scholarly journals The Accuracy of Metacomprehension Judgments: The Biasing Effect of Text Order

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (26) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Tracy Linderholm ◽  
Xuesong Wang ◽  
David Therriault ◽  
Qin Zhao ◽  
Laura Jakiel
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Order Conditions ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Text Information ◽  
Metacomprehension Accuracy ◽  
Biasing Effects ◽  
Comprehension Tests ◽  
Effort Hypothesis

Introduction. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that relative metacomprehension accuracy is vulnerable when readers’ cognitive efforts are biased by text order. It is proposed that the difficulty level of initial text information biases readers’ estimates of text comprehension but is correctable when more cognitive effort is applied.Method. In both experiments, participants were randomly assigned to read a series of expository texts in one of two text order conditions: easy-to-hard and hard-to-easy. Readers made estimates of their comprehension and took comprehension tests over their understanding of the texts in the series in order to determine relative metacomprehension accuracy.Results. Experiment 1 revealed that reading texts ordered easy-to-hard resulted in lower average relative metacomprehension accuracy compared to texts ordered hard-to-easy. In Experiment 2, when participants were explicitly instructed to put more cognitive effort in to the task, the biasing effects of text order were eliminated.Discussion and Conclusion. These results expand one tenet of the optimum-effort hypothesis that relative metacomprehension accuracy is minimized when reading is perceived to be easy, requiring little cognitive effort.

scholarly journals Processing of positive-causal and negative-causal coherence relations in primary school children and adults: a test of the cumulative cognitive complexity approach in German

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIA KNOEPKE ◽  
TOBIAS RICHTER ◽  
MAJ-BRITT ISBERNER ◽  
JOHANNES NAUMANN ◽  
YVONNE NEEB ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Task Support ◽  
Coherence Relations ◽  
Causal Coherence

AbstractEstablishing local coherence relations is central to text comprehension. Positive-causal coherence relations link a cause and its consequence, whereas negative-causal coherence relations add a contrastive meaning (negation) to the causal link. According to the cumulative cognitive complexity approach, negative-causal coherence relations are cognitively more complex than positive-causal ones. Therefore, they require greater cognitive effort during text comprehension and are acquired later in language development. The present cross-sectional study tested these predictions for German primary school children from Grades 1 to 4 and adults in reading and listening comprehension. Accuracy data in a semantic verification task support the predictions of the cumulative cognitive complexity approach. Negative-causal coherence relations are cognitively more demanding than positive-causal ones. Moreover, our findings indicate that children's comprehension of negative-causal coherence relations continues to develop throughout the course of primary school. Findings are discussed with respect to the generalizability of the cumulative cognitive complexity approach to German.

Development of Listening Comprehension Tests with Narrative and Expository Texts for Portuguese Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Santos ◽  
Fernanda Leopoldina Viana ◽  
Iolanda Ribeiro ◽  
Gerardo Prieto ◽  
Sara Brandão ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Test Form ◽  
Psychometric Data ◽  
Fourth Grade Students ◽  
Comprehension Tests

AbstractThis investigation aimed to develop and collect psychometric data for two tests assessing listening comprehension of Portuguese students in primary school: the Test of Listening Comprehension of Narrative Texts (TLC-n) and the Test of Listening Comprehension of Expository Texts (TLC-e). Two studies were conducted. The purpose of study 1 was to construct four test forms for each of the two tests to assess first, second, third and fourth grade students of the primary school. The TLC-n was administered to 1042 students, and the TLC-e was administered to 848 students. The purpose of study 2 was to test the psychometric properties of new items for the TLC-n form for fourth graders, given that the results in study 1 indicated a severe lack of difficult items. The participants were 260 fourth graders. The data were analysed using the Rasch model. Thirty items were selected for each test form. The results provided support for the model assumptions: Unidimensionality and local independence of the items. The reliability coefficients were higher than .70 for all test forms. The TLC-n and the TLC-e present good psychometric properties and represent an important contribution to the learning disabilities assessment field.

scholarly journals Source credibility modulates the validation of implausible information

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1359-1375
Author(s):  
Andreas G. Wertgen ◽  
Tobias Richter
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Information Source ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Bidirectional Relationship ◽  
Text Information ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Credible Source

