Verbal descriptions of spatial information can interfere with picture processing

Two studies are reported that tested the assumption that learning is improved by presenting text and pictures compared to text only when the text conveys non-spatial rather than spatial information. In Experiment 1, 59 students learned with text containing either visual or spatial contents, both accompanied by the same pictures. The results confirmed the expected interference between the processing of spatial text contents and pictures: Learners who received text containing spatial information showed worse text and picture recall than learners who received text containing visual information. In Experiment 2, 85 students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, which resulted from a 2×2 between-participants design, with picture presentation (with vs without) and text contents (visual vs spatial) as between-participants factors. Again the results confirmed the expected interference between processing of spatial text information and pictures, because beneficial effects of adding pictures to text were observed only when the texts conveyed visual information. Importantly, when no pictures were present no differences were observed between learners with either visual or spatial texts contents, indicating that the observed effects are not caused by absolute differences between the two texts such as their difficulty. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Material appropriate processing and elaboration: The impact of balanced and complementary types of processing on learning concepts from text

Background: The Material Appropriate Processing (MAP) framework suggests that the influence of a text adjunct on the learning and transfer of textual information will be moderated by the overlap between type of processing induced by the adjunct and by the organisation of the text. The two types of processing are item specific processing and relational processing. Although complementary types of processing have been found to produce superior concept learning effects in previous research, there is some question as to the effects of complementary but unbalanced processing. Aims: This study examined the effects of different combinations of two types of text adjuncts (i.e., elaborative activities) and two types of text on learning concepts from text. The four combined treatments differed as to the degree to which they were balanced and/or complementary. Sample: Participants were 80 undergraduate students who were enrolled in a Year 3 education paper. Methods: Students studied a passage that included adjuncts which asked them to either: (a) create personal examples of target concepts, or (b) contrast the target concepts. In addition, two versions of text were paired with these adjuncts: specific‐only text and specific/relational text. Subjects took a criterion test that consisted of cued recall of definitions, free recall of text, classification of novel examples, and problem solving. Results: Best performance occurred within the condition that included balanced and complementary processing of text/adjunct information, and worst performance occurred in the condition that included non‐complementary processing. Conclusion: Although these results are consistent with a MAP perspective, the results are equivocal about the potential interfering effects of complementary and unbalanced processing on learning of concepts from text.     

Metacomprehension judgements reflect the belief that diagrams improve learning from text

In two experiments we systematically explored whether people consider the format of text materials when judging their text learning, and whether doing so might inappropriately bias their judgements. Participants studied either text with diagrams (multimedia) or text alone and made both per-paragraph judgements and global judgements of their text learning. In Experiment 1 they judged their learning to be better for text with diagrams than for text alone. In that study, however, test performance was greater for multimedia, so the judgements may reflect either a belief in the power of multimedia or on-line processing. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and also included a third group that read texts with pictures that did not improve text performance. Judgements made by this group were just as high as those made by participants who received the effective multimedia format. These results confirm the hypothesis that people's metacomprehension judgements can be influenced by their beliefs about text format. Over-reliance on this multimedia heuristic, however, might reduce judgement accuracy in situations where it is invalid.     

The testing effect and analogical problem-solving

Researchers generally agree that retrieval practice of previously learned material facilitates subsequent recall of same material, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. There is debate, however, about when such benefits transfer to related (though not identical) material. The current study examines the phenomenon of transfer in the domain of analogical problem-solving. In Experiments 1 and 2, learners were presented a source text describing a problem and solution to read which was subsequently either restudied or recalled. Following a short (Experiment 1) or long (Experiment 2) delay, learners were given a new target text and asked to solve a problem. The two texts shared a common structure such that the provided solution for the source text could be applied to solve the problem in the target text. In a combined analysis of both experiments, learners in the retrieval practice condition were more successful at solving the problem than those in the restudy condition. Experiment 3 explored the degree to which retrieval practice promotes cued versus spontaneous transfer by manipulating whether participants were provided with an explicit hint that the source and target texts were related. Results revealed no effect of retrieval practice.     

