Recent studies on schema theory and other concepts related to reading comprehension are discussed in this paper. Noting that the psycholinguistic model of reading views reading as a process of predicting meaning based on the reader's prior knowledge of language, the paper describes recent research that has led to a definition of reading…

Noting weaknesses in "standard" methods of measuring listening skills, developes a five-factor model utilizing three different kinds of memory and adding tasks requiring interpretation and concentration. Varying subscales--with the exception of the interpretive task--are found to be sufficiently reliable for research purposes. (NH)

A study examined an interaction effect observed in an earlier study in which texts about three obscure religions were presented to undergraduates who studied them under three conditions: with a study guide that analogized the religion to Christianity; with a study guide that did not employ analogies; and without aid. Scores were significantly…

Explains the concept of comprehension from a psycholinguistic perspective, suggesting that comprehension is directly related to the surface and deep structures of language. (RB)

A study investigated free recall of information bounded by internally inconsistent sentences compared to the same information in consistent text versions. Data were elicited from 40 undergraduate students enrolled in classes in educational psychology. Subjects were instructed to read one consistent and one inconsistent (containing two propositions…

A study explored the degree to which people can capture the meaning of logical terms, using mental imagery. It was then hypothesized that: (1) subjects generally would fail to express logical relationships accurately, and (2) abstract images would be more difficult to capture than would concrete ones. Subjects, 25 college students, were asked to…

Three experiments examined the comprehension effects of manipulating the spatial configuration of prose materials with readers who differed in lateral preference. In each investigation, adult readers of normal verbal facility who differed in their lateral preference patterns were presented with prose passages which varied orthographically. Thirty…

A series of experimental and theoretical investigations of text inference were conducted. One applied a theory of inferable text cohesion to the devising of text structure revisions that assist comprehension and memory. Since only modest success was achieved, the next three projects went beyond text revision to the use of adjunct outlines,…

This study was designed to examine the relationship between values and listening comprehension. Subjects were 146 freshman and sophomore basic speech students at Eastern Michigan University during the 1971 summer session. The listening sub-test of the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) and the Allport, Vernon, and Lindzey Study of…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether subjective organizational ability and the organization of materials influence reading comprehension for one good and two groups of poor readers. The subjects were 200 freshmen classified as good readers with (average or above average reading comprehension), difference poor readers (with average or…

College subjects were required to read and recall an expository text. They recalled information about fewer topics if they were randomly ordered and the introductory paragraph was uninformative. Subjects recalled information about more topics if the text contained topic sentences. Readers used representation of a text's topic structure to guide…

A study determined the effects of signalling and note taking on recall of information and top level structure of text under immediate and delayed conditions. The subjects (180 undergraduate education students) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions--signals/notes, signals/no notes, no signals/notes, or no signals/no notes.…

Research has indicated that the keyword method of vocabulary learning facilitates students' performance on comprehension-demanding tasks as well as test of definition recall. When conditions and undergraduate subjects within conditions were equated with respect to their initial levels of definition recall, the comprehension advantage of keyword…

Found that standard readability indexes by themselves are not useful in measuring readability and comprehensibility of income tax material. Also casts doubt on the use of only readability indexes to measure insurance, labor, and real estate contracts. (PD)