Discusses the extent to which computers can understand natural language. Considers assertions that computers can be described as literate, and considers more generally the purpose of designing machines which perform like humans. (RS)

Eleven tests of reading comprehension, language skills, and cognitive processes were administered to 20 high school readers with learning disabilities and 20 controls. The variance on nonverbal tests was greater for the group with LD than for the controls; some individuals with learning disabilities performed as well as the controls. (Author/DB)

Outlines a cognitive process model of abstracting, indexing, and classification that is based on text comprehension processes. Text comprehension for indexing versus other purposes is discussed, including conceptual and perceptual processing; conceptual knowledge and the development of expertise are discussed; and characteristics of short-term and…

Examined articulation and interarticulation (pause) times on Rapid Automatized Naming Tests for first- and second-graders. Found that pause and articulation times for RAN letters and objects were not reliably related, compared to RAN numbers articulation and pause durations. Subtest pause durations were differentially related to reading. RAN…

Students participated in a study (n = 98) investigating the effectiveness of three types of annotations on three learning outcome measures. The annotations were designed to support the cognitive processes in the comprehension of scientific texts, with a function to aid either the process of selecting relevant information, organizing the…

Background: Self-report inventories trying to measure strategic processing at a global level have been much used in both basic and applied research. However, the validity of global strategy scores is open to question because such inventories assess strategy perceptions outside the context of specific task performance. Aims: The primary aim was to…

A study explored an application of rauding theory to the developmental components that contribute to elementary-age children's reading comprehension. The relationships among cognitive power, auditory accuracy level, pronunciation (word recognition) level, rauding (comprehension) accuracy level, rauding rate (reading rate) level, and rauding…

This study investigated the role of executive function in children with attention deficit disorders (ADD) by comparing differences resulting when diagnostic measures of reading comprehension consisting of either short or long passages were used. Subjects (all in grades 1-12) were grouped as having an attention deficit disorder (ADD) and not taking…

Designed to interpret comprehension recalls in terms of textual information and cognitive processes used, this instrument outlines four stages for interpretive recalls, based on the premise that recall of a text results from receptive and productive processes. Stage 1 specifies which information is pertinent for analysis; stage 2 discusses the…

An experiment is reported which permitted the separate examination of sentence comprehension processes and subsequent sentence memory processes. The similarity between the results of comprehension and recall was discussed in terms of a retrieval process that may be similar in both tasks. (Author/RM)

College students differing in verbal ability read and evaluated their comprehension of expository passages. Three different types of problems were embedded within the passages to provide opportunities for students to reveal the use of different standards of evaluation. Half of the subjects were informed that they should use three particular…

In the context of the currently developing theory of procedural knowledge and cognitive skill, the task of learning procedures from written instructions must involve the formation of production rules from the information available in the text. Since this process has not been explored in great depth, a study examined the relation of the production…

To gain a greater understanding about how people comprehend a set of directions, a macro-level research approach is needed. Researchers must first decide on the domain of activity that is to be investigated. In our society instructions are used for building things from parts, disassembling things, determining the functional characteristics of…

A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of priming, using the first of several metaphors with common ground (the relationship or similar characteristics between the subject of a metaphor and the term used metaphorically) to facilitate comprehension of successive related metaphors. Ten groups of three to five metaphors with common…

Three studies were conducted in an attempt to replicate previous research concluding that semantic meaning is accessed in the absence of conscious awareness. A pattern mask was used to interrupt the processing of stimulus words after 30 milliseconds; at this duration subjects were not able to identify the stimulus words or even to determine…