Different tasks were compared using the same subjects, stimuli, and experimental methodology. The results indicate that the lexical-decision task does tend to produce greater inhibition effects than the naming task. (Author/PN)

Examines the development of knowledge of orthographic structure among beginning readers by testing their ability to discern which word in a pair looked most like a word. (HOD)

Reveals that the impact of training children with learning disabilities to verbalize a word-attack strategy was not as significant as had been suggested by previous research. (FL)

Presents a seven-step technique for teaching primary school students to recognize function words. Describes a method for eliciting parent help in the task and offers suggestions for review and follow-up activities. (FL)

Provides an alternative explanation of the divergent findings appearing in the literature on conceptual tempo and reading acquisition. (HOD)

Reports that kindergarten children were aided in learning to use the alphabet when additional cues to distinguish the letters were provided in the immediate letter background. (FL)

Describes a teaching unit on portmanteau words, such as "smog" and "petrodollars," which are created by truncating two words. (SJL)

In these three experiments with kindergartners, comparisons were made on subjects' acquisition of nouns under three conditions: no picture; picture related to word; and unrelated picture. It was concluded that pictures could be used with advantage, if the child was aware of the relationship between word and picture. (Author/SJL)

Rayner and Slowiaczek have a different conception of the issues our experiments address than we do. These differences are discussed. Our main point, is that the extent to which the preview produces a benefit depends on the subject's expectations. (Author/RD)

Examines word families, words grouped together by common meaning, orthography, form, and spelling. Discusses ways to encourage children's language acquisition and understanding of how words work in specific contexts. (HTH)

Suggests methods of direct instruction, such as a commercial kit, for developing student ability to use context clues in reading. (RL)

Contains a response to Harry Singer's comments (see EJ 217 553) about a previous article in this journal on focal attention by M. Arlin, M. Scott, and J. Webster (see EJ 206 153). Attempts to show that Singer's statements in the critique reflect some errors and misconceptions. (MKM)

Primary school children performed a discrete-trial Stroop task in which they named the colors of stimuli that either matched or did not match items that were being concurrently held in memory. Results indicated a developmental trend toward the color being named faster when the stimulus matched the item held in memory. (Author/HOD)

The study involving 35 educable mentally retarded (EMR) children (8 to 11 years old) investigated the effects of manipulating the potency of contextual information in sentences and assessed the role which word frequency plays in eliciting responses. Results supported the facilitative effects of contextual information on word identification of EMR…

The business teacher, as a teacher of reading skills, must first identify reading skills essential for success in a particular course; second, diagnose deficiencies in these skills by informal observation or surveys; and third, develop strategies to teach specific reading skills such as word attack, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (CT)