Krug, D., George, B., Hannon, S. A., & Glover, J. A. (1989). The effect of outlines and headings on readers' recall of text. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 14(2), 111-123.

Krug, D.; George, B.; Hannon, S.; Glover, J.

1989

Krug, D., George, B., Hannon, S. A., & Glover, J. A. (1989). The effect of outlines and headings on readers' recall of text. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 14(2), 111-123.

2

178 undergraduates participated in a study designed to examine the differential effect of form and content schema on reading comprehension. Results of Exp 1 with artificial text and Exp 2 with an actual textbook chapter indicate that outlines and headings each had a facilitative effect on Ss' recall. Further, a combined condition in which both headings and outlines accompanied text resulted in the greatest overall levels of recall. Results of Exp 3 indicate that outlines provided Ss with knowledge of text organization, while headings did not. Overall results suggest that the effect of form and content schemata may be independent and additive, regardless of whether the locus of effect is at encoding or retrieval.

Recall was greatest when subjects encountered both an outline prefacing the essay and headings interspersed in the text. Further, each of these devices alone facilitates subjects' memory for the essay but to a lesser extent than when they were combined. Outlines alone and headings alone also facilitated recall but to a lesser extent than when the two were used in conjunction.

56

1