A recent discovery of research on bilingualism is that a bilingual’s two languages are both active during online speech production and comprehension. Speakers may manage the interference that arises from possessing two simultaneously active languages by inhibiting the language that is task inappropriate or enhancing the activation of the language they intend to use. These accounts were assessed by examining the consequences of earlier use of a language on the current use of another language and by determining whether such consequences are modulated by task demands. Unbalanced bilinguals for whom two languages coexist served as participants. Evidence indicated that the consequences of earlier use depend on task demands that modulate the interplay between inhibition and facilitation.

This study examined whether the emotional memory effect (i.e., superior recall for emotionally arousing events relative to neutral events) is sensitive to encoding instructions focusing participants' attention on denotation, connotation, or surface information and on the passage of time. Participants encoded taboo and neutral words under one type of instructions and then performed a free recall task after a variable delay. Attention to denotation negatively affected the emotional memory effect. Time elapsed from encoding weakened recall of neutral words but not of emotional words. These findings suggest that although attentional control can influence the emotional memory effect, distinctiveness can shield retrieval of taboo words from the passage of time.

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A well-established principle in the literature on learning, which maintains that variability of practice enhances long-term retention, served as the foundation of a summer program intended to ameliorate reading skills in incoming freshmen. During a 4-week period, students received reading instruction in the context of four areas: humanities, social/behavioral sciences, natural/physical sciences and visual arts. Reading scores increased for most participants from pre-to post-testing. Attitudes towards basic skills such as reading, writing, cooperative work and public speaking also improved from pre-to post-testing. ResumenUno de los principios bases de la investigación sobre el aprendizaje, el cual propone que la versatilidad en la práctica mejora la retención, sirve como fundamento para apoyar el programa de verano que intenta enriquecer las destrezas de lectura para los estudiantes universitarios de primer año. Durante las cuatro semanas del curso, los estudiantes reciben instrucción de lectura en cuatro áreas específicas: humanidades, ciencias sociales y de comportamiento, ciencias naturales y físicas y las artes visuales. Las calificaciones de los exámenes preliminares y posteriores demostraron que la escritura mejoró en la mayoría de los participantes. Los resultados también mostraron una mejora en las aptitudes hacia las destrezas básicas como la lectura, redacción, trabajo cooperativo y hablar en público.

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