Reading as a generative process.

From a model of learning as a generative process, it was hypothesized that familiar stories, in contrast to unfamiliar stories, facilitate the learners' generation of meaning for low-frequency, undefined words. In 3 experiments, 468 6th graders were randomly assigned to across-S treatments which applied the hypothesis. Across 3 levels of reading ability (determined by Science Research Associates Reading Placement and Listening Skills Tests), 4 elementary schools, and 2 modes of presentation, the hypothesis was supported (p     

Generative processes in reading comprehension.

In M. C. Wittrock's (1974) generative model of learning with understanding, reading comprehension occurs when readers actively construct meaning for text. Two experiments were conducted with a total of 488 6th graders, in which time to learn was held constant across all treatments. It was predicted and found that the facilitation of generative processes by the insertion of paragraph headings and instructions to generate sentences about story paragraphs during encoding produced the greatest comprehension, followed in turn by instructions to generate sentences, the insertion of paragraph headings, and then by reading the same stories without generative instructions or paragraph headings. The combination of inserted paragraph headings and instructions to generate sentences about paragraphs approximately doubled comprehension and recall in each experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)