The document summarizes a study that examined the effects of a mnemonic imagery strategy on the prose recall of good and poor readers. In the study, 38 eighth grade students were split into two groups - one that was taught a mnemonic imagery strategy using keywords and illustrations, and a control group that was told to use their own best method. Students were tested immediately and one week later on their recall of central details and incidental details from passages. The results showed that students in the mnemonic imagery group, both good and poor comprehenders, had significantly higher recall of central details compared to the control group. However, both groups performed similarly on recall of incidental details. The study suggests explicitly teaching mnemonic imagery strategies can improve reading

1. Mnemonic Imagery Presentation by: Alyson O’Neill

2. Bibliographic Information Peters, E.E., & Levin, J.R. (1986). Effects of a mnemonic imagery strategy on good and poor readers' prose recall. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(2), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/747844 .

3. Purpose of Research “To determine whether children of different reading abilities would benefit from a mnemonic (memory-enhancing) imagery strategy in a prose-learning situation”(p. 180).

4. Rational Experimenters were interested in understanding how the mnemonic imagery strategy affects reading levels both positively and negatively. Students were asked to apply the “keyword” method to a prose-learning task, using Levin’s (1983) “Three R’s” Recode, Relate, Retrieve Example: Charlene McKune

5. Experiment #1 Larry Taylor has invented a house-on-a-turntable. The house-on-a-turntable rotates in a clockwise direction, but can be brought to a stop at any time. The house-on-a-turn-table is ideal for growing house plants which may require different exposures to the sun.

6. Experiment #1: Methods 38 eighth-grade students (broken into two groups of 19) from 3 middle schools in a Midwestern university community. All subjects received a score at or above the 50th percentile nationally in either vocabulary or comprehension on the Nelson Reading Test, Form B (1962). Group 1 = mnemonic imagery condition Group 2 = no-strategy control condition

7. Experiment #1: Methods Time Frame: Each student was tested individually for about 35 minutes. Students were tested a week after their first testing using the same procedures.

8. Experiment #1: Methods 14 passages were used within the experiment. Group 1 (imagery): instructed on the “Three R’s” (sample cards contained relational illustrations) Group 2 (no-strategy): instructed to use their “own best method.” Students were asked to read and respond to 12 short passages.

9. Experiment #1: Data Good Comprehenders Good Comprehenders Poor Comprehenders Poor Comprehenders Measure Mnemonic Strategy No-strategy Control Mnemonic Strategy No-Strategy Control Central Recall: Immediate Test 73.7 46.2 63.4 20.8 Central Recall: Delayed Test 50.2 28.2 33.3 13.3

10. Experiment #1: Data Good Comprehenders Good Comprehenders Poor Comprehenders Poor Comprehenders Measure Mnemonic Strategy No-Strategy Control Mnemonic Strategy No-Strategy Control Incidental Recall: Immediate Test 82.2 81.3 73.4 72.2 Incidental Recall: Delayed Test 81.6 75.5 68.4 67.0

11. Experiment #1: Findings 89% of good comprehenders and 79% of poor comprehenders from the mnemonic imagery group reported adopting their instructional strategy to study by. No-strategy control subjects reported using semantic association or rote rehearsal. A mnemonic imagery strategy can be applied effectively by eighth-grade students to pure reading assignments.

12. Implications for Teaching This research suggests that explicitly teaching students how to use the mnemonic imagery strategy is effective with upper elementary students who are given “pure reading” assignments. When students are given research-based tools to recall information (central or incidental) they will likely find more success than using their “own best method.”