Individual differences for self-regulating task-oriented reading activities.

The goal of this study is to analyze the self-regulation processes present in task-oriented reading activities. In the 1st experiment, we examined the following self-regulation processes in the context of answering questions about an available text: (a) monitoring the comprehension of the question, (b) self-regulating the search process, and (c) monitoring the decision to search. Skilled and less skilled comprehenders from 7th and 8th grades read 2 texts and answered 16 questions while all their actions were recorded on a computer. We hypothesized that skilled comprehenders would differ from less skilled comprehenders on the 1st 2 processes on the basis of their general comprehension skills but that their superiority in the 3rd process would be based on specific characteristics of the interaction between the reader and the text. The results support our hypotheses. In the 2nd experiment, we hypothesized that monitoring the decision to search would be equivalent to judgments of learning (JOLs). Eighth graders made JOLs before answering every question, and then they decided whether to search the text. Our hypothesis was confirmed. Our study reveals that task-oriented reading places specific demands on readers related to metacognitive monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inferential questioning: Effects on comprehension of narrative texts as a function of grade and timing.

In this study, we investigated the effects of inferential questioning, and of the timing of such questioning, on narrative comprehension by 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade students and college students. Students received questions either during or after reading simple narrative texts. Control groups read the texts without questions. Questioning, particularly during reading, interfered with the youngest students' recall both of text information in general and of information specifically targeted by the questions. Questioning facilitated college students' memory but only for information specifically targeted by the questions and only when questioning occurred during reading. As reading and language skills become more proficient and automatic, inferential questioning increasingly directs readers' attention during reading to the information targeted by the questions. In addition, inferential questioning challenges the processing capacities of younger or less skilled readers and, hence, may interfere with comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of reading purpose on inference generation and comprehension in reading.

There are variations in the extent to which particular types of inferences or activations are made during reading (G. McKoon & R. Ratcliff, 1992; M. Singer, 1994). In this study, the authors investigated the influence of reading purpose (for entertainment or study) on inference generation. Participants read 2 texts aloud and 2 texts for comprehension measures. Reading purpose did not influence off-line behavior (comprehension) but did influence on-line reader behavior (thinking aloud). Readers with a study purpose more often repeated the text, acknowledged a lack of background knowledge, and evaluated the text content and writing than did readers with an entertainment purpose. This pattern was stronger for the expository text than for the narrative text. Reading purpose, and possibly text type, affects the kinds of inferences that readers generate. Hence, inferential activities are at least partially under the reader's strategic control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing students' metacognitive awareness of reading strategies.

This article describes the development and validation of a new self-report instrument, the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory, which is designed to assess adolescent and adult readers' metacognitive awareness and perceived use of reading strategies while reading academic or school-related materials. There were 3 strategy subscales or factors: Global Reading Strategies, Problem-Solving Strategies, and Support Reading Strategies. The reliability and factorial validity of the scale were demonstrated. After a brief review of the literature, the development and validation of the instrument are described, and its psychometric properties are discussed. In addition, directions for administering and scoring the instrument are provided, and suggestions for interpreting the results obtained are offered. Finally, the scales' implications for reading research and instruction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading voices and hearing text: Talker-specific auditory imagery in reading.

A series of experiments was conducted to determine if linguistic representations accessed during reading include auditory imagery for characteristics of a talker's voice. In 3 experiments, participants were familiarized with two talkers during a brief prerecorded conversation. One talker spoke at a fast speaking rate, and one spoke at a slow speaking rate. Each talker was identified by name. At test, participants were asked to either read aloud (Experiment 1) or silently (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) a passage that they were told was written by either the fast or the slow talker. Reading times, both silent and aloud, were significantly slower when participants thought they were reading a passage written by the slow talker than when reading a passage written by the fast talker. Reading times differed as a function of passage author more for difficult than for easy texts, and individual differences in general auditory imagery ability were related to reading times. These results suggest that readers engage in a type of auditory imagery while reading that preserves the perceptual details of an author's voice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluent rereading: Repetition, automaticity, and discrepancy.

Six experiments examined readers' sensitivity to discrepancies introduced into familiar texts. Across 4 or 5 trials, Ss crossed out misspellings as they read. Reading times decreased across repeated readings, and even though misspellings differed on every reading, their detection remained constant or improved across readings. Thus, reading became fluent but remained accurate across experiences. On the final reading, small discrepancies were unexpectedly introduced into the familiar texts. Results showed clear sensitivity to discrepancies in visual features (Exps 1, 2, and 5) and in lexical and semantic characteristics (Exps 3, 4, and 6) of familiar texts. Exps 5 and 6 showed that this sensitivity was on-line, occurring in the interval in which the discrepancy was encountered. The findings are discussed in terms of episodic transfer across repetitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's elicited imitations of controlled and rewritten reading texts.

