Younger and older adults participated in 9 hr of either structure strategy
training, interest strategy training, or no training. Both trained groups r
eported positive changes in reading, but only the structure strategy group
showed increased total recall from a variety of texts and an informative vi
deo. Structure strategy training increased the amount of information rememb
ered as well as recall of the most important information. This training aff
ected the organization of recall and was critical for producing readers who
could use the structure strategy consistently across a variety of exposito
ry texts. In addition, it helped learners use signals in text more effectiv
ely. There was an additive effect of training plus signaling for use of the
structure strategy consistently across five passages. The strategy switch
hypothesis was supported, indicating that signaling affects encoding rather
than retrieval processes. The findings have implications for both reading
and writing.