In this article, I suggest that, when readers speak about reading, the language they use is closely related to the modes and movements of speech employed by the dreamer recounting their dream. With reference to the psychoanalytic formulations of unconscious desire and transferential attachment, this article--with its focus on…

A widespread theoretical assumption is that many processes involved in text comprehension are automatic, with automaticity typically defined in terms of properties (e.g., speed, effort). In contrast, the authors advocate for conceptualization of automaticity in terms of underlying cognitive mechanisms and evaluate one prominent account, the…

The debate over the extent to which individual letters are perceived by proficient readers continues to play a dominant role in the ongoing "reading wars." One view holds that virtually all letters are processed, the other view that only some letters are perceived, supplemented by context and background knowledge. There is little research,…

In this article, we articulate the critical differences between memory-based processing and explanation-based processing. We suggest that the most important claim of memory-based text processing is that the automatic processes that function with respect to text processing are all applications of ordinary memory processes. This claim contrasts with…

Investigates the effects of breakdowns in referential and factual coherence on text comprehension and reveals that the processing of factually inconsistent information hindered other information in passages. (FL)

According to current psychological models of deduction, people can draw inferences on the basis of information that they receive from different sources at different times. In 3 reading-comprehension experiments, the authors demonstrated that premises that appear far apart in a text (distant) are not accessed and are therefore not used as a basis…

A series of studies investigated the manner in which information is utilized during fixations in continuous reading. Utilization refers to visual information being processed to further the comprehension of the text being read, in contrast to registration, which refers to visual information simply being available to the brain. The studies…

Fifty-six field-dependent and 55 field-independent students in grades 6 through 8 were assessed on reading comprehension tasks varying in memory load and cognitive restructuring requirements. Field-independent readers outperformed field-dependent readers on tasks with high memory demands and requirements for efficient restructuring. (SLD)

The Research Institute for the Study of Learning Disabilities, established at Teachers College, Columbia University, was guided by the postulation that academic failure experienced by learning-disabled children results from interaction between the way they process information and the information processing demands of the instructional methods…