Collaborative Research: Comprehension Processes During Reading

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9631040 O'BRIEN In order to fully comprehend a text, the reader must be able to understand continually how each currently read sentence fits with the information presented earlier in the text. This often involves recognizing connections between sentences that are currently being read and information that occurred much earlier in the text. Readers are generally able to make these kinds of connections quickly and easily, even when the related ideas span relatively large distances in the text. This research will investigate the processes involved in relating and connecting each new idea to what has been read before. Specifically, the research will test a computer simulation model which assumes that these processes are largely automatic, that is, occurring quickly and with very little effort on the part of the reader. The research will also test the model's predictions about factors that influence the kinds of connections readers are likely to make and how those connections influence their understanding and memory of the text. Such factors include readers' goals and perspectives, the organization of the text, the syntax of the sentence being read, the nature of the relation between currently read ideas and related information read earlier, the distance between currently read ideas and related information, and the extent to which the text elaborates upon various topics. Although the primary goal of the research is to test a model of how readers understand and remember text, another important result of the research will be a better understanding of the factors that make texts easier to understand and remember. Such an understanding should prove helpful in writing textbooks and manuals that present information clearly, and in a way that improves readers' memory for the most important points. ***