AbstractValidation of text information as a general mechanism for detecting inconsistent or false information is an integral part of text comprehension. This study examined how the credibility of the information source affects validation processes. Two experiments investigated combined effects of source credibility and plausibility of information during validation with explicit (ratings) and implicit (reading times) measurements. Participants read short stories with a high-credible versus low-credible person that stated a consistent or inconsistent assertion with general world knowledge. Ratings of plausibility and ratings of source credibility were lower when a credible source stated a world-knowledge inconsistent assertion compared with a low-credible source. Reading times on target sentences and on spillover sentences were slower when a credible source stated an assertion inconsistent with world knowledge compared with a low-credible source, suggesting that source information modulated the validation of implausible information. These results show that source credibility modulates validation and suggest a bidirectional relationship of perceived plausibility and source credibility in the reading process.

Indexical information, encoding difficulty, and second language vocabulary learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
MITCHELL S. SOMMERS ◽  
JOE BARCROFT
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Information Encoding ◽  
Signal Noise ◽  
Acoustic Variability ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
The Difference ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
Effort Hypothesis

ABSTRACTResearch has demonstrated that second language (L2) vocabulary learning improves when target words are presented in acoustically varied compared with acoustically consistent formats. The present study investigated the extent to which this benefit of acoustic variability is a consequence of difficult encoding demands (cognitive effort hypothesis) versus increased representational quality. Experiment 1 compared L2 vocabulary learning for words produced in normal (easier encoding) or nasal (more difficult encoding) voice. Vocabulary learning was superior in the normal-voice condition, arguing against a simple cognitive effort hypothesis as the basis for improved L2 vocabulary learning with increased acoustic variability. Experiment 2 assessed the resistance of newly acquired L2 word forms to the effects of acoustic degradation. Participants heard six repetitions of each item in either a single-talker or multiple-talker condition. The robustness of the new word-form representations was assessed by measuring the accuracy and latency of L2 to first language (L1) translation as a function of the signal/noise ratio. At all four signal/noise ratios, accuracy and latency of L2 to L1 translation were significantly better for words learned in the multiple-talker as opposed to the single-talker condition. Of particular importance, the difference between single talkers and multiple talkers increased systematically as signal/noise ratio decreased. These findings suggest that the benefits of acoustic variability are a consequence of learners' ability to retain and use indexical information during the earliest stages of word learning and provide support for the representation quality hypothesis.

scholarly journals Tracking reading strategy utilisation through pupillometry

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Y. Wong ◽  
Jarrod Moss ◽  
Christian D. Schunn
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Norepinephrine System ◽  
Comprehension Tests

Explicit reading strategies help low-knowledge readers make the inferences necessary to comprehend expository texts. Self-explanation is a particularly effective strategy, but it is challenging to monitor how well a reader is applying self-explanation without requiring the reader to externalise the self-explanations being generated. Studies have shown that different reading strategies vary in the amount of cognitive control required as well as the engagement of brain regions involved in internally-directed attention. Pupil diameter is related to task engagement and cognitive control via the brain’s locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. Therefore, pupil diameter could be a method to unobtrusively measure a reader’s use of self-explanation. The current study assessed whether pupil diameter can be used to distinguish between the use of different reading strategies and whether it is linked to the quality and effectiveness of the strategy in terms of learning gains. Participants reread, paraphrased, and self-explained texts while pupil diameter was recorded, and completed comprehension tests. Average pupil diameter differed between all three reading strategies, and pupil diameter was related to learning gains and the quality of strategy use. The results suggest that pupil diameter could be used to track effective reading strategy utilisation.

scholarly journals The Countervailing Effect of Language Proficiency and Cultural Adaptation on the Frequency of Cognitive-Metacognitive Strategies among EFL Readers

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Daryaee Motlagh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Metacognitive Strategies ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Culturally Adapted ◽  
Intermediate Learners ◽  
Comprehension Tests

