The Effectiveness of Mnemonic Instruction for Students with Learning and Behavior Problems: An Update and Research Synthesis

Abstract

One of the most commonly described problems of students with learning and behavioral difficulties is memory for academic content. Using research integration techniques, this paper describes the effects of specific mnemonic (memory-enhancing) strategies in addressing this critical need area. The overall effectiveness of mnemonic techniques was found to be associated with an overall mean standardized “effect size” of 1.62, indicating an unusually large effect for treatment and replicating closely a research synthesis reported in the literature in the 1980s. Also, laboratory (or, “decontextualized”) research yielded results similar to those obtained in field-based investigations using established school curricula. Further, an evaluation of unpublished, descriptive teacher applications of mnemonic instruction provides further support that mnemonic strategies are effective and useful in ecologically valid settings.