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)     

Activation of semantic and phonological codes during reading.

Examined coding processes involved in reading connected text in 3 experiments with 54 Ss who read text passages and occasionally responded to lexical-decision probes. Exp I focused on semantic and surface codes. Results suggest that the activation of semantic codes increased over time, whereas surface codes did not. In addition, Ss who were instructed to remember the exact wording of the passages showed stronger activation of surface codes than did Ss who read for comprehension. Exps II and III explored the role of phonological codes in reading. Results from Exp II indicate that phonological codes were activated by specific words in a passage; however, Exp III results fail to demonstrate that phonological codes were activated by the more general passage context. Combined results suggest that reading involves several coding systems that are activated according to time and reading instruction constraints. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specifying the nature of reading ability differences and advance organizer effects.

Examined the nature of individual differences and the role of advance information in reading comprehension in 3 experiments using 226 undergraduates. Ss read short passages, in some cases preceded by a given type of advance organizer, then recalled the information therein, and finally sorted ideas from the passage into groups of similar ideas. Parameter estimates for the W. Kintsch and T. van Dijk (see record 1979-22783-001) model, together with a derived measure for the idea-sorting task, showed that good readers were better at recalling propositions and organizing ideas than poorer readers. When the effects of different types of advance organizers were considered, good readers usually showed greater recall of detail when given either type of advance organizer, whereas poorer readers displayed enhanced recall of detail only for a particular type of advance organizer. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of different types of organizers on students' learning from text.

Prior to reading a text about computer crime and prevention, eighth graders read one of four types of operationally defined organizers: concept, analogy, outline, or dummy. While reading the text, students matched paragraphs of the text to numbered sections in the organizer, leaving a trace that was scored to reflect their actual use of the organizer while reading the text. Multiple regression analyses of multiple-choice and short answer achievement measures showed no main effects of type of organizer. However, students in true advance organizer groups (concept and analogy) who were able to use the organizers effectively, as indicated by higher trace scores, outperformed students in the outline and dummy groups. Analysis of trace scores revealed that students had difficulty connecting information in the concept and analogy organizers to the text. These findings indicate that simply presenting a genuine advance organizer does not guarantee that students will use it effectively. However, when students did use an advance organizer effectively, achievement increased slightly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading and generating normal and transformed sentences.

Three experiments (108 undergraduates) examined the relative contributions made in skilled and unskilled processing by data driven and conceptually driven processes. In Exp I, Ss recalled nouns and complete sentences after having read and generated meaningful and anomalous sentences. Generated and transformed sentences were better recalled than normal sentences if they were meaningful, but not if they were anomalous. Exp II used the same sentences as Exp I, except they were displayed in 3 typographies: normal orientation, mirror transformed, or rotated 180°. Results show that reading the transformed typography increased semantic interword organization. In Exp III, Ss had to generate sentences and read transformed typography. Results duplicate those in Exps I and II. It is concluded that a decrease in the efficiency of data driven processing causes an increase in semantic interword organization. (French abstract) (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctiveness of encoding: The effects of paraphrasing and drawing inferences on memory from prose.

Examined in 2 experiments with 236 undergraduates the possibility that readers would differentially recall passage material as a result of differing levels of processing during reading. It was hypothesized that as the level of reader schema–text base interaction increased Ss would generate greater numbers of idea units and logical intrusions. Exp I varied the schema–text base interaction through tasks designed to increase interaction of Ss' existing schemata with the text material. In Exp II, an additional factor of student compliance with the tasks was examined. Results support the hypotheses and indicate that what Ss remembered from reading passages was determined by the activities they engaged in during reading. Activities requiring a restatement of the semantic base of prose resulted in high rates of idea unit recall; activities requiring the formulation of logical extensions of prose resulted in higher rates of logical intrusions in free recall. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intact text-specific reading skill in amnesia.

Amnesic patients were studied to determine whether the acquisition and retention of item-specific skills can be supported by nondeclarative (implicit) memory. In Exp 1, Ss read 2 different passages 3 times in succession. Reading speed improved at a similar rate in both amnesic patients and normal Ss and was specific to the text that was read. In Exp 2, amnesic patients and normal Ss read a passage 3 successive times and then reread the same passage after a 0-sec, 10-min, 2-hr, or 1-day delay. In both groups, facilitation persisted for at least 10 min and disappeared within 2 hrs. It is suggested that facilitated reading speed depends importantly on both semantic and perceptual information and that such information can be supported by nondeclarative memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advance organizers: Retrieval context hypotheses.

