Comparison if Monitoring and Mnemonic Text-Processing Strategies in Learning Disabled Students

Abstract

Thirty learning disabled students were given several reading passages for which they first had to identify and then remember the main ideas. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to three experimental conditions. In the control condition, subjects were simply taught what a main idea is in accordance with a direct-instruction format; in the monitoring condition, students were taught how to self-question in order to monitor and check their progress toward identifying the main idea of each passage. Finally, subjects in the mnemonic condition were taught to use an adaptation of the mnemonic “keyword method” to create an interactive image between the keyword for the passage title and the main idea for the passage. Consistent with predictions based on both a comprehension-versus-memory distinction and a selective-strategy principle, the monitoring strategy was most effective for main-idea finding, whereas the mnemonic strategy was most effective for main-idea remembering. Implications for theory and practice are considered.

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