Metacognitive Abilities of Above and below Average Readers: Effects of Conceptual Tempo, Passage Level, and Error Type on Error Detection

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence G. Erickson ◽  
Steven A. Stahl ◽  
Steven D. Rinehart
Keyword(s):  
Error Detection ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Error Type ◽  
Difficulty Judgment ◽  
Average Readers ◽  
Below Average Readers ◽  
Conceptual Tempo

A number of researchers have suggested recently that differences between good and poor comprehenders lie in differences in metacognitive skills. This study examines one of the paradigms used to measure metacognitive skill–the error detection task. Seventy-four above and below grade level sixth graders were asked to detect order changes and nonsense word substitutions in third-grade and sixth-grade level passages. It was found that conceptual tempo (impulsivity/reflectivity), passage readability, and error type, as well as reading ability, all influenced the performance of these children on the error detection tasks. No differences were found between above and below average readers on two other metacognitive tasks, a reading difficulty judgment, and a knowledge and purposes of reading interview. Results indicate that conceptual tempo should be considered in any explanation of the relationship between metacognitive monitoring and reading ability.

Children's Monitoring of Another's Comprehension: Effects of Reading Ability and Context

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Kirby ◽  
Warwick R. Teasdale
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Comprehension Monitoring ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Prior Context ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Average Readers ◽  
Below Average Readers

Previous research has shown that children do not monitor their own comprehension very well when reading. Theories have been advanced which emphasize the roles of capabilities and strategies in inhibiting monitoring; at least one crucial factor is that children often do not perceive that errors are possible in text. This paper describes the development of a task, the inserted cloze task, in which children are required to judge the correctness of another child's comprehension. This task elicits comprehension monitoring quite easily. An empirical study of above and below average readers in Years 3 and 4 is reported. Their performance indicates that use of prior context within the sentence poses little difficulty for either group of readers. However use of within-sentence following context is most likely in simple texts, and is the only measure which differentiates the better readers from the less able. These results demonstrate that comprehension can be elicited from even less skilled readers, but that the amount of context which must be considered is an important factor. A possible hierarchy of comprehension skills is discussed, and suggestions for the teaching of these skills are presented. It is concluded that the inserted cloze task would be useful in teaching comprehension monitoring.

Amount of Verbal Information and Ear-Differences in 5- and 6-Year-Old Boys and Girls

1976 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. John Van Duyne ◽  
Bruno J. D'Alonzo ◽  
David Scanlan
Keyword(s):  
Reading Ability ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Brain Lateralization ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Verbal Instructions ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Average Readers ◽  
Below Average Readers ◽  
Better Than

Two experiments were performed. The first was to determine the effects of varying the amount of information in verbal instructions presented monaurally on differences between ears and sexes in 5-yr.-old boys and girls. Verbal instructions were given for the performance of a visual-motor task. The results indicated that the amount of verbal information affects ear-asymmetry in girls and not boys. The second experiment was performed to determine the effects of varying the amount of verbal information in verbal instructions presented monaurally on differences between ears, sexes, and reading ability of 6-yr.-old boys and girls. The findings indicated that above average readers performed better than below average readers. Ear-asymmetry was observed across sex and reading abilities for sentences containing 7 and 8 stimulus attributes. No ear-asymmetry was observed in sentences containing 9 stimulus attributes. The results appear to support the progressive lateralization hypothesis which states that ear-asymmetry is dependent on task conditions. The results also support sex differences in the development of brain lateralization.

scholarly journals Verbal Reports as Measures of Comprehension Evaluation

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
DeWayne Moore ◽  
Karen Zabrucky
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Verbal Report ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Lower Ability ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Passage Reading

The present study assessed several commonly used measures of children's comprehension evaluation ability. Third and sixth grade higher and lower ability readers (N= 120) read texts that either contained an inconsistency or did not. Following each passage reading, six measures of comprehension evaluation were obtained: one performance measure and five commonly used verbal report measures. The results revealed that different verbal report measures are not comparable measures of children's comprehension evaluation ability. The verbal report measures were differently affected by grade level, reading ability, and text variables. Moreover, the verbal report measures did not all relate equally to comprehension evaluation performance and relationships between verbal reports and performance were stronger for higher ability readers and young readers. The results suggest that caution is needed in interpreting studies using verbal report measures in isolation to assess children's evaluation skills, and that the use of poorly defined verbal report measures may be one factor contributing to inconsistent findings concerning the development of such skills.

scholarly journals Fostering Comprehension Monitoring in below Average Readers through Self-Instruction Training

1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria E. Miller ◽  
Andrea Giovenco ◽  
Katheryn A. Rentiers
Keyword(s):  
Reading Ability ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Comprehension Monitoring ◽  
Fifth Grade Students ◽  
Ability Levels ◽  
Instruction Effect ◽  
Self Instruction ◽  
Average Readers ◽  
Below Average Readers

The benefits of self-instruction training on the comprehension monitoring performances of below average and above average readers were examined. Fourth- and fifth-grade students were tested on their ability to detect between-sentence contradictions in short expository texts after receiving either three sessions of self-instruction or equivalent didactic instruction. Additionally, generalization was assessed on text passages different from those employed during training and on postreading monitoring measures. A significant self-instruction effect was found for both reading ability levels on all of these measures. Moreover, the below average readers performed at a level commensurate with their higher ability peers on the transfer measures. It was concluded that self-instruction training was successful in enhancing student's regulatory processing during reading.

