Examines the effect of graphic, phonological, and graphic-and-phonological information on Chinese character identification by 22 Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese graduate students. Finds that graphic information plays an essential role in Chinese character identification, while phonological information does not enhance the accuracy of identification.…

Determines whether mental imagery could be used as a metacognitive reading comprehension strategy by deaf elementary-level children. Finds that when encouraged to engage in mental imagery, students exhibited four qualities of thinking (recollection, representation, inference, and evaluation) during and after reading that revealed how they were…

Describes a hierarchy intended to interpret and promote students' aesthetic responses to literature. Finds that students in grades 7 through 10, in contrast to younger readers, have moved into reflective thinking and evaluation. (SR)

Examines the impact of macro-based (author-generated schematic maps of text content), micro-based (connectives and anaphoric relations), and combined macro- and micro-based strategies on new text learning. Finds that the benefits of a combined macro-micro strategies approach were not realized but that the macro strategy given alone appeared to…

Notes that the Matthew effect (positing that the gap between good and poor readers widens over time) is widely accepted as a description of the developmental course of reading ability. Analyzes data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study. Finds evidence for a small Matthew effect for IQ but no evidence to support the Matthew effect for reading…

Reviews studies that have explicitly investigated the "seductive detail" effect (in which a reader's attention is diverted toward the interesting but unimportant seductive details and away from the uninteresting but important main ideas). Concludes that these studies do not provide convincing evidence for the existence of the effect.…

Argues that an article by E. Goetz and M. Sadoski in the same issue of this journal is not only inaccurate in its criticisms but is inconsistent in its claims relevant to the research on the memorability of highly interesting but unimportant textual content, also known as "seductive details." (RS)

Replies to another article in the same issue of this journal concerning research on "seductive details" (in which a reader's attention is diverted toward the interesting but unimportant seductive details and away from the uninteresting but important main ideas). Reasserts that there is insufficient evidence to convict seductive details…

Challenges many of the specific ideas and actions discussed in J. Myers's "The Social Contexts of School and Personal Literacy," published in this journal (volume 27, pages 297-333). Argues that the investigator appeared to be the sole source through all analyses, many assumptions were either internally of externally inconsistent, and the effects…

Responds to T. Anderson and C. West's article in the same issue (which criticized the methodological foundations of an earlier article by the current author). Discusses epistemological assumptions of the Anderson and West article. Addresses the nature of meaning and interpretation. Discusses Anderson and West's deterministic assumptions. (RS)

Measures reading rate and comprehension of 39 managers. Shows that both increased after a one-week training program to improve reading speed. (SR)

Presents the third part of a six-part series in which the authors respond to a ninth grader's first impressions of "Reel One," a poem by Adrien Stoutenburg. Urges readers to participate by reading the student's impressions and reflecting on the student's interpretations. (MM)

Examines the impact of shared reading experiences with predictable books on 24 inner-city African-American first graders' attitudes toward reading. Finds no significant differences in reading attitudes after eight weeks of intervention. (RS)

Investigates the effect of directed discussion of character perspectives on children's ability to respond in terms of the perspectives of major characters. Finds that sixth graders involved in such discussion received higher ratings for their responses to stories than fourth and fifth graders in the experimental group and sixth graders in the…

Determines, for reading specialists in general and for reading specialists in the federally funded Chapter 1 program specifically, (1) their professional training; (2) their actual responses as compared to their perceived "ideal" responsibilities; and (3) their topic preferences for in-service education offerings. (RS)