This is a college-level textbook that provides a comprehensive and credible theory of how humans can learn and retain substantial and growing bodies of potentially meaningful, organized subject-matter knowledge on an extended, long-term basis.

This is a college-level textbook that provides a comprehensive and credible theory of how humans can learn and retain substantial and growing bodies of potentially meaningful, organized subject-matter knowledge on an extended, long-term basis. It identifies explicitly the cognitive conditions under which such learning and retention occurs, and indicates how they are influenced by relevant cognitive structure, frequency, mental "set" and motivational variables, and, most importantly, by the probable underlying functional cognitive processes involved.

Preface. 1. Preview of Assimilation Theory of Meaningful Learning and Retention. 2. Scope and Objectives. 3. Preview of Basic Concepts of Meaningful Reception Learning and Retention. 4. The Nature of Meaning and Meaningful Learning. 5. Assimilation Theory in Meaningful Learning and Retention Processes. 6. The Effects of Cognitive Structure Variables on the Acquisition, Retention, and Transferability of Knowledge. 7. Practice and Motivational Factors in Meaningful Learning and Retention.