The way in which knowledge of a given topic influences the acquisition of topic-related information was studied with the knowledge domain of baseball. A knowledge structure was postulated that included the goal structure as well as the states and actions of the game. (SW)

The way in which previously acquired knowledge affects the processing on new domain-related information was investigated. Text processing was studied in two groups differing in knowledge of the domain of baseball. A knowledge structure for the domain was constructed, and text propositions were classified. (SW)

Research from four subareas of prose learning (advance organizers, response modes, objectives, and inserted questions) is considered and weaknesses in the studies conducted are noted. Suggestions are advanced as to how researchers might profitably spend their energies in the future. (RC)

This first installment in a series of edited transcripts based on a conference held at Utah State University in 1987 reviews the main points of Gagne's Learning Theory. Categories of human performance that are discussed include verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills. (Three references) (LRW)

Investigated were the effects of five verbalizing methods (subject speaks, reads, writes, listens, or does not verbalize) on short-term retention of the ability to use discovered generalizations. No significant differences were found among the effects of the verbalizing methods for a retention test. (JP)

Discusses the keyword method, which divided vocabulary learning into two stages: (1) the subject associates the spoken foreign word with the keyword, and association that is formed quickly because of the acoustic similarity between the words, and, (2) the subject forms a mental image of the keyword "interacting" with the English translation.…

Seven mediational strategies for use in verbal associative learning have been discovered. They range from the simple to the intermediate to the complex. The subjects of this study were 173 fifth graders, who were administered a paired-associate (PA) task and asked to identify the strategies they used. On the basis of this data, they were then…

This study (N=160 males) examined the cognitive and behavioral effects of overt success feedback on subjects high and low in resultant achievement motivation (RAM). The cognitive effects of overt success feedback were investigated by requesting attributions to effort, ability, luck, and task difficulty concerning performance on a digit-symbol…

In two experiments, undergraduates who completed the last words of sentences they read learned more than subjects who simply read whole sentences. This facilitation was observed even with a list of sentences that were almost always completed with the wrong words. (Author/GDC)

Five experiments were conducted that illustrate microprocesses of discourse comprehension related to foregrounding. An intermediate case in which prior memories exist but must be reinstated to active memory was studied in detail. (SW)