The impact of familiarization strategies on the missing-letter effect

When reading a text and searching for a target letter, readers make more omissions of the target letter if it is embedded in frequent function words than if it is in rare content words. While word frequency effects are consistently found, few studies have examined the impacts of passage familiarity on the missing-letter effect and studies that have present conflicting evidence. The present study examines the effects of passage familiarity, as well as the impacts of passage familiarization strategy promoting surface or deep encoding, on the missing-letter effect. Participants were familiarized with a passage by retyping a text, replacing all common nouns with synonyms, or generating a text on the same topic as that of the original text, and then completed a letter search task on the familiar passage as well as an unfamiliar passage. In Experiment 1, when both familiar and unfamiliar passages use the same words, results revealed fewer omissions for the retyping and synonyms conditions. However, in Experiment 2, when different words are used in both types of texts, no effect of familiarization strategy was observed. Furthermore, the missing-letter effect is maintained in all conditions, adding support to the robustness of the effect regardless of familiarity with the text.     

Letter detection in very familiar texts

In the present study, we investigated whether patterns of letter detection for function and content words in texts are affected by the familiarity of the material being read. In Experiment 1, subjects searched for target letters in sentences that had been rehearsed prior to performing the letter detection on them as well as on unfamiliar sentences. In Experiment 2, subjects searched for target letters in highly familiar verses (e.g., nursery rhymes) and in unfamiliar sentences that were matched to the familiar verses. A disadvantage in letter detection for function as compared with content words consistently found with unfamiliar passages was reduced significantly with the familiar material in both experiments. Specifically, letter detection for content words grew worse in familiar text, but letter detection for function words showed a contrasting modest, though nonsignificant, improvement. The results are consistent with the proposition that in very familiar texts, parafoveal analysis permits the identification of generally less familiar content words. Simultaneously, the normal pattern of weighing the structure and content elements of text changes so that more fixations on function words occur than when one is reading unfamiliar texts.     

The interactive effects of prior knowledge and text structure on memory for cognitive psychology texts

Background: Interest in the interactive effects of prior knowledge and text structure on learning from text is increasing but experimental manipulations of knowledge and structure variables often produce findings that do not help teachers to select expository texts for students. Aims: We aimed to extend the ecological validity of previous findings by asking students with a high or low level of discipline‐relevant knowledge to read texts characteristic of those they would normally encounter. A compensation effect was hypothesized, where high prior knowledge would compensate for a lack of text structure and text structure would compensate for a lack of prior knowledge. Samples: One hundred and ninety‐five undergraduate psychology students (144 Year 1 students and 51 Year 3 students) were allocated to a high knowledge (HiPK) or low knowledge (LoPK) group on the basis of their performance on a word association test. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to one of five text structure groups (compare/contrast, sequence, classification, enumeration, generalization) and asked to study two cognitive psychology passages before recalling the main points of the text immediately afterwards and after a delay of 2 weeks. The five text structures were placed on an ‘organizational continuum’ according to the degree of structure/organization in the 10 passages. Results: A compensation effect did not emerge. Recall was high when texts were well structured and readers had prior knowledge, but recall was poor when texts were less structured, regardless of the level of prior knowledge. Conclusions: Readers benefit most from texts that challenge pre‐existing mental representations.     

