~c An Interactive Model of Strategic Processing Mitchell Rabinowitz University of Illinois at Chicago Michelene T. H. Chi LearningResearch and Development Center With the popularization of an information-processing approach to the study of cognition, developmental and cognitive psychologists have been interested in specifying the processes (or processing deficiencies) that determine the level and characteristics of performance. For example, when either very competent or very poor performance is exhibited, what are the processes or processing deficiencies that influence the level of performance? In order to explore this issue, a com- parative approach contrasting performance from such groups as novices and experts within a given domain, children of different ages, or learning-disabled and nondisabled children is often used. This methodology permits the uncovering of particular processes that are responsible for variations in performance profi- ciency. Such research is of interest to psychologists and practitioners working with learning-disabled children who want to understand the causes of the low levels of performance, as well as suggest possible methods of remediation. In this chapter, we assert one commonly accepted view: that learning-disabled children who show no apparent brain damage perform poorly because of defi- ciencies in strategic processing. Although this premise is widely accepted, the reasons why we observe such differences in the use of strategies are still being debated. We propose a possible explanation for such variations in strategic processing by addressing the relationship between existing knowledge in semantic memory and the use of cognitive strategies. Specifically, we argue that both the decision to use a strategy and the efficiency in which a strategy can be used are based on a complex interaction with the conceptual knowledge to which the strategy is to be applied. The influence of this knowledge on processing is 83