Examines the effects of 2 levels of prior knowledge and 2 types of text structure on the recall and question performance of 90 fifth graders who were average readers. Finds that prior knowledge has a greater effect on question performance than on recall performance and that it only enhances the recall of one section of the text information. (MG)

Examines the effects of prior topic knowledge and vocabulary knowledge on tenth graders' recall of different aspects of passage content in a magazine article about a baseball ceremony. Finds that domain knowledge and vocabulary have independent effects on comprehension and that these effects are on what is comprehended as well as how much is…

Develops a text-specific prior knowledge measure that predicts the likelihood of a student's success in recalling the content of a reading passage. (HOD)

Describes two experiments that were conducted to determine the relative influence of text data and prior knowledge on the kinds of inferences children make when answering questions about stories. (HOD)

Results of this investigation indicate that the possession of high prior knowledge concerning the topic read greatly aided comprehension of that topic. (HOD)

Examines the relative importance of vocabulary difficulty and prior knowledge on comprehension of narrative passages. Finds that knowledge-based preinstruction can significantly improve comprehension of a text dealing with an unfamiliar topic, but cannot compensate for difficult text vocabulary. (RS)

Examines the effects of prior knowledge and oral reading accuracy on miscues and comprehension of third-grade average readers who read expository passages orally. Finds that children with high prior knowledge made fewer miscues which resulted in meaning loss, and that their miscues were graphically less similar to the text word. (MM)

Examines proficient and less proficient high school comprehenders' use of strategies as they read three passages with different top-level structures: collection, causation, and comparison. Finds that both groups of readers use similar strategies. Finds that proficient comprehenders use more previous knowledge on the collection passage and more…

Reports on a study that was designed to determine the differential holes that three variables--accessing word meaning, integrating prior knowledge, and using text structure to organize ideas--play, not only in comprehension, but also in metacomprehension. (HOD)

Concludes that sixth-grade students taught with methods that used a structured overview to activate background knowledge, the cloze procedure to develop an inferential thinking strategy, and a self-monitoring checklist to maintain the strategy increased their inferential comprehension skills as measured by both immediate and delayed transfer…

Examines the effects of a 10-week program designed to heighten fifth- and eighth-grade students' awareness of information explicitly stated in text, implied by text, and found only in the individual's knowledge base. (FL)

Examines the influence of prior knowledge and text genre on prediction strategies of eleventh grade and graduate student readers. Finds that readers' prior knowledge may significantly influence the nature of readers' prediction strategies. Uses qualitative analysis of verbal report data to examine variation in types of prediction strategies.…

Investigates the effects of verbal and pictorial advance organizers on science text comprehension of children with high or low prior knowledge. Finds that verbal advance organizers assist text comprehension of children with strong prior knowledge, while the addition of a pictorial component aids comprehension of children with weak prior knowledge.…

Challenges the widely endorsed practice of activating relevant knowledge prior to reading. Outlines a perspectival (perspective-relative) view of reading and suggests that this view provides a means to make coherent sense of interpretations. Concludes that having specific knowledge is not the main desideratum in interpreting texts--the main…