John D. Bransford

Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing

Levels of processing were manipulated as a function of acquisition task and type of recognition test in three experiments. Experiment 1 showed that semantic acquisition was superior to rhyme acquisition given a standard recognition test, whereas rhyme acquisition was superior to semantic acquisition given a rhyming recognition test. The former finding supports, while the latter finding contradicts, the levels of processing claim that depth of processing leads to stronger memory traces. Experiment 2 replicated these findings using both immediate and delayed recognition tests. Experiment 3 indicated that these effects were not dependent upon the number of times a rhyme sound was presented during acquisition. Results are interpreted in terms of an alternate framework involving transfer appropriate processing.

Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding: Some Investigations of Comprehension and Recall.

The present paper presents a series of studies showing that relevant contextual knowledge is a prerequisite for comprehending prose passages. Four studies are reported, each demonstrating increased comprehension ratings and recall scores when Ss were supplied with appropriate information before they heard test passages. Supplying Ss with the same information subsequent to the passages produced much lower comprehension ratings and recall scores. Various explanations of the results are considered, and the role of topics in activating cognitive contexts is discussed.

Sentence memory: A constructive versus interpretive approach ☆ ☆☆

Abstract The present studies investigated the adequacy of an interpretive linguistic approach to the description of the knowledge communicated by sentences by asking whether sentence retention was primarily a function of memory for the semantically interpreted deep structural relations underlying the input sentences or a function of memory for the overall semantic situations that such sentences described. Results were shown to be primarily a function of memory for the semantic situations. A constructive approach to sentence memory was outlined that dealt with memory for individual sentences as well as memory for sets of semantically related sentences contributing to the same overall idea.

CONSIDERATIONS OF SOME PROBLEMS OF COMPREHENSION

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some of the contributions made by listeners while comprehending and remembering. The ability to understand linguistic symbols is based not only on the comprehenders knowledge of his language but also on his general knowledge of the world. Much of the extralinguistic knowledge affecting comprehension and memory may come from visually presented information. The chapter presents a number of studies that illustrate some of the interplay between linguistic inputs and extralinguistic knowledge. It highlights various implications of these studies with respect to the problem of characterizing the thought processes involved in comprehending language, and of characterizing the role of comprehension factors in learning and memory. The results of the studies reported do not dictate a detailed model of comprehension, but they suggest a general orientation toward the problem of linguistic comprehension that places it squarely within the domain of cognitive psychology, and that generates questions for future research. The aspects of the comprehension process may involve mental operations on knowledge structures and the realization of the implications of these operations. Information about the consequences of such operations—rather than information only about the input itself—may be necessary for comprehending subsequent inputs and may be an important part of what is available in memory tasks.

Comprehension and semantic flexibility

Four studies of cued recall produced evidence that interpretation of familiar, unambiguous words varied with their sentential contexts. Each recall cue mentioned some property of a target words referent, a property which was not explicitly identified during input. Cues were more effective when the properties were relevant, rather than irrelevant, to the events described by corresponding acquisition sentences. The research raised considerations pertinent to theories of semantic encoding, to semantic theories in linguistics, and to the role of normative data in psycholinguistic theories of comprehension.

Constraints on effective elaboration: Effects of precision and subject generation

Two experiments are presented which examine constraints that determine the effectiveness of subject-generated and experimenter-provided elaborations. Experiment I demonstrates that elaborations facilitate performance only when they clarify the precise significance of target concepts in the acquisition sentences. Experiment II demonstrates that prompting subjects to ask relevant questions facilitates both the precision of elaboration and subsequent retention. The implications of these findings for theories of learning and retention are discussed.

Constraints on access in a problem solving context.

The effects of previously acquired information on a later problem solving task were explored. Prior research has shown that the acquisition of potentially relevant information is not effective for cuing solutions in a later problem solving task unless subjects are informed of the connection. The present research extends these results and demonstrates that the problem solving failure is not due to subjects’ rejecting the potentially relevant information following retrieval. Rather, the apparent failure to appropriately use previous information is a result of uninformed subjects’ inability to spontaneously access such information. Furthermore, the observed access failure is not reversible by simply informing the subjects of the task connection prior to a second trial. Finally, the results indicate that problem solving failure on a later informed trial is a problem-specific phenomenon that does not generalize to new problems. The implications for contemporary episodic memory paradigms and the role of access in learning theory are discussed.

The abstraction of linguistic ideas: A review

Abstract The present paper investigates the status of the individual sentence. Is the sentence the unit of memory, or is it primarily a unit for communicating ideas? A series of studies is presented demonstrating that Ss do not simply retain information expressed by individual input sentences. Instead Ss spontaneously integrate information communicated by sets of semantically related (and often non-consecutively presented) acquisition sentences to construct more wholistic semantic descriptions. These wholistic descriptions may contain more information than any particular input sentence expressed. Memory is primarily a function of these wholistic structures. Ss will recognize and recall many sentences never presented during acquisition but which are derivable from the semantic structures acquired. However, Ss will rarely recall or recognize information that represents a distortion of these integrated ideas. Semantic integration is investigated in a variety of experimental conditions. It is shown to occur within the context of specially designed ‘integration paradigms’ as well as in prose passages, and it is shown to occur for a wide variety of acquisition tasks. Some models attempting to account for the data are evaluated, and implications are discussed.

Software for managing complex learning: Examples from an educational psychology course

Inquiry-based instruction including problem-, project-, and case-based methods often incorporate complex sets of learning activities. The numerous activities run the risk of becoming disconnected in the minds of learners and teachers. STAR.Legacy is a software shell that can help designers organize learning activities into an inquiry cycle that is easy to understand and pedagogically sound. To ensure that classroom teachers can adapt the inquiry activities according to their local resources and needs, STAR.Legacy was built upon four types of design principles: learner centered, knowledge centered, assessment centered, and community centered. We describe how a STAR.Legacy constructed for an educational psychology course helped preservice teachers design and learn about effective inquiry-based instruction.

Constraints on Effective Elaboration.

Two experiments are presented which explore constraints on effective elaboration. Experiment 1 demonstrates that semantic processing of congruous sentences will not always be superior to nonsemantic processing. The results question the adequacy of assumptions about the inherent superiority of semantic processing over nonsemantic processing and indicate the need to clarify the conditions under which semantic processing may facilitate comprehension and retention. Experiment 2 demonstrates that effective semantic elaboration cannot be equated with the mere quantity of semantically congruous information. Elaborative information increased performance only when it helped specify the relevance of target information relative to the rest of the sentence. Other types of semantically congruous elaborations actually debilitated retention. The importance of these results for theories of learning and retention is discussed.