This article is an attempt to investigate how advanced and high-intermediate learners of English receiving culturally familiar or nativized contents may differ in terms of both their performance in reading comprehension and the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. To this end, a total of 73 advanced and high-intermediate students of English were selected and assigned to two groups in order to acquire relevant data across different levels of language proficiency. Subsequently, the participants received culturally adapted texts with sociologically, semantically and pragmatically nativized contents in the form of narrative and expository texts. Following this step, the participants were given reading comprehension tests and cognitive-metacognitive questionnaires. While culturally familiar texts are generally believed to have facilitating impacts on the overall reading comprehension for all language groups, the findings of the present study suggest that the advanced learners of English may use these strategies more frequently compared to high-intermediate learners of English. These results may raise strong implications concerning the suitability and effectiveness of nativized or culturally adapted materials for learners at varying levels of language proficiency.

scholarly journals Does Mathematics Anxiety Moderate the Effect of Problem Difficulty on Cognitive Effort?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terje Ulv Throndsen ◽  
Marcus Lindskog ◽  
Markku Niemivirta ◽  
Riikka Mononen
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Mathematics Anxiety ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Problem Difficulty ◽  
Mathematics Problems

A negative relationship between mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematics performance is well documented. One suggested explanation for this relationship is that MA interferes with the cognitive processes needed when solving mathematics problems. A demand for using more cognitive effort (e.g., when performing harder mathematics problems), can be traced as an increase in pupil dilation during the performance. However, we lack knowledge of how MA affects this relationship between the problem difficulty and cognitive effort. This study investigated, for the first time, whether MA moderates the effect of arithmetic (i.e., multiplication) problem difficulty on cognitive effort. Thirty-four university students from Norway completed multiplication tasks, including three difficulty levels of problems, while their cognitive effort was also measured by means of pupil dilation using an eyetracker. Further, the participants reported their MA using a questionnaire, and arithmetic competence, general intelligence, and working memory were measured with paper-pencil tasks. A linear mixed model analysis showed that the difficulty level of the multiplication problems affected the cognitive effort, so that the pupil dilated more with harder multiplication problems. However, we did not find a moderating effect of MA on cognitive effort, when controlling for arithmetic competence, general intelligence, and working memory. This suggests that MA does not contribute to cognitive effort when solving multiplication problems.

Taalgebruik in Schoolboeken en Anderstaligen in het Voortgezet Onderwijs

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 86-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Galema ◽  
Hilde Hacquebord
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Text Word ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
School Books ◽  
Correspon Ding

Young immigrant adults may have difficulties in schools because of a lack of literate skills in the second language, viz. Dutch. If they are confronted with texts that are too difficult for them they may stagnate in their (literate) language development and even drop out of school. Teachers with and without experience in teaching Dutch as a sec-ond language ranked a number of fragments of Dutch school-books as to degree of difficulty. All teachers believed that only the lowest difficulty level was appropriate for all their pupils (Dutch and immigrant). They differed in their judgement as to the appropriateness of the subject matter of the texts. An analysis of the texts with respect to linguistic features led to the definition of three levels of difficulty, correspon-ding to the three first grades of the secondary school. On the whole the texts are for Dutch natives. Immigrant pupils probably use certain strategies to compensate for evident lack of text comprehension at the micro level of a text (word know-ledge, sentence structures etc.)

The Effects of Orienting Instructions on Readers’ Ability to Recall Literal Information from Expository Texts

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-24
Author(s):  
Sumyah Alnajashi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Recall Test ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Text Recall ◽  
Text Information ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis study aimed to examine whether instructing readers to judge text information can impair or facilitate their ability to recall information from expository texts of different genres. Experiment One used four expository texts and examined three types of orienting instructions: To answer pre-text questions, to be prepared to answer questions after the reading the text, to be prepared to judge the knowledge introduced in the text. The results of the study indicated that the use of pre-text questions did not improve readers’ performance in a recall test; in fact, they impaired the readers’ overall recall ability. However, being forewarned that they would be asked to provide a judgment on the information contained within a passage after reading it did enhance the participants’ ability to recall information from expository texts. Experiment 2 used the same four expository texts and examined the relationship between text recall and participants’ judgement of text information with particular cognitive abilities. The results reveal variations in the patterns of correlations between recall and rating of the text and other cognitive factors across the different text genres. The outcomes and implications of this research are discussed in this paper.

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