scholarly journals Utilization of Imposed Structure: The Impact of Reading Competence and Grade Level

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Mark Grabe
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Poor Readers ◽  
Important Material ◽  
Sixth Grade Students ◽  
The Impact

Fourth and sixth grade students grouped as good or poor readers were asked to read a story from a certain perspective or with instructions to read carefully. The ability to take a perspective, as measured by skill in differentiating important material on a highlighting task or in reproducing it on a later recall test, was present in both age groups. Reading skill was found to produce significant differences on both types of dependent measures. Further analysis indicated that reading ability differences in recall were related to, but could not be totally accounted for, by the ability to identify important material. A model is proposed claiming that poor readers are too overburdened by lower level reading skills to engage in this type of cognitive processing.

Audiovisual Equivalence of Stimuli in Acquisition of Associations at Two Reading Levels

1974 ◽  
Vol 38 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1271-1274
Author(s):  
Robert M. Alworth
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Delayed Presentation ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Reading Levels ◽  
Average Readers ◽  
Element Sequence ◽  
Below Average Readers

This research was intended to investigate the difficulty experienced by retarded readers in acquiring associations between auditory and visual information. First- and second-grade above- and below-average readers ( ns = 41, 42) were presented paired-associate tasks involving: (a) simultaneous and delayed stimulus presentation, (b) visual-visual and visual-auditory stimuli, and (c) stimuli in which within-stimulus element sequence was and was not relevant in determining the associated response. Inferior paired-associate learning was noted in below-average readers, delayed-presentation tasks, and sequence-relevant tasks. No significant interactions were noted.

scholarly journals The Function of Metaphor in Children's Recall of Expository Passages

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. David Pearson ◽  
Taffy E. Raphael ◽  
Norma Tepaske ◽  
Charles Hyser
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Third Grade ◽  
Target Structure ◽  
Better Than

In a series of three studies, the facultative effect of metaphors on children's recall of expository passages was evaluated. In Experiment 1, with sixth grade subjects and an unfamiliar passage, metaphor target structures were recalled better than their literal paraphrases. In Experiment II, using third grade subjects and a more familiar passage, there were no differences between metaphor and literal versions of passage in terms of the recall of target structures. In Experiment III, which was designed to eliminate the passage familiarity × grade level × experiment confounding, there was a significant passage familiarity by version (metaphor or literal) interaction. Metaphors facilitated target structure recall only for unfamiliar passages. These data were interpreted as supporting the view that metaphors can serve the function of bridging new and old information in unfamiliar textual settings.

scholarly journals Differences and Similarities in Scientists’ Images Among Popular USA Middle Grades Science Textbooks

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Rebecca Hite
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Physical Science ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
White Male ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science Textbooks ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Images Of Scientists

<p style="text-align: justify;">Research on students’ perceptions of scientists is ongoing, starting with early research by Mead and Metraux in the 1950s and continuing in the present. Continued research interest in this area is likely due to scholarship suggesting adolescents’ impressions of scientists are sourced in-part from media, which influence their interests in science and identity in becoming a scientist. A significant source of images, in which adolescents (or middle school students) view science and scientists, is in their science textbooks. A qualitative content analysis explored images of scientists in three of the major U.S.-based middle grade science textbooks published in the new millennium: sixth grade biology, seventh grade earth science, and eighth grade physical science. The Draw A Scientist Test (DAST) Checklist was employed to assess scientists’ images and the stereotypes therein. From nine textbooks, 435 images of scientists were coded and analyzed by publisher and grade level / area by DAST constructs of appearance, location, careers, and scientific activities. Statistical analyses showed significant variances between grade levels and textbook publishers of scientists. Despite scientists portrayed in active endeavors, traditional tropes of the scowling, older, solitary, white male scientist persist. This study offers insight in leveraging improved images of scientists in textbooks.</p>

scholarly journals Attitudes Towards Science: A Study of Gender Differences and Grade Level

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 599-608
Author(s):  
Susilawati*, Nurfina ◽  
Nurfina Aznam ◽  
Paidi Paidi
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Attitudes Toward Science ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
School Students ◽  
Students Attitudes

<p style="text-align: justify;">It should be noted that learning outcomes are not students’ only achievement; attitude is also the main output in learning. This research explores students’ attitudes toward science learning based on gender and the grade level of schools in Aceh, Indonesia. The participants are 1,023 students from the sixth grade of primary schools and the eighth grade of secondary schools. The total sample includes 16 schools spread across the province. The data have been collected using TOSRA. By using the Likert scale, this questionnaire is useful for obtaining descriptions of the students’ attitudes and assigning scores for a certain group of participants. Based on gender, the results show females reflect more positive attitudes toward science than male students do. According to the grade level of the schools, the data reflect the equality of students’ attitudes toward science between primary and secondary schools. Nevertheless, when primary school students enter secondary school, the majority of students enjoy learning science less. This fact is meaningful feedback for science teachers. This result supports the scholars seeking ways to avoid the gender gap in learning activities. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.</p>

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