Presence and place of main ideas and examples in study texts

Background: How indispensable are examples and main ideas in study texts? In research into comprehension of expository texts examples are sometimes considered as cognitive support, sometimes as seductive details. According to the cognitivist view, text comprehension is based on main ideas, whereas the constructivist view holds that examples are the basis of understanding. Aims: This study explored how text comprehension is influenced by main ideas and examples in study texts, in relation to Vermunt's (1992, 1998) ‘concrete elaboration’ learning style. In Experiment 1, concrete texts with many examples were compared with abstract texts with many main ideas. In Experiment 2, idea‐oriented texts, in which main ideas preceded examples, were compared with example‐oriented texts, in which examples preceded main ideas. Samples: In both experiments, undergraduate social sciences students studied various versions of an introductory text on educational psychology. Methods: The text contained sections with a varying number of relevant and irrelevant examples and with or without a main idea (Experiment 1), and sections with a main idea followed by examples, sections with a main idea without examples, or sections with examples followed by a main idea (Experiment 2). After studying the text, students completed a verbatim recognition test and an explanation test. Results: Best results were obtained after studying sections with a main idea and two or five examples. Irrelevant examples were detrimental to understanding. Students used examples to construct knowledge or to activate prior knowledge. Students with a strong habit of concrete elaboration used main ideas to recollect episodes of personal experience. This may interfere with understanding underlying concepts and principles by relating main ideas to examples in the text. Students with a low score on the concrete elaboration scale were sensitive to the presence of examples in the study text. Conclusion: In expository texts, examples are indispensable. The findings suggest that main ideas are useful, and, in order to prevent interference effects, the more so when they are put at the end of sections.     

Improving calibration over texts by providing standards both with and without idea-units

This study aims at improving calibration accuracy, which is the match between estimated performance and actual performance. In our experiment, one hundred and twenty-seven university students read texts and learned definitions. The students recalled these definitions during a test and made performance judgements. After recalling their definitions half of the students received full-definition standards, stating what the correct definition should have been. The other half of the students received idea-unit standards: The correct definition was parsed into units that had to be present. Providing standards improved calibration accuracy not only on current texts, but also on new, subsequent texts. Especially the calibration of low performing students benefitted from receiving both idea-unit and full-definition standards. Furthermore, over multiple texts, students who received idea-unit standards benefitted more than students receiving full-definition standards. This study is among the first to show the effect of standards on calibration on new texts and underscores the importance of self-testing.     

Comprehension Strategies in Math Problem and Story Contexts

Two experiments were conducted to explore possible differences in inferential processing in math problem and story contexts. The subjects in both studies were fourth- and fifth-grade non retarded children and mildly retarded adolescents. In Experiment 1 subjects received a series of ambiguous passages designed to permit qualitative (story-based) inferences and quantitative (computational) inferences under one of three instructional set conditions (story set, math set, or neutral set). Results indicated that qualitative inferences were processed more accurately under story and neutral set instructions than under math set instructions. However, the accuracy of quantitative inferences was not affected by set condition. Experiment 2 represented a further effort to examine effects of set on math problem-solving performance. When the manipulation of set (math or story) was strengthened by embedding target items in a series of either story passages or math problems, the accuracy of quantitative inferences was facilitated under math set conditions. Results were consistent with the notion that different comprehension strategies are employed in contexts that encourage the interpretation of texts as either math problems or stories.     

Effects of text structure on the impact of heard news

In two experiments, audio re-recordings of texts transcribed from television newscasts were presented to independent groups, one group in each case hearing a ‘bulletin’ with original text structures (as broadcast), the other with key stories revised in accord with story-grammar notions and restoring chronological sequence in the narrative. In Experiment 1 the middle item in a three-story bulletin was subjected to text structure manipulation. After hearing the bulletin, subjects were questioned on information in the texts. In Experiment 2, subjects heard two stories with original or restructured text. In addition to being tested for retention they also rated for bias and quality of writing. Text restructuring improved learning in both studies, especially of information central to the main points of stories. In Experiment 2, such text revision also affected judgements of bias without altering assessment of writing quality. It is suggested that attention to assuring more coherent story structures in newscast texts could counter the problems of poor comprehension and perceived bias on the part of audiences which result from current production priorities and practices.     

