Eye-movement patterns and reader characteristics of students with good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams

This study investigated the cognitive processes and reader characteristics of sixth graders who had good and poor performance when reading scientific text with diagrams. We first measured the reading ability and reading self-efficacy of sixth-grade participants, and then recorded their eye movements while they were reading an illustrated scientific text and scored their answers to content-related questions. Finally, the participants evaluated the difficulty of the article, the attractiveness of the content and diagram, and their learning performance. The participants were then classified into groups based on how many correct responses they gave to questions related to reading. The results showed that readers with good performance had better character recognition ability and reading self-efficacy, were more attracted to the diagrams, and had higher self-evaluated learning levels than the readers with poor performance did. Eye-movement data indicated that readers with good performance spent significantly more reading time on the whole article, the text section, and the diagram section than the readers with poor performance did. Interestingly, readers with good performance had significantly longer mean fixation duration on the diagrams than readers with poor performance did; further, readers with good performance made more saccades between the text and the diagrams. Additionally, sequential analysis of eye movements showed that readers with good performance preferred to observe the diagram rather than the text after reading the title, but this tendency was not present in readers with poor performance. In sum, using eye-tracking technology and several reading tests and questionnaires, we found that various cognitive aspects (reading strategy, diagram utilization) and affective aspects (reading self-efficacy, article likeness, diagram attraction, and self-evaluation of learning) affected sixth graders’ reading performance in this study.     

Vocabulary acquisition and reading ability

Lexical acquisition ability for aurally taught words was studied in fourthgrade children. Reading ability, intelligence, and working memory were evaluated as predictor factors in vocabulary learning. Reading ability was found to predict facility at learning the novel phonological sequences, while intelligence was the only factor which accounted for performance level for the semantic content of the words. The working memory measure, digit span, failed to make a significant contribution to either the phonological or semantic outcome measures. Examination of two subgroups of skilled and less-skilled readers indicated that less-skilled readers had more difficulty acquiring the phonological information for new words. No between-group differences were found in long-term retention or in the ability to provide definitions for the newly learned words. The findings suggest that the vocabulary deficits of less-skilled readers stem, at least in part, from difficulty establishing accurate phonological representations for new words.     

Slower implicit categorical learning in adult poor readers

We investigated the relationship between reading and explicit and implicit categorical learning by comparing university students with poor reading to students with normal reading abilities on two categorical learning tasks. One categorical learning task involved sorting simple geometric shapes into two groups according to a unidimensional rule. The sorting rule was easily stated by the participants, consistent with explicit learning, and all participants attained criterion levels of performance. The second task involved the integration of features on different dimensions with a more complex rule that could not be described by participants, even though most could attain criterion levels of performance consistent with implicit learning. Poor readers performed as well as those without reading problems in explicit learning but not in implicit learning. Implicit learning was correlated with word reading, phonological decoding, and orthographic skill, independent of verbal ability. We consider the role of implicit learning in reading, and how a deficit could impair phonological and orthographic representation and processing.     

Obtaining more out of less text in CBI: Effects of varied text density levels as a function of learner characteristics and control strategy

Learning from expository text in computer-based instruction (CBI) was examined as a function of text density level (high, low, or learner-controlled) and learner characteristics in achievement, attitudes, and reading ability. Low-density text was found to be as effective for learning as high-density text, but was more popular among students and also reduced completion time. The highest achievement was obtained in the learner-control condition, with low-ability readers showing a greater tendency to select high-density text than did high-ability readers. Reading ability was also positively related to achievement in learning from high-density computer text and to preferences for learning from CBI relative to print. Based on the resulte, use of low-density text is suggested as a standard feature or learner-control option for CBI lessons.     

Exploring the syntactic skills of struggling adult readers

This study investigated the syntactic ability of 82 struggling adult readers who recognize words between the third and fifth grade levels. Analysis of the adults?? performance on the TOLD-I:3 indicated that they were deficient on the syntactic task. Correlations found the struggling adult readers?? oral language skills, written language skills, and reading comprehension skills to be related. A regression analyses indicated that the adults?? syntactic knowledge did not individually predict reading comprehension, however their other oral language skills did. The findings of this study suggest that the adults performed similar to children who are either learning to read or considered poor readers. This study also contributes to the adult literacy field by providing exploratory information on an area (syntax and struggling adult readers) that is lacking.     

The effects of adjunct questions in prose for deaf and hearing students at different reading levels.

In two studies, the author investigated interactions among adjunct question position, reading ability, and direct versus indirect learning outcomes for deaf postsecondary and hearing middle-school students. Adjunct questions were inserted immediately preceding or following brief sections of instructional prose for the purpose of focusing and cognitively activating the readers. Different effects were observed for deaf and hearing readers and for different levels of assessed reading ability. The findings are discussed in terms of reading ability, adjunct activities while reading prose, and direct versus indirect instructive effects.     

