College students with either high or low prior domain knowledge (PK) read a text chapter presented in short pages on a computer monitor. Half of the participants read with headings present and half with headings absent. The computer recorded time spent reading and rereading each short page. Learning was assessed through a structured recall task.…

Seeks to identify difference between six proficient and less proficient college freshmen in their use of personal evocations and reflections in the reading transaction. Finds that, although proficient readers integrate textual cues and prior knowledge in a process of reflecting about stories and characters, less proficient readers seem to approach…

Psycholinguistics, with its emphasis on language processes rather than products, is particularly compelling when applied to the search for underlying connections between reading and writing. One such connection is best stated in the following propositions about writing and learning to write: (1) at no time are the acts of reading and writing as…

Examines how readers overcome their misconceptions about the principles of motion. Finds that students overcome misconceptions when their prior knowledge is activated, regardless of whether they read text that supports or refutes those misconceptions. Finds that students using several processing strategies have an advantage over students using…

Based on an extensive review of literature on the depth of comprehension approach, a study was conducted to induce various degrees of depth of processing at the semantic inferential level through orientation tasks. It was hypothesized that the most superficial reading would occur for "error correction" and the deepest reading would be done for…

A study investigated the effects of text processing orientations and reader-generated versus text-based comprehension aids on readers' comprehension of expository text. The processing orientations included memory-oriented processing, organization-oriented processing, understanding-oriented processing, and a read and study control. Subjects, 136…

Examines the processing order between the comprehension of a text and the use of comprehended ideas for such thinking tasks as comparing, evaluating, and problem solving. Finds that readers with limited background knowledge read in a more linear fashion than those with extensive background, who read in a parallel manner. (RS)

Examined whether activating conditional knowledge about appropriate strategies for studying a text would enhance self-efficacy and comprehension monitoring in college students. Found that subjects in the activation condition outperformed those in the control condition on reading comprehension monitoring and on comprehension performance but not on…

Examines the possibility that readers' attitudes toward a topic might color their perception and recall of factual information about that topic presented in expository text. Finds no significant differences among readers with opposing attitudes to the topic in either free recall or multiple-choice test performance. (RS)

A study explored the effects of both prior knowledge of acronyms and their form of presentation (cued or uncued) on reader recognition of acronym meaning. Among the hypotheses tested were that (1) a reader presented with an acronym ranked as familiar is more likely to recognize that acronym than one ranked unfamiliar, and (2) that a reader…

Using computer controlled text presentation that permitted the measurement of reading time for individual sentences, a study tested two hypotheses concerning how schemata guide reading comprehension. The focusing hypothesis suggested that the schemata activated by the reader's perspective might identify relevant information to which additional…

Summarizes good reading research published in journals during 1986, focusing on studies that deal with reading comprehension, prior learning, and word recognition. (SRT)

Describes research done to determine whether there is a statistical relationship between an English as a second language learner's ability to determine a word's morphemes or structural units and his/her ability to comprehend written English text. (SED)

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.…

Intended for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in reading methods, as well as by classroom teachers, this book brings together teaching strategies and materials suggested by recent developments in the study of reading comprehension. Each of the eight chapters includes the background and rationale for the practices described. The first…