An elaboration hypothesis was examined as a means of specifying "depth of . processing" in memory for prose and as a guide for the construction of adjunct questions. Experiment 1 examined the effects of different numbers of propositions within paragraphs on the recall of major ideas. Experiment 2 replicated the procedures of Experiment 1 but varied the topography of the text. Experiment 3 examined processing time as an alternative explanation for the results observed in Experiments 1 and 2. Experiment 4 investigated a redundancy hypothesis as an alternative to an elaboration hypothesis. Experiment 5 employed a procedure originally developed to test the effects of adjunct aids requiring different levels of elaboration on recall of prose. The results of Experiments 1-4 support the elaboration hypothesis in predicting recall of main ideas in paragraphs. The results of Experiment 5 support the utility of employing an elaboration hypothesis as a heuristic for the construction of adjunct questions.

Examined in 2 experiments with 236 undergraduates the possibility that readers would differentially recall passage material as a result of differing levels of processing during reading. It was hypothesized that as the level of reader schema–text base interaction increased Ss would generate greater numbers of idea units and logical intrusions. Exp I varied the schema–text base interaction through tasks designed to increase interaction of Ss' existing schemata with the text material. In Exp II, an additional factor of student compliance with the tasks was examined. Results support the hypotheses and indicate that what Ss remembered from reading passages was determined by the activities they engaged in during reading. Activities requiring a restatement of the semantic base of prose resulted in high rates of idea unit recall; activities requiring the formulation of logical extensions of prose resulted in higher rates of logical intrusions in free recall. (32 ref)

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