In six experiments we examined issues related to the retrieval context set by rereading advance organizers before recall tests. In Experiments 1 and 2, rereading advance organizers before immediate testing had no effect on recall. We hypothesized that the results of Experiments 1 and 2 were due to testing recall too soon to allow for a "loss" of the initial encoding context. Consequently, in Experiments 3–5 we varied delays between encoding and retrieval from 24 hr to 2 weeks. The results of all three experiments indicated that rereading advance organizers before delayed recall greatly facilitated memory performance. In Experiment 6 we contrasted rereading an advance organizer before delayed testing with rereading a false organizer and rereading the first paragraph of the essay. The results revealed that only rereading the advance organizer had a significant effect on recall. The results are discussed in terms of advance organizer theory and a general perspective on encoding and retrieval contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading skill and memory scanning.

Four experiments using a total of 48 3rd–4th graders investigated differences between skilled and less skilled readers in the rate with which they scan memory. In each experiment, Ss read 1–3 unrelated statements, then answered a yes–no question pertaining to 1 of the statements. The primary result from Exps I and II, in which Ss read all material aloud, was that skilled readers answered questions approximately .6 sec faster than less skilled readers when reading time was partialed out. In Exp III, similar results were found for silent reading. In Exp IV, the difference in answering time found in Exps I–III was no longer significant when the scan component in answering was minimized. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of an organizer on memory for prose.

112 undergraduates read a literature text preceded by either a comparative advance organizer or a placebo introduction. Three hypotheses regarding the interactive effects of the organizer treatment and reasoning skills were tested: the assimilation, the schema plus correction, and the assimilation plus correction hypotheses. Findings favor the assimilation plus correction view, which holds that schema-implied text units are assimilated and obscured in the final text encoding, whereas ideas representing unexpected, schema-modifying information are enhanced. The dominant treatment effect was assimilatory loss of detail associated with implied information. Positive effects on schema-modifying information were observed for Ss with good reasoning skills, as assessed by the Diagramming Relationships and Inference Tests from the Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests. Possible explanantions for the results are discussed in terms of reconstructive views of recall, adaptive learning and changes in semantic memory representation, and perceived structural importance of target ideas. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of word imagery on reading performance as a function of reader ability.

Conducted 3 experiments on the effects of word imagery, length, and frequency on reading difficulty. Ss were 27 8-10 yr old poor readers in Exp I, 24 8-11 yr old good readers in Exp II, and 10 poor and 10 good readers (mean age 9 yrs 6 mo) in Exp III. High frequency words were found to be easier to read for both good and poor readers. High-imagery words were easier to read for poor readers only. Word length had little effect on reading difficulty for either good or poor readers. The differential effect of word imagery on reading difficulty for good and poor readers is interpreted in terms of the types of reading strategy used--phonics for good readers and whole word reading for poor readers. When children are forced to learn to read words by a whole word method, word imagery predicts ease of learning for both good and poor readers. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual specificity effects on word stem completion: Beyond transfer appropriate processing?

Explored the determinants of perceptual specificity effects (PSEs) in visual word-stem completion. 256 undergraduates participated in 4 experiments. In Exp 1, Ss completed a stem completion task after a number-search task in study-condition and -case phases. Ss were assessed for their awareness of the study-task relationship and compliance with instructions. In Exp 2, retrieval instructions and study task were manipulated within Ss and between 4 study-test blocks. Ss in Exp 3 completed study-test blocks with unintentional test instructions as in Exp 2. In Exp 4, retention interval, and study-task and -case were manipulated within the Ss. In Exp 1, PSEs on the stem completion task depended on perceptual encoding when Ss' awareness of the study-test relationship was limited. In Exps 2–4, these effects depended on semantic encoding. PSEs after short retention intervals were independent of encoding task. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The tongue-twister effect in reading Chinese.

Two studies demonstrate a visual tongue-twister effect (TTE) in Chinese and add support to the assumption that reading in any writing system engages a phonological memory system. Exp 1 showed that for both oral and silent reading, Ss took longer to read texts with repeated initial phonemes (IPs) than to read control stories with mixed IPs. Exp 2 verified the phonemic nature of the TTE in a dual task situation in which Ss had to retain a string of digits while reading a sentence. The results showed a specific-phoneme interference such that Ss took longer to read the texts when digits and words had the same IPs than when they had different phonemes. Both studies provide evidence that the source of the TTE in both Chinese and English is phonological interference rather than visual confusion. They confirm the highly general nature of phonological involvement in skilled sentence reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitation of learning and retention of oral instruction using advance and post organizers.

Gave 270 5th-, 6th-, and 7th-grade students oral instruction in social studies (multicultural content). In conjunction with the oral instruction, students were also randomly assigned to 1 of 5 organizer treatment conditions, including a control condition in which no organizer was presented. Treatment conditions consisted of either an advance or a post organizer presented visually or orally; the control condition involved no organizer, but augmented exposure to the oral instruction. Ss in each of these treatment conditions were tested on the oral instruction to measure learning; 2 wks later, Ss were again tested for retention. It is concluded that nonwritten cognitive organizers facilitated both the learning and the retention of oral instruction. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctiveness of encoding and recall of text materials.