Retrieving texts from an external store: the effects of an explanatory context and of semantic fit between text and address

Summary External-information storage may reduce the load on human memory. But if information is preserved in an external store the task of retrieving information from that store puts new demands on memory. This creates a trade-off between internal and external storage. One of the prerequisites for external retrieval is learning an address. In this study, the trade-off between internal and external retrieval is exemplified by contrasting the memorization of written texts with the memorization of addresses under which these texts are stored in a computer file. In Experiment 1 Ss were tested for the retention of addresses. In Experiment 2 they were tested for the retention of texts, but had the choice between memorizing the texts and memorizing an address under which the texts were available. Independent variables were the availability of an explanatory context, and the semantic fit between address and text. An explanatory context improved address learning in Experiment 1 and unaided recall in Experiment 2. It did not influence the utilization of addresses as tested in Experiment 2. The semantic fit between address and text had a considerable impact on both the learning and the utilization of addresses. Whereas some subjects were assigned standard addresses, others generated their own addresses. Self-generated addresses had effects similar to standard addresses selected for high semantic fit. It is suggested that learning an external address involves an internal representation of the material stored under that address.     

Fostering Analytic Metacognitive Processes and Reducing Overconfidence by Disfluency: The Role of Contrast Effects

Overconfidence leads to premature termination of study and, thus, to decreased performance. The aim of the present study is to improve students' monitoring and control. We assume that disfluency fosters analytic metacognitive processes and thus reduces overconfidence. However, we expect that contrast effects moderate the fluency effects on metacognitive processes because disfluency activates analytic metacognitive processes not only for disfluent but also for succeeding fluent learning material. To test our hypotheses, university students (N = 75) learned either with a fluent text first and afterward a disfluent text or with a disfluent text first and afterward a fluent text. The results show fluency effects on control, monitoring, and monitoring accuracy only when students learned with a fluent and afterward a disfluent text. Performance was worse for disfluent than for fluent texts in both conditions. Therefore, instructional settings that help students to implement accurate monitoring into better control and better performance are required. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Learning and retention through predictive inference and classification

Work in category learning addresses how humans acquire knowledge and, thus, should inform classroom practices. In two experiments, we apply and evaluate intuitions garnered from laboratory-based research in category learning to learning tasks situated in an educational context. In Experiment 1, learning through predictive inference and classification were compared for fifth-grade students using class-related materials. Making inferences about properties of category members and receiving feedback led to the acquisition of both queried (i.e., tested) properties and nonqueried properties that were correlated with a queried property (e.g., even if not queried, students learned about a species' habitat because it correlated with a queried property, like the species' size). In contrast, classifying items according to their species and receiving feedback led to knowledge of only the property most diagnostic of category membership. After multiple-day delay, the fifth-graders who learned through inference selectively retained information about the queried properties, and the fifth-graders who learned through classification retained information about the diagnostic property, indicating a role for explicit evaluation in establishing memories. Overall, inference learning resulted in fewer errors, better retention, and more liking of the categories than did classification learning. Experiment 2 revealed that querying a property only a few times was enough to manifest the full benefits of inference learning in undergraduate students. These results suggest that classroom teaching should emphasize reasoning from the category to multiple properties rather than from a set of properties to the category.     

阅读中的元理解监测与元理解调控

采用“阅读－关键词处理－元理解监测－测验1－选择文章重读－测验2”的流程, 探讨元理解监测对元理解调控与阅读理解成绩的影响。结果显示, 延迟写关键词相对于即时写和不写关键词更利于监测精 确性的提高; 延迟关键词组借助精确的监测能做出有效的元理解调控, 选出测验1中得分低的文章重读, 并在测验2中有较好表现, 而其他两组只能选出其认为难的、而非得分低的文章重读, 在测验2中表现不 佳。元理解监测的精确性影响元理解调控的有效性, 进而影响阅读理解成绩。     

Teaching Fourth and Fifth Graders to Evaluate Information Sources During Text Comprehension

In two experiments, we examined fourth and fifth graders' comprehension of the source of information in texts presenting controversial issues. In Experiment 1, participants read short texts in which two people presented different arguments regarding an issue. Participants identified who said what and evaluated each source's knowledge of the issue. Most students correctly identified the source of information but failed to take into account each source's characteristics when determining who was most knowledgeable. In Experiment 2, we implemented an intervention on students' evaluations of information sources. Less skilled students in the intervention group assessed source knowledge more accurately than those in a control group. We conclude that elementary school students' comprehension of who says what in a text can benefit from training sessions that involve practice, feedback, explanations, and discussions. We consider the implications for document-based learning in elementary and secondary education.     

