Abstract
Remembering the information in a text is different from learning from a text and applying the acquired knowledge (e.g., by making inferences). This distinction was investigated with a dissociation paradigm. After reading an expository text, subjects performed either a memory (recognition) or an inferencing (verification) test. The effects of the same variables on the performance on the two tasks were compared. Text organization tended to affect recognition but not verification test performance. When verifying nonstudied items by inferencing, the richness of the available text information and the type of processing required to make the inference were important. The educational implications of this dissociation between memory and inference tests are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 314-330 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Contemporary Educational Psychology |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1991 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported in part by a U.S. Army Research Institute, Office of Basic Research Grant to Rand J. Spiro and in part by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement under Cooperative Agreement No. GOO87-ClOOl-90 with the Reading Research and Education Center and by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Address all correspondence and reprint requests to Aydin Durgunoglu, Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820.