Four text-recall experiments, involving 243 undergraduates, examined the distinctiveness-of-encoding hypothesis. Exp I investigated the comparative recall of distinctively (DE) vs nondistinctively (NDE) encoded summary sentences and revealed a significantly higher rate of recall for DE summary sentences and associated text material. Exp II combined an activity that required Ss to interact with the semantic base of the text with the DE operations employed in Exp I. Data indicate that each approach resulted in a greater level of recall than a control condition and that the combination of the 2 produced the highest overall recall. Exp III examined possible mechanisms by which semantic content associated with the summary sentences was encoded and recalled. The most facilitative arrangement of activities involved the physical presence of text materials at the time at which the operations on summary sentences took place. Exp IV investigated the role of inspection time and rereading on DE processes. Although controlled inspection time reduced the amount recalled compared with uncontrolled conditions, DE summary sentences still led to a significantly higher rate of recall than NDE sentences. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Writing from sources: A structure-mapping model.

Tested assumptions of a structure-mapping model of writing from sources based on D. Gentner's (see record 1984-14564-001) structure-mapping model of analogical reasoning. Ss read 2 passages organized either similarly or dissimilarly and presented in 1 of 2 orders. Ss then wrote a comparison–contrast essay about the passages. Results showed that Ss used the 1st passage as a base. This base influenced both the global and local structure of the essays. Results also showed that Ss reading similarly organized passages wrote essays with better organization but inferior linguistic quality as compared with Ss reading dissimilarly organized passages. Results suggest that this adaptation of Gentner's model is useful in conceptualizing how writers use multiple sources in some writing tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anaphoric inference during reading.

Examined whether antecedents are reactivated by anaphor, in 3 experiments with a total of 144 undergraduates, using additional control sentences and an alternative response time measure. Ss read a series of texts each containing a target item. Immediately after the last line of each text, the item was probed using a recognition task in Exp I and a naming task in Exp II. Ss were faster to respond to the item when the last line contained an anaphoric reference to it than when the last line referred to a different item from the text. Additional control conditions ensured that the effect was not due to semantic priming and that the probed item was not in working memory when the last line was encountered. Findings in Exp III, which compared reading and naming times when the last sentence continued the established topic with times when the last sentence changed the topic, suggest that previous evidence for reinstatement reflected interference from a change of topic in the last line rather than facilitation due to reinstatement of the probed item. It is suggested that the paradigm developed by G. McKoon and R. Ratcliff (see record 1981-24997-001) requires careful control of variables. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of word identification speed in skilled and less skilled beginning readers.

Three phases comprise the development of word reading skill: accuracy, automaticity, and speed. The 3rd phase is reached when components of the identification process (i.e., graphic, phonological, semantic) are unitized in memory for particular words. Attainment of this final phase was explored with 2 experiments. In Exp I with Ss from 1st-, 2nd-, and 4th-grade classes, skilled and less skilled readers identified familiar printed words, CVC nonwords, digits, and pictures. Attainment of unitized speeds to printed words was inferred if Ss identified words as rapidly as digits. This level was exhibited by skilled readers in all grades but by less skilled readers only in 4th grade. Unitized speed with CVCs was evident among 2nd- and 4th-grade skilled readers, but not among less skilled readers at any grade. In Exp II, 18 1st-grade and 19 2nd-grade poor readers practiced reading familiar words and CVCs. Practice boosted RTs to CVCs but not to words read accurately before training, and RTs to both remained slower than digit RTs, indicating that practice promotes the development of unitized speeds very slowly in less skilled readers. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of mental plans for following directions.

Outlined a general framework for understanding how people construct mental plans for carrying out written directions. In the framework, it is assumed that (a) a mental plan consists of a hierarchy of action schemas, (b) the hierarchy is constructed by beginning with the schema at the top level of the hierarchy, and (c) plan construction goes on concurrently with other reading processes. Predictions made on the basis of this framework were confirmed in 2 experiments involving undergraduates. In Exp I, Ss were timed while they read and carried out simple directions such as "Press button B while light X is on." Directions were read more quickly when they began with the action ("Press button B") than when they began with either the antecedent or the consequence of the action ("while light X is on"). In Exp II, this effect was reversed by changing Ss' prior knowledge of what they were supposed to do. A 3rd experiment showed that these results are specific to the task of reading and carrying out the directions; they did not occur when Ss recalled the sentences. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time urgency among coronary-prone individuals.

Investigated differences in impatience among Type A and B individuals. In Exp I, 22 undergraduate females were required to signal the passage of 1 min while engaged in a reading task. Results indicate that Type A Ss perceived time as passing significantly more quickly than Type B Ss. In Exp II, the relative work rates (completion of inventories) were assessed for 112 undergraduate Type A and B Ss. Type As worked significantly more quickly than Bs. Both experiments lend support to the hypothesis that Type As are more impatient or time urgent than are Type Bs. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)