What is recalled after hearing a passage?

MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 Association (Psychological) ; Cognitive Processes; College students; *conceptual Schemes; *Listening Comprehension; *Prose; *Recall (Psychological); *Structural Analysis In order to determine what aspects of information from prose are available for recall after one presentation of a passage and what aspects are learned with additional presentations, two passages were divided into idea units. These units were placed in a logical hierarchical structure for each passage, and scores were assigned to the idea units on the basis of their position in the structure. Sixty-nine undergraduates were divided into three groups equally; each group heard the passages once, twice, or three times before recallingEffects of the logical structure were seen in the kinds of idea units remembered, the stability of these units in consecutive recalls, and the tendency for clustering of idea units on this basis. In addition, serial position, importance of idea units, and order of recall were examined with the recall data. It was found that units high in the logical hierarchy were recalled more frequently than those lower in the hierarchy, that subjects tended to recall groups of units from the passages which were related to one another in the hierarchical structure, and that the stability of each unit recall was substantially related to its position in the logical structure of the passage. Figures and a bibliography are included. (Author/AW) WHAT IS RECALLED AFTER HEARING A PASSAGE? U. S. DEPARTMENT OP HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE 31-1 E F EDUCATION THIS DO IOS L. fIr.'RODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERO OR ORGFN TIDN Oi;:131NATI,-C IT. PO:MS OF VILW OR OPINIONS SLid ELI DO Nur i%L,.,LoantiILY REeRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. Bonnie J. F. Meyer and George W. McConkie