Wade, S., Schraw, G., Buxton, W., Hayes, M. Seduction of the strategic reader: effects of interest on strategies and recall. Reading research quarterly 28(2), 92-114.

Wade, S.; Schraw, G.; Buxton, W.; Hayes, M.

1993

Wade, S., Schraw, G., Buxton, W., Hayes, M. Seduction of the strategic reader: effects of interest on strategies and recall. Reading research quarterly 28(2), 92-114.

studie 1

Many textbook writers are searching for ways to add interest to expository text. One method is to include highly interesting but unimportant details, which have been called seductive details. The purpose of this study was to investigate how interest and importance interact to affect the strategy use and recall of skilled readers. Two experiments were conducted. The first examined the reading times and recall of readers for information that varied in interest and importance. The second was an interview study in which readers were asked to describe the strategies they used to study text excerpts of high or low interest and importance. Results suggest that readers acted strategically, except when they encountered seductive details. That is, they devoted extra time and effort to information that they found essential but difficult to remember. They devoted relatively little time and effort to information that they believed to be highly memorable and to information that was essential. In contrast to such strategic behavior, they spent a good deal of time on seductive details, even though they considered them highly memorable and unimportant.

Subjects recalled more unimportant than important information. Subjects spent more time on important than unimportant information. Interesting information was better recalled than uninteresting information.

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