In two experiments, 108 subjects read a text concerning a new computer programming language, with an advance organizer given either before or after reading. On a subsequent recall test, there were different patterns of performance. The before group scored higher on recall of conceptual idea units, produced more appropriate intrusions, and made more novel inferences; the after group scored higher on recall of technical idea units and produced more inappropriate intrusions, connectives, and vague summaries. Results support the idea that the locus of the effect was at encoding rather than retrieval and favor an assimilation encoding theory.
In a series of three experiments, subjects listened to a taped lecture on the topic of exposure meters for 35-mm cameras and were tested after one, two, or three presentations. First, there was a repetition effect, in which the amount of correctly recalled information increased with repetition; no repetition effect was observed, however, when subjects were given an advance organizer prior to the first presentation. Second, there was a levels effect, in which structurally important information (such as the main idea of each paragraph) was remembered better than unimportant information, and this effect increased with repetition. Third, there was a category effect, in which functionally important information (such as names of components) was remembered better than unimportant information, and this effect increased with repetition. Fourth, primacy and recency were strong predictors of recall on the first presentation, but structural importance was a strong predictor of recall on the third presentation. These results suggest that repetition produces both a quantitative increase in amount learned and a qualitative change in the reader's processing strategy. This article is based on a doctoral thesis by the first author (Bromage, 1981). The first author developed the research hypothesis, designed the study, carried out the study, conducted the data analysis, and wrote the thesis. The second author served as an advisor and wrote this shorter version for publication.
The present study examines whether overgeneralization of the quantified relations in a story reflects reasonable inferences from the story's theme. Subjects were asked to read narratives with similar story structures but with different thematic conflicts. Two-choice recognition results showed that overgeneralization "errors" are systematic, consistent with thematic elements of the narrative, and induced by thematic inferences.
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