ABSTRACT
Until recently, theorists assumed that memory and comprehension are closely connected (Bjorklund, 1989; Siegler, 1991). According to information-processing theory, comprehension depends on the ability to encode and sustain information in working memory, at least long enough to extract its meaning (Miller, 1956). The notion that memory and comprehension are
related is also central to constructivism, which is the belief that understanding shapes memory. Although the roots of constructivism in cognitive development can be traced to Piaget (e.g., Piaget & Inhelder, 1973), interest was renewed in the 1970s by research on language (e.g., Bransford, Barclay, & Franks, 1972; Liben & Posnansky, 1977). Most recently, the relation between memory and comprehension was the focus of research on fuzzy-trace theory (e.g., Ackerman, 1992; Kreindler & Lumsden, 1994; Reyna, 1995, in press; Swanson, Cooney, & Brock, 1993).
