Reports on a test conducted to compare students' critical and evaluative reading abilities in their native language with their abilities for the same reading skills in the target language. A statistically significant correlation was found. The test results and suggestions for its improvement are given. (PJM)

Methods developed by Rothkopf; McConkie, Rayner and Wilson; McGaw and Grotelueschen; DiVesta and Rickards to assess prose processes produced by adjunct postquestions are reviewed. The processes are: specific backward; general backward; specific forward; and general forward. (MH)

Two experiments examined the role of presupposed (or old) and focal (or new) information in integrating sentences, by measuring comprehension time for various combinations of presupposed and focal information. (Author/AM)

Two experiments examined the kinds of questions asked by male and female undergraduates identified as relatively creative and relatively noncreative. (CM)

Sixteen four year olds and 16 six year olds were shown four picture stories consisting of 15 to 18 pictures without text, in order to examine children's comprehension and memory for stories. (MP)

Presents an overview of introspective approaches to gaining insight into cognitive processing behavior and traces their application in classical psychology, cognitive psychology, second language learning, and reading. Considers the implications of these approaches for the study of the reading process. Posits criteria for designing process-oriented…

Compares direct, explicit teaching of reading comprehension and current metaphor theory with the traditional approach to metaphor instruction found in basal readers. Finds statistically significant differences in favor of direct instruction of metaphor. (RS)

This study, with 19 fifth graders having learning disabilities (LD) and 20 fifth graders without LD, examined cognitive and motivational variables. Although some differences between groups were found, differences in the motivational and cognitive variables generally cut across a priori categories of children with and without LD, forming three…

Reports findings from three experiments designed to show how readers inferred spatial information relevant to a story character's movements through a previously memorized layout of a fictional building. Examines how inference measures are related to spatial imagery. (HB)

A cued recall study and a semantic verification study with individuals with mental retardation (n=93) found that increasing the degree to which the words in sentences were semantically related increased subjects' ability to utilize contextual information in sentences to essentially normal levels. (Author/DB)

Examined children's monitoring of TV programs for visual content and processing of program content through language. Narration enhanced visual attention and comprehension. Auditory comprehension did not depend on looking. Auditory attention did not differ with the presence or absence of narration. (BC)

Two experiments with 188 college students investigated the facilitative effect of typographical signals such as underlining, headings, or other devices to help readers identify specific points. Results do not support a general facilitative effect of typographical signals but suggest that use of signals depends on the reader's strategic processing.…

Proposes a model of the reader's understanding of simple narrative texts, such as fables. Tests this model by using point generation and fable comprehension data from adult subjects. Identifies three components needed for understanding a fable's moral. Argues that data support the theory propounded. (HB)

Some of the cognitive and affective factors influencing second language reading comprehension are reviewed, and an instructional technique designed to both guide the reading process and develop comprehension at several levels is described. Teachers are urged to develop process-oriented reading comprehension activities in collaboration with…

The eight articles and two commentaries of this theme issue indicate the main lines of thinking represented at a symposium on the comprehension of graphics in text. The common assumption is that graphics per se do not have a direct effect on learning results but are effective only when processed adequately. (SLD)