Elicited imitation was used to investigate suspected conflicts between the controlled language of beginning reading texts and the natural linguistic expectations of young children. Two stories from basal readers were presented orally, in either the controlled original versions or more natural rewritten versions, for 26 first graders to imitate, one segment at a time, in a between-groups design. Children who heard the rewritten versions received significantly higher ratings on reproduction of content in their imitations. The imitations from both groups were also analyzed with respect to reproduction of specific linguistic features on which the original and rewritten versions differed. These analyses showed that, consistent with the rewriting, children were significantly more inclined to delete unmotivated repetitions than to add them, and to consolidate or conjoin simple sentences than to break up more complex ones. Additional data on story recall and on responses to comprehension questions provide further support for the conclusion that the unnatural language used in controlled reading texts contribute to the difficulties young children have in reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's metacognitive knowledge about reading.

Children's metacognitive awareness of variables that influence reading was assessed in an interview study. 20 2nd and 20 6th graders answered questions about the effects of personal abilities, task parameters, and cognitive strategies involved in reading. Although 2nd graders were aware of the influence of some reading dimensions such as interest, familiarity, and length, they were less sensitive to the semantic structure of paragraphs, goals of reading, and strategies for resolving comprehension failures than 6th graders. Age-related differences in metacognitive knowledge may be correlated with the acquisition of efficient memory, problem-solving, and reading skills. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working memory and aphasia

This study investigated the relationship between working memory capacity and reading comprehension in aphasia. A measurement of working memory capacity was obtained using a modified version of Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) Reading Span Task. Sets of sentences ranging in length from one to six words were presented to 22 aphasic subjects who were required to retain the terminal words following each sentence for subsequent recognition. The maximum number of words retrieved was used as an index of working memory capacity. Two versions of the task (listening and reading) were presented depending on the subjects' ability to read. Strong positive correlations were found between working memory capacity, reading comprehension, and language function. These results support the notion that the ability of aphasic individuals to comprehend language is predictable from their working memory capacities.     

Metacognitive regulation of text learning: On screen versus on paper.

Despite immense technological advances, learners still prefer studying text from printed hardcopy rather than from computer screens. Subjective and objective differences between on-screen and on-paper learning were examined in terms of a set of cognitive and metacognitive components, comprising a Metacognitive Learning Regulation Profile (MLRP) for each study media. Participants studied expository texts of 1000–1200 words in one of the two media and for each text they provided metacognitive prediction-of-performance judgments with respect to a subsequent multiple-choice test. Under fixed study time (Experiment 1), test performance did not differ between the two media, but when study time was self-regulated (Experiment 2) worse performance was observed on screen than on paper. The results suggest that the primary differences between the two study media are not cognitive but rather metacognitive—less accurate prediction of performance and more erratic study-time regulation on screen than on paper. More generally, this study highlights the contribution of metacognitive regulatory processes to learning and demonstrates the potential of the MLRP methodology for revealing the source of subjective and objective differences in study performance among study conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes as predictors of word recognition and reading comprehension in learning-disabled and skilled readers: Revisiting the specificity hypothesis.

Examines how cognitive processes interrelate as well as predict learning-disabled (LD) readers' word recognition and reading comprehension performance. Correlations between phonological, orthographic, semantic, metacognitive, and working memory measures with reading performance were examined in LD and skilled readers (aged 8–12 yrs). LD Ss were deficient on all cognitive processes compared with skilled Ss, but these differences do not reflect IQ scores. Reading ability group differences emerged on a component composed primarily of working memory measures (referred to as "g") as well as unique components, suggesting that these differences emerge on both general and specific (modular) processes. G best predicts reading comprehension for both groups, and phonological awareness best predicts skilled Ss' pseudoword reading, whereas g best predicts LD Ss' pseudoword performance. Overall, LD Ss' information processing difficulties were described within a general working memory model that views such children as having difficulty accessing and coordinating both general and specific processes. Results suggest that the cognitive processes that contribute to reading deficits are best understood in the context of their combination with other operations rather than in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning Facts From Fiction: Effects of Healthy Aging and Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.

Healthy younger and older adults and individuals with very mild or mild dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) listened to and read fictional stories containing correct and incorrect facts about the world. Of interest was their use of this story information to answer questions on a later test of general world knowledge. Prior exposure to relatively well-known facts boosted all subjects' ability to correctly answer general knowledge questions. Reading incorrect facts in the stories led to misinformation effects in healthy older adults (although these effects were smaller than those observed in younger adults). DAT individuals showed reduced effects of story exposure; effects were greatest in a situation that reminded DAT individuals that the stories might provide the answers to the questions. Benefits of story reading depended on activation of the semantic network, whereas costs of story reading were more dependent on episodic memory processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transition rooms: Promoting maturation or reducing education?

