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Although prior knowledge and reading-comprehension skill have both been shown to influence learning form text, recent research based on the Kintsch (1988) model of text understanding leads to the hypothesis that the development of the text-base representation of text contents should be a function of reading-comprehension skill and not of prior knowledge, whereas the development of a situtation model should be a function of the individual?s prior knowledge and not of the reader?s comprehension skill. Furthermore, the extent to which knowledge and comprehension skill influence learning from text was hypothesized to be a function o text contents. Using fictitious ...

Two experiments examined the effects of word familiarity on word recognition and text comprehension during silent reading. Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences containing words that varied in familiarity as assessed by printed estimates of word frequency, subjective ratings of familiarity, and a multiple-choice test of meaning knowledge. Effects of word frequency were unaffected by differences in subjective familiarity rating for high frequency words. Differential effects of familiarity rating were observed in low frequency conditions. In addition, processing time on high and low frequency words did not differ when familiarity was held constant for moderately familiar words. ...

Two experiments examined the effects of word familiarity on word recognition and text comprehension during silent reading. Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences containing words that varied in familiarity as assessed by printed estimates of word frequency, subjective ratings of familiarity, and a multiple-choice test of meaning knowledge. Effects of word frequency were unaffected by differences in subjective familiarity rating for high frequency words. Differential effects of familiarity rating were observed in low frequency conditions. In addition, processing time on high and low frequency words did not differ when familiarity was held constant for moderately familiar words. ...

An empirical examination of the issues of advance organizers raised in part 1. The influence of background knowledge, text structure, & reader's purpose on the efficacy of advance organizers was investigated in two experiments. Both studies considered whether advance organizers increase recall of subordinate text detail & superordinate text concepts by adult readers who lack "prior knowledge subsumers." After reading introductory & target materials, Ss were evaluated for their recognition of idea units belonging to four levels in the text's structural hierarchy: structurally high & important or unimportant, & structurally low & important or unimportant. Ss (N = 48 college ...

An empirical examination of the issues of advance organizers raised in part 1. The influence of background knowledge, text structure, & reader's purpose on the efficacy of advance organizers was investigated in two experiments. Both studies considered whether advance organizers increase recall of subordinate text detail & superordinate text concepts by adult readers who lack "prior knowledge subsumers." After reading introductory & target materials, Ss were evaluated for their recognition of idea units belonging to four levels in the text's structural hierarchy: structurally high & important or unimportant, & structurally low & important or unimportant. Ss (N = 48 college ...

Background. Interest in the interactive effects of prior knowledge and text structure on learning from text is increasing but experimental manipulations of knowledge and structure variables often produce findings that do not help teachers to select expository texts for students. Aims. We aimed to extend the ecological validity of previous findings by asking students with a high or low level of discipline-relevant knowledge to read texts characteristic of those they would normally encounter. A compensation effect was hypothesized, where high prior knowledge would compensate for a lack of text structure and text structure would compensate for a lack of prior ...

Investigated the effects of breakdowns in referential (R) and factual coherence (FC) on text comprehension, using 56 university students. Breakdowns in RC produced by distant antecedent information hindered reading times of texts but not text memory; those produced by absent antecedent information hindered both. Breakdowns in FC hindered reading times of texts and hindered text memory when the comprehension goal of readers was an integrative one, requiring readers to update old knowledge with new information, but not when the comprehension goal was to accurately recall the texts. Recall results for the more integrative task suggested that new factually inconsistent information ...

Investigated the effects of breakdowns in referential (R) and factual coherence (FC) on text comprehension, using 56 university students. Breakdowns in RC produced by distant antecedent information hindered reading times of texts but not text memory; those produced by absent antecedent information hindered both. Breakdowns in FC hindered reading times of texts and hindered text memory when the comprehension goal of readers was an integrative one, requiring readers to update old knowledge with new information, but not when the comprehension goal was to accurately recall the texts. Recall results for the more integrative task suggested that new factually inconsistent information ...

Three-linguistically-motivated algorithms for assigning between-word space sizes were compared for their impact on text readability: a computer-implemented heuristic analysis assigned extra spaces between word groups corresponding to major phrases; a phrase-structure analysis assigned each space a size proportional to the depth of the phrase structure at that point; a prosodic analysis assigned space sizes proportional to the between-word pauses indicated if the sentences were spoken; finally, an even-spacing algorithm, assigned a constant amount of space between each word on a line. The readability of the formats were contrasted using the Cook-Chapman find-the-odd-word test in a paragraph version. The readability results ...

This paper challenges a widely held assumption in linguistics - that all normal speakers master the basic constructions of their language - and argues that proficiency with a particular structure depends on individual speakers' linguistic experience. Our argument is based on an experimental study testing speakers' ability to interpret passive sentences. Since full passives are used predominantly in written texts, more educated speakers have more experience with the construction, and hence might be expected to perform better. In order to determine whether the type of linguistic experience matters as well as the sheer amount, we also tested non-native speakers. Highly ...