Daniel, F., & Raney, G. E. (2007). Capturing the effect of a title on multiple levels of comprehension. Behavior Research Methods, 39(4), 892-900.

Daniel, F.; Raney, G.

2007

Daniel, F., & Raney, G. E. (2007). Capturing the effect of a title on multiple levels of comprehension. Behavior Research Methods, 39(4), 892-900.

studie 3

Researchers have manipulated text comprehension by creating texts that require a title to be understood, but the source of the comprehension deficit has not been fully examined. We created comprehension quizzes for these texts that measure the surface form, textbase, and situation model. In three experiments, participants read passages with or without a title and then answered quiz questions. Results showed that the absence of a title influenced the accuracy rate of answering situation model questions more than answering surface form or textbase questions. This suggests that the situation model is the primary source of difficulty for these texts. These passages and quizzes can be used in future research that requires controlled manipulation and measurement of situation level comprehension.

Experiment 3 replicates the basic findings from experiment 1 and 2 and further validates the comprehension questions. It also replicates the title effect found in experiments 1 and 2 in a more controlled setting. Experiment 3 also demonstrates that the questions do not give away the topic of a passage. Only when a title is added during the second reading does situation model comprehension increase substantially.

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