To assess the effects of textual variation on students' preferred patterns of literary response, 166 college students were asked to read two poems and two short stories. The findings provided support for the notion that students' preferred patterns of response are strongly influenced by the nature of the texts they read. (HOD)

Attempts to verify or identify a valid operational definition of literary response by determining its constituents through the use of a refined version of the Response Preference Measure. (HOD)

Examines the use of the repertory grid technique to describe student responses to the poem "Frost at Midnight" by Coleridge. (HOD)

Explores the role of interpersonal cognitive complexity in the character impressions, story comprehension, response preferences, and literary attitudes of eleventh grade students. Results suggest that interpersonal cognitive complexity predisposes readers toward complex perceptions of literary characters. (HOD)