Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of reader perspective on encoding, storage, and retrieval processes and how this effect differs as a function of cognitive style. In both experiments, subjects read a passage from one of two assigned perspectives (a burglar or a prospective home buyer) or from no assigned perspective. In the…

A study systematically examined the strategy differences between good and poor readers as they summarized what they had read. Subjects, 36 poor and 39 good eighth grade readers and 37 adults, completed tasks to measure their (1) awareness of the task demands involved in producing summaries, (2) ability to identify task important elements in a…

Author described a systematic procedure for diagnosing three sets of reading skills called the Informal Reading Inventory. From the diagnostic information developed from the IRI he provided a systematic overview to implement the systematic diagnosis. (Author/RK)

Two groups of 27 adult braille readers and one group of 10 large print readers (mean age 13 years) were given 2-week workshops to allow them to develop rapid reading skills. (Author)

Subjects read sets of active or passive sentences, and an active or passive question was asked about one. Errors were compared. Results suggest that surface form of a single sentence is retained; surface and deep structures are retained for two, and only deep structures of four and eight sentences. (CHK)

Investigated preschool children's understanding of temporal relationships in terms of their comprehension of sentences containing clauses linked by "before" and "after". Also evaluated was the relative importance of order of mention and main-subordinate relations strategies in children's interpretation of temporal order information. (Author/SDH)

When studying the question, Do primary students learn better through listening or reading?, the readability of the material used should be considered. (JH)

A method of training pupils to read for total comprehension by an analytical approach is proposed. Specific techniques are suggested. (RM)

The relationship between field dependence-independence (FDI) and the ability to read and comprehend printed text was examined in this study. The effect of the structure of instructional text on the learning process of individuals at various points on the continuum of FDI was also studied. The following hypotheses were developed: (1) there would be…

"Six Steps of Argument Analysis" is a model for a critical thinking class which illustrates where and how the teacher can break off from the well-ordered sequence of critical thinking skills in order to provide occasions for each student to realize where he or she is making a judgment. Through use of this model the teacher can encourage…

The major purpose of the present experiment was to assess the impact of student-generated and expert-generated knowledge maps on the effectiveness of post-organizer construction, initial acquisition, and transfer. Sixty students at the University of Missouri-Rolla were included in this study. Participants were required to study a passage and…

A study examined 20 New Jersey daily newspapers to assess the impact of readability on circulation. It was hypothesized that the circulation of a newspaper would be inversely related to the readability level of its contents; that is to say, as reading material becomes harder to read, fewer people will read it. News pieces (divided into hard news,…

During the past century, most research addressing the legibility of text in print has used adult subjects. The study reported in this paper investigated differences in reading rate and comprehension scores of eighth grade students reading from paper copy or computer screen. Three hundred eighth grade students in computer literacy classes were…

Focusing on providing an interdisciplinary framework, the papers in this monograph attempt to synthesize knowledge about comprehension from the points of view of cognitive psychology, textlinguistics, artificial intelligence, and sociolinguistics, as well as from the more conventional perspective of language education. Papers include…