Investigated the impact of assigning poor-prognosis 1st graders to separate transition rooms and contrasted it with giving similar children (transition eligible) regular instruction in an integrated setting. Also examined was the effectiveness of an individualized reading program (New Reading System; NRS) in teaching low-performance students beginning reading. Results of a study with 76 1st graders selected from 4 urban elementary schools indicate that low-performance students learned beginning reading better in regular instructional settings and under the NRS program. These results may be due to 2 factors: (a) Individualization provided teachers with tools for teaching heterogeneous students. (b) Students in regular settings received substantially more reading instruction. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Location and stability of a newly established eccentric retinal locus suitable for reading, achieved through training of patients with a dense central scotoma

Six patients, median age 71 years, with a dense central scotoma in one eye and a median visual acuity of 0.06 (20/330) in the same eye, were all (100%) shown by means of fundus photography including a fixation target to preferably use an unfavorable retinal locus for fixation, i.e., within the lesion (scotoma). None of the patients was able to read novel text with the affected eye. A computer and video display system were used to determine the most suitable area above or below the visual field scotoma (below or above the retinal lesion) for reading and the magnification needed at this eccentricity. The same setup was also used for an introductory training in reading single words as well as scrolled text with the aim of establishing a preferred retinal locus (PRL) at a favorable, eccentric position, the trained retinal locus (TRL). Thereafter, the patients were provided with strong positive lenses (median power, 40 D) for reading printed text at a very short reading distance (median, 2.5 cm), first single words, above and below which help lines were printed to facilitate eccentric fixation, and finally, novel text. The total training time was 4 to 5 h. Thereafter, fundus photography showed that five of the patients (83%) used their TRL as their PRL. Reading speed was 71 words per minute (median). Our results seem to indicate that an eccentric PRL favorable for effective reading can be established through training and that a fairly low number of training sessions is required.     

Prior knowledge activation: Inducing engagement with informational texts.

Failure to engage with informational texts is a problem frequently noted at the high school level, at which students are expected to read independently. As a means of addressing this issue, a prior knowledge activation strategy (PKA) was taught to ninth-grade students in which they were encouraged to make spontaneous connections between their personal knowledge and informational texts. Students who learned to use the PKA strategy consistently outperformed students in a main idea (MI) treatment group and those in a no-instruction control group on application-level comprehension questions but not literal-level questions. A second study replicated the operations of the first study, with the addition of an MI-PKA treatment designed to combine both strategies. Both the PKA and the MI-PKA combination groups performed higher on application-level comprehension questions and demonstrated more positive attitudes toward reading than the other groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advance organizers that compensate for the organization of text.

In Exp I, 56 college students with no computer experience read a 24-frame text on computer programing that was presented in logical or random order. For random organization, Ss given an advance organizer performed better on a posttest than controls, but the opposite pattern obtained for logical organization. In Exp II, 96 students read a 4-paragraph text concerning imaginary countries that was presented in name or attribute organization. Low-ability (determined by questionnaire data on academic background and test scores) Ss given an organizer prior to reading performed better on questions that required integrating across different paragraphs of the presented text, and Ss given the organizer after reading performed relatively better on questions concerning information they had read within the same paragraph. Apparently, advance organizers served as an assimilative context for unfamiliar organizations. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructing with analogies.

Discusses 3 functions (a concretizing function, a structurizing function, and an active assimilation function) that might explain why analogies are effective in learning. Six experiments are reported that attempt to answer the following questions: (a) Does the addition of concrete analogies lead to improved performance in Ss of different ages? (b) Does this lead to longer reading times? (c) What are the effects under restrictive time conditions? (d) Are there aptitude-by-treatment interactions? (e) Why are analogies effective reading aids? These experiments used a total of 374 Ss (aged 10–27 yrs) from elementary and secondary schools, and 179 college students studying science, biology, developmental psychology, and computer programming. Results show that analogies are effective reading aids; however, there are doubts as to their efficiency because they are effective only when there is enough time available. Yet some findings indicate that performance gains outweigh time costs. Some support was found for all 3 of the functions. On the basis of results, it is proposed that more analogies should be added to texts and oral lessons, but it should be done in such a way that students are free to decide whether or not they wish to use them. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interspersed postpassage questions and reading comprehension achievement.

Examined the effect of interspersed postpassage questions on reading comprehension of 54 2nd graders classified as having top, middle, or lower 3rd entering reading level. Ss were either instructed in the use of questions or taught reading in a regular fashion. Results from the Reading Comprehension subtest of the SRA Achievement Series show that although questioning instruction had little effect on the above average readers, both normal and below average readers made significant gains in comprehension when instructed in the use of postpassage questions. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confidence judgments in children's and adult's event recall and suggestibility.

The present work investigated the role of children's and adults' metacognitive monitoring and control processes for unbiased event recall tasks and for suggestibility. Three studies were conducted in which children and adults indicated their degree of confidence that their answers were correct after (Study 1) and before (Study 2) answering either unbiased or misleading questions or (Study 3) forced-choice recognition questions. There was a strong tendency for overestimation of confidence regardless of age and question format. However, children did not lack the principal metacognitive competencies when these questions were asked in a neutral interview. Under misleading questioning, in contrast, children's monitoring skills were seriously impaired. Within each age group, better metacognitive differentiation was positively associated with recall accuracy in the suggestive interview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)