USE OF ELABORATIVE INTERROGATION TO HELP STUDENTS ACQUIRE INFORMATIONCONSISTENT WITH PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION INCONSISTENT WITH PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Thirty-two factual statements were processed by 140 6th and 7th grader s. Half of the statements were consistent with the Ss' prior knowledge , whereas the remaining facts were inconsistent with the Ss' prior kno wledge. Half of the Ss were instructed to read the sentences for under standing (reading controls). The remaining Ss were instructed to use t heir prior knowledge to answer why each fact was true (elaborative int errogation). Two tests of recall (free and cued) and 2 tests of recogn ition (immediate and 14-day) followed. In Experiment 2, Ss also comple ted 75-day and 180-day recognition tasks. Across all memory measures, elaborative-interrogation Ss performed significantly better than did r eading controls. In general, the quality of the elaborative-interrogat ion study responses did not affect learning. All Ss recognized more pr ior-knowledge-consistent facts than prior-knowledge-inconsistent facts .