Vipond, D. (1980). Micro- and macroprocesses in text comprehension. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19(3), 276-296.

Vipond, D.

1980

Vipond, D. (1980). Micro- and macroprocesses in text comprehension. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19(3), 276-296.

2

In 3 experiments, 267 undergraduates whose reading ability was determined by the Davis Reading Test or their 12th-grade English marks read and recalled texts that varied in local (micro-) or global (macro-) processing difficulty. In Exp I, 10 theoretically derived text variables, 5 at the micro- and 5 at the macrolevel, successfully predicted comprehension efficiency scores. Micro- and macrovariables accounted for unique portions of the comprehension variance. For the technical prose passages, microvariables were better predictors of less skilled readers' performance, whereas macrovariables were better for skilled readers'. In Exps II and III, lexical and macrostructure difficulty were factorially combined; story recall was determined by both. The factors were additive for high as well as for low ability readers, indicating that the lexical and macrostructural components of the comprehension system do not rely on the same cognitive resources. It is concluded that in order to explain comprehension, processes at both the micro- and macrolevel must be considered.

As expected, difficult words and scrambled paragraphs produced significant decrements in recall. In both analyses, however, the words x paragraph interaction was not significant.

96

4