicate that what Ss remembered from reading passages was determined by the activities they engaged in during reading. Activities requiring a restatement of the semantic base of prose resulted in high rates of idea unit recall; activities requiring the formulation of logical extensions of prose resulted in higher rates of logical intrusions in free recall. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of position and conceptual level of adjunct questions on immediate and delayed retention of text.

75 college students read an 800-word passage that had conceptual or verbatim questions placed either before or after the associated text segments. A control group received inserted questions drawn from commmon knowledge. In general, conceptual prequestions produced higher recall than conceptual postquestions, and verbatim prequestions yielded less recall than verbatim postquestions. While verbatim postquestions and conceptual prequestions were superior to control questions on the immediate recall test, only conceptual prequestions exceeded the control questions on delayed recall. Correlational and clustering analyses support the view that conceptual prequestions produce more highly structured and organized memories than verbatim postquestions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Text skimming: The process and effectiveness of foraging through text under time pressure.

Is Skim reading effective? How do readers allocate their attention selectively? The authors report 3 experiments that use expository texts and allow readers only enough time to read half of each document. Experiment 1 found that, relative to reading half the text, skimming improved memory for important ideas from a text but did not improve memory of less important details or of inferences made from information within the text. Experiment 2 found no advantage of skimming over reading the first or second half of every paragraph. Two final experiments using a hierarchical, Website-like layout of documents showed that the advantage of skimming found in Experiment 1 was dependent on the linkages between pages and, thus, the ease with which participants could navigate through the text. Data on page-by-page reading times and eye-tracking analyses from Experiment 2 indicated that Skim readers spent more time reading text that was earlier in the paragraph, toward the top of the page and in an earlier page of the document. These findings were interpreted as evidence in support of a “satisficing” account of skimming process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confusing memories for verbal and nonverbal communication.

In 2 experiments, with 150 undergraduates, emotion portrayed nonverbally in videotaped conversations impaired memory for the specific meaning of utterances. Ss produced more recognition (Exp I) or recall (Exp II) errors that were consistent with the emotional versions they had viewed than errors reflecting other emotions. In Exp I, this effect on recognition memory depended neither on the type of orienting task for nonverbal behaviors (attention to surface characteristics vs interpretations) nor on the length of the retention interval. In Exp II, the number of emotional errors in recall was slightly dependent on the reported moods of the viewers. Findings suggest that emotional interpretations of the nonverbal behaviors of others are associated in memory with the meaning of utterances. Results are discussed in reference to the effects of misleading information and to models of mood and memory. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of reading purpose and working memory capacity on the processing of expository text.

The extent to which low- and high-WMC (working memory capacity) readers adjust cognitive processes to fit the reading purpose was examined. Participants performed a verbal protocol task as they read an expository text under 1 of 2 reading purpose conditions, entertainment or study, and then completed a free-recall task. When reading to study, low-WMC readers emphasized less demanding processes over more demanding processes to a greater extent than high-WMC readers and recalled less. When reading for entertainment, patterns of processes and recall were similar across readers. Thus, all readers adjusted processing to fit the reading purpose; however, when reading for study, low-WMC readers emphasized processes that were the least demanding on their resources but not necessarily beneficial for recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)