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Prior research in memory examined recollections of school. The current study sought to extend earlier research concerning memories of school to preservice teachers. Based on prior research protocols, undergraduate teacher education majors (N=83) enrolled in an undergraduate Educational Psychology course were asked to describe teaching episodes that were related to (a) two memories of subjects in grades 1 through 12 they Plan To Teach and (b) two memories of subjects in grades 1 through 12 they Plan Not To Teach. For each description of an academic event, they indicated (a) what school subject it was, (b) what grade level, (c) how well they remembered the event, and (d) how unpleasant or pleasant the event was. Memories were more positive for the Plan To Teach subjects and more negative for the Plan Not To Teach subjects. This finding applied to both Elementary and Secondary preservice teachers who reported more pleasant memories for the subjects they Plan To Teach. More positive memories for Plan To Teach subjects were reported across the academic scoring categories of Teacher Behavior, Learning Experiences, and Recognition. Implications for the teaching of Educational Psychology and other foundation courses were discussed.

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Sixty adults (ages 19 to 80) were divided into three age groups. Each individual completed the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI), which assesses an individual's self-perception of problem-solving ability, prior to completing two types of problems, including concept-identification tasks and six everyday, practical problems. When the level of education across the younger, middle-aged, and older adults was controlled, older individuals perceived themselves as better problem solvers, and they were more confident in their problem-solving abilities than the other age groups. Additionally, these older adults with relatively high levels of education took more time to complete the concept-identification tasks but did not make more errors or need more choices to solve these tasks. Similarly, the older participants performed as well as either of the other age groups on the everyday, practical problems.