Positioning the learning asset portfolio as a key component in an organization's enterprise risk management strategy

This article presents a process for valuing a portfolio of learning assets used by line executives across industries to value traditional business assets. Embedded within the context of enterprise risk management, this strategic asset allocation process is presented step by step, providing readers the operational considerations to implement this program within their organization to enhance performance improvement. At the individual initiative level, readers will recognize elements used in developing retrospective return on investments (ROIs) for learning programs.     

Are working memory deficits in readers with learning disabilities hard to change?

This study investigated whether changes in the working memory (WM) performance of readers with learning disabilities (LD) is related to a general or domain-specific system. The study compared readers with LD, chronologically age-matched (CA-M), and reading level-matched (RL-M) children's WM performance for phonological, visual-spatial, and semantic information under initial (no probes or cues), gain (cues that bring performance to an asymptotic level), and maintenance (asymptotic conditions without cues) conditions. The main findings indicated that (a) CA-M children were superior in performance to readers with LD across initial, gain, and maintenance conditions, (b) readers with LD showed less change (as reflected in effect size scores, slopes for the quadratic curve) on both visual-spatial and verbal (phonological and semantic) WM tasks across gain and maintenance conditions than the CA-matched children, and (c) the performance of readers with LD was superior to the RL-M children's performance on initial conditions, but inferior on gain and maintenance conditions. Taken together, the results suggest that a general system moderated the changes in retrieval of phonological, visual-spatial, and semantic information in readers with LD.     

A Re-Examination of Personality Structure in Late Childhood,and Development of the High School Personality Questionnaire

This study was designed to assess the ability to sustain visual attention and its relationship to reading retardation. Vigilance performance of twenty fourth-grade retarded readers was compared with that of twenty normal readers matched for age, sex, grade, and intelligence. It was hypothesized that the retarded readers would perform more poorly on detection of visual stimuli and that they would exhibit a faster rate of performance decrement. Results revealed that retarded readers did make significantly more errors in detection. While both groups demonstrated a decrease in correct stimulus detection over time, no significant difference in rate of performance decrement was revealed between groups.     

Are implicit learning abilities sensitive to the type of material to be processed? Study on typical readers and children with dyslexia

This study aims to examine the impact of the linguistic nature of the material to be tracked in a serial reaction time task on the performance of typical readers and children with dyslexia. In doing so, we wished to detect eventual differences in the mobilisation of implicit learning skills between typical readers according to their experience with the written word (8‐ vs 10‐year‐olds) on the one hand, and between typical readers and children with dyslexia, on the other hand. Experiment 1 confirms the efficiency of implicit sequence learning in typical readers regardless of the nature of the item being tracked. Experiment 2 indicates that the sequence learning of children with dyslexia is sensitive to the nature of the target. Children with dyslexia show differences in the evolution of response times according to the nature of the item to be tracked.     

Written narratives of normal and learning disabled children

Writing samples of children in grades one through three were collected in two midwestern elementary schools using the Picture Story Language Test. Each story was scored for productivity, syntax, and level of abstraction. Results indicated that performance in all aspects of written language improved with age. A second study was conducted to compare the writing of normal children who were average readers in grades one through three with learning disabled children who were reading at comparable levels. The results indicated no significant differences in productivity but there were differences in syntax. Problems were noted particularly in morphology. Further observations indicated the learning disabled poor readers also had more problems with handwriting and spelling than average readers.     

The write brain: How to educate and entertain with learner‐centered writing

This article presents a conceptual framework for the writing process to facilitate motivation, learning, retention, and knowledge transfer in readers of expository material. Drawing from four well‐developed bodies of knowledge—cognitive science, learning theory, technical communication, and creative writing—the author creates a model that allows developers of performance and educational content to facilitate learning by addressing such principles as engagement, connection, metacognition, learning, and practice.     

Levels of Language Competence and Reading Ability: an Exploratory Investigation

Associations have been found between reading ability around the age of seven to eight years and communicative competence, indicating a stage corresponding to the Piagetian concrete operations stage. It was not known, however, whether children who lagged at that stage in learning to read and in acquiring communicative competence would eventually‘catch up’with their peers in both these areas. This paper reports an exploratory study of this issue with adults who had not learnt to read as children although they were of average intelligence, and had no obvious physical defect. The objectives were: (a) to investigate whether these adults would perform on the same level as normal reading peers on language tasks requiring communicative and analytic competence; (b) to investigate whether performance on these tasks would be related to level of vocabulary comprehension and intelligence. No significant differences were found between the groups in their performance on the tasks involving communicative competence. However, normal readers scored significantly higher in tasks requiring analytic competence or the ability to retrieve and transform verbal material. In addition, the pattern of correlations was different for the two groups, suggesting that they had undergone different courses of cognitive development. The results cannot tell us whether the ability to read, or lack of it, influenced the development of these functions or vice versa. It seems from this investigation, however, that not all functions of oral language develop to the same extent in readers and in non-readers, and that this is not related solely to IQ.     

