Collaborative Research: Comprehension Processes During Reading

9631040奥布莱恩为了完全理解一篇文章，读者必须能够不断地理解当前阅读的每一句话如何与课文前面所呈现的信息相匹配。这通常涉及识别当前正在阅读的句子和文本中更早出现的信息之间的联系。读者通常能够快速而轻松地建立这些类型的联系，即使相关的思想在文本中跨越了相对较长的距离。这项研究将调查将每个新想法与以前读过的东西联系起来的过程。具体地说，这项研究将测试一个计算机模拟模型，该模型假设这些过程在很大程度上是自动的，也就是说，发生得很快，读者只需很少的努力。这项研究还将测试该模型对影响读者可能建立的联系类型的因素的预测，以及这些联系如何影响他们对文本的理解和记忆。这些因素包括读者的目标和观点、文本的组织、正在阅读的句子的句法、当前阅读的想法与先前阅读的相关信息之间的关系的性质、当前阅读的想法与相关信息之间的距离以及文本对各种主题的阐述程度。虽然这项研究的主要目标是测试读者如何理解和记忆文本的模型，但研究的另一个重要结果将是更好地理解使文本更容易理解和记忆的因素。这样的理解应该有助于编写清楚地呈现信息的教科书和手册，并以一种提高读者对最重要要点的记忆力的方式。***

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. ***