Type of Highlighted Material and Examination Performance

The present study asks whether laboratory findings, that isolation of an item facilitates its recall, extend to formal educational settings. Four groups of students from a General Psychology class were differentiated in terms of the type of material which was isolated in assigned readings. Principles, examples of principles, or trivial statements were selected for isolation by underlining; readings of the remaining group did not contain underlinings. Class examinations included questions directed at knowledge of each type of material. Slight support was obtained for the prediction that exam performance on a particular type of material depended upon whether the material was isolated. There was no evidence for an overall facilitation by isolation. That is, underlining of one type of material did not appear to aid exam performance on non-isolated materials.