多篇章学习中提取练习策略对高阶技能的影响

采用多篇章学习方式, 结合测试效应研究的经典范式, 设计两个实验探究提取练习策略对高阶技能的影响。结果表明：(1)连续学习3篇文章后, 在最终测试阶段学习策略主效应显著, 提取练习组高阶技能的成绩更优：提取组在每篇文章学习间隔中插入即时测试, 无论是概念型知识还是高阶技能, 最终测试中的成绩都显著高于重学组, 但其反应时却低于重学组。在提取练习组中, 概念型知识与高阶技能成绩均有提升, 但概念型知识比高阶技能提升幅度明显; (2)将篇章数扩展至5篇后, 最终测试中, 提取练习组的成绩仍显著高于重学组。对高阶技能4个维度作以分析后发现, 两组在应用与分析维度上差异显著, 但在评估与创造维度上, 提取练习组成绩虽有提升但差异不显著。结果证实了提取练习是高效学习的有效策略, 不仅体现在单独内容的记忆保持, 也可扩展到连续学习中高阶技能的发展与促进。研究支持了情景语境解释对提取练习内部机制的阐述, 并进一步验证了前摄抑制干扰理论和上下文内容转换假说的观点。     

The Read-Recite-Review Study Strategy: Effective and Portable

ABSTRACT— Two experiments with college students investigated the effectiveness of the 3R (read-recite-review) strategy for learning from educational texts. The 3R strategy was compared with rereading and note-taking study strategies using free-recall, multiple-choice, and short-answer inference tests immediately after study and after a 1-week delay. In Experiments 1 and 2, 3R improved immediate and delayed free recall of fact-based passages, relative to the rereading and note-taking strategies. In Experiment 2 , which used longer, more complex passages on engineering topics, performance on multiple-choice and problem-solving items was better in the 3R than in the rereading condition, and was equivalent in the 3R and note-taking conditions, though 3R took less study time than note taking. An inherent advantage of 3R relative to other testing methods for improving learning is that 3R is under the learner's control. These results indicate that it is also an efficacious study technique that capitalizes on the mnemonic potency of retrieval and feedback.     

The advantage of simple symbols for learning and transfer

A goal of successful learning is the transfer of learned knowledge to novel situations. However, spontaneous transfer is notoriously difficult to achieve. In this research, we argue that learning and transfer can be facilitated when knowledge is expressed in an abstract, generic form. In Experiments 1 and 2, undergraduate students learned two isomorphic domains, which were based on the same algebraic group, with one domain expressed in a more abstract, generic form and the other expressed in a more concrete form. In both experiments, transfer from more abstract to more concrete was greater than the reverse. In Experiment 3, undergraduate students learned the same algebraic group under varying degrees of concreteness. Our results demonstrate that the use of perceptually rich, concrete symbols may hinder learning. This research indicates that concreteness may have substantial learning and transfer costs, whereas abstractness may have benefits.     

Learning lyrics: To sing or not to sing?

According to common practice and oral tradition, learning verbal materials through song should facilitate word recall. In the present study, we provide evidence against this belief. In Experiment 1, 36 university students, half of them musicians, learned an unfamiliar song in three conditions. In the sung-sung condition, the song to be learned was sung, and the response was sung too. In the sung-spoken condition, the response was spoken. In the divided-spoken condition, the presented lyrics (accompanied by music) and the response were both spoken. Superior word recall in the sung-sung condition was predicted. However, fewer words were recalled when singing than when speaking. Furthermore, the mode of presentation, whether sung or spoken, had no influence on lyric recall, in either short- or long-term recall. In Experiment 2, singing was assessed with and without words. Altogether, the results indicate that the text and the melody of a song have separate representations in memory, making singing a dual task to perform, at least in the first steps of learning. Interestingly, musical training had little impact on performance, suggesting that vocal learning is a basic and widespread skill.