Sarah E. Peterson

The cognitive functions of underlining as a study technique

Abstract To investigate the cognitive functions of underlining, college students studied and reviewed a history chapter under one of three conditions: underlining during study and reviewing the underlined text, underlining when studying but reviewing clean text, and studying and reviewing without underlining. Scores on an exam measuring recognition of facts and inferences indicated that subjects who underlined when studying and then reviewed their underlined chapter scored significantly lower on inferential recall than the other two groups. Results indicated that underlining apparently does not serve an encoding or review function, and may be counterproductive for inferential recall. Results are discussed in terms of students’ self‐reported use of underlining.

Using maps to retrieve text : a test of conjoint retention

Abstract Two experiments tested the conjoint retention model by having undergraduates learn an intact map and text, and then see the map as a retrieval cue, in either its original form or a reorganized format. Subjects remembered more text events when cued by the original map. The pattern of results supports the assumption that image representations of maps improve text recall only when they retain both feature and structural properties available during encoding.

How map features cue associated verbal content

Undergraduates learned a complex map, heard a related text passage, and received either the original map or a picture of its boundary as a retrieval cue for the text on both an immediate and a 2-week-delayed test. Features on the map were either modified by visually keyed adjectives or not modified. Recall of text events was higher for the map, for the modified features, and on the immediate test. Analysis of feature-event conditional probabilities indicated that a combination of feature icons and verbal modifiers provided the greatest recall of both modified and nonmodified events.

College students' attributions for performance on cooperative tasks

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine students performance attributions for cooperative group assignments in a natural classroom setting. Three aspects of attributions were examined: (a) causal attributions made for performance outcomes on group projects, (b) perceptions of the underlying dimensions of causality, stability, and controllability of these attributions, and (c) the relationships among performance outcomes, attributional dimensions, and attributional consequences. The most typical attributions used for performance on the group assignment were effort, group strategy, group dynamics, situational factors, understanding of the task, motivation/attitude, nature of the task, and ability/prior knowledge. A factor analysis supported the dimensions of locus of causality, stability, and controllability for these attributions. As predicted by attribution theory, locus of causality was related to affective reactions and stability was related to expectancy for future success. The expected relationships for controllability were not found.

Declarative, Conceptual, and Procedural Knowledge in the Understanding of Fractions and Acquisition of Ruler Measurement Skills

AbstractThis study examined the relationship among declarative, conceptual, and procedural knowledge in the acquisition of ruler measurement skills. Sixth-grade industrial arts students were taught how to use a ruler with one of two instructional methods; the fractional method was based on an understanding of fractions, whereas the line identification method required no understanding of fractions. Results indicated that the line identification method was superior overall to the fractional method, both for the initial acquisition as well as retention of skills. This superiority occurred for questions measuring understanding of fractions but not for ruler skills, indicating that students were able to use procedural knowledge to infer conceptual knowledge. Results are discussed in terms of several models of learning that address how declarative, conceptual, and procedural knowledge interact in the learning process.

Encoding specificity: The case of maps and text

Undergraduates studied either an intact reference map or a random distribution of map features and then listened to a text that contained facts related to the map. Next, half of the subjects in each encoding group received the map or the distribution of features and used thes e materialsas retrieval cues for recalling the text facts. Seeing the intact map prior to hearing the text led to better fact recall, and there was no effect for the type of cue presented at retrieval. The results provide no support for encoding specificity in the case in which a spatial display such as a map is used to improve memory for text.

Children's use of response confidence in the processing of instructional feedback

Abstract The main purpose of the present study was to extend a model of instructional feedback ( Kulhavy & Stock, 1989 ) to elementary school children. Forty-five third and fifth graders (third graders, N = 21; fifth graders, N = 24) read text passages, answered questions, and either rated response confidences for each question or used an imagery strategy. Although differences were not found between treatment groups, analyses of response patterns revealed differential age effects. Response patterns for fifth graders were similar to those of college populations; however, these patterns did not emerge for third graders.