Language skills and cognitive processes related to poor reading comprehension performance

Eleven tests were administered to 20 high school readers with learning disabilities (LD) and 20 controls. The objective was to examine the relation between reading comprehension performance and performance on tests of language skills and cognitive processes. As a whole, the performance of the group with LD was significantly below the performance of the controls on all measures. However, the variance on nonverbal tests was greater for the group with LD than for controls; some individuals with learning disabilities performed as well as the controls. Results are discussed in terms of how performance deficits are amenable to remediation by instruction.     

The predictive relations between non‐alphanumeric rapid naming and growth in regular and irregular word decoding in at‐risk readers

We investigated influences of non‐alphanumeric rapid naming on decoding skill growth for regularly and irregularly spelled English words. In a longitudinal study, 52 at‐risk and 69 not‐at‐risk readers were tracked from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Non‐alphanumeric rapid naming ability measured in Grade 1 accounted for unique variance in irregular word decoding in early Grade 2 – strong rapid naming was associated with strong irregular word decoding. An interaction between reading risk status and Grade 1 rapid naming indicated that the influence of Grade 1 rapid naming ability on growth in irregular word decoding was different for at‐risk than not‐at‐risk readers. Non‐alphanumeric rapid naming can have predictive validity as a marker for identifying specific difficulties in learning to read irregular words in at‐risk readers. Results indicate that rapid naming plays a general role in irregular word reading and a specific role in at‐risk readers' growth in irregular word decoding.     

Sentential and discourse context effects: adults who are learning to read compared with skilled readers

In a series of three experiments, we examined how sentential and discourse contexts were used by adults who are learning to read compared with skilled adult readers. In Experiment 1 , participants read sentence contexts that were either congruent, incongruent or neutral with respect to a target word they had to name. Both skilled and less skilled adults benefited from a congruent context, and were not disadvantaged by an incongruent context. Contrary to research conducted on children learning to read, skill level of the adult reader did not interact with context. Experiments 2 and 3 tested readers' ability to make predictive inferences. Again, all readers, regardless of skill level, provided evidence that they were making predictive inferences. This finding is inconsistent with research that has examined individual differences in college readers.     

The importance of phonological processing skills for older low‐progress readers

The important role of phonological awareness in learning to read has become widely accepted. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of phonological processing skills when attempting to assist older low‐progress readers to develop literacy skills. While researchers generally agree that the key variables in reading acquisition (letter sound knowledge and phonological awareness) influence a student’s ability to understand and implement the alphabetic principle, it is still unresolved, however, whether or not the absence of these variables is sufficient to categorise a student as dyslexic. Furthermore it is unclear as to whether or not the research on beginning reading practices should inform the development of instructional programs for older low‐progress readers. Despite a move away from traditional discrepancy criteria towards a more phonologically based definition of reading disability, the current researchers conclude that the adoption of a non‐categorical approach to reading disability is the most helpful for remediation practices for older low‐progress readers. This contrasts with the current pursuit of some researchers to diagnose a set of underlying causes through the development of phonological testing batteries. It is concluded that reading disability is best understood by a continuum model, where the difficulties in reading are influenced by two major causal factors; phonological ability and quality of literacy learning environment.     

A Comparison of Achievement Test Performance of nondisabled Students Under Silent Reading and Reading Plus Listening Modes of Administration

Average performance on four subtests of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development was compared under two types of test administration. The first adhered to the publisher's standardized directions and time limits. The second permitted students to listen to audiotapes of the test material on individual cassette players as they read the test booklet. No time limits were imposed on the high school students under this second mode of administration. Each of the four subtests — Interpretation of Literary Materials, Analysis of Social Studies Materials, Use of Sources of Information, and Vocabulary-imposes substantial reading, demands on the examinee. Only on the literary materials test did students score significantly higher via the tape-assisted administration. Significant differential effects were found as a function of level of reading ability for this test and for the social studies test. Poor readers were helped by the use of the tapes, whereas good readers did not benefit from the use of the tapes. Correlations corrected for attenuation indicate that the two modes of administration measure essentially the same attributes when students exhibit no learning disabilities or reading problems.     

Phonological knowledge and naming ability in children with reading disability

Children who are poor readers have difficulty naming pictured objects. Their naming difficulty could be a result of inadequate representations of the phonology of words, inadequate processing of those representations, or both. In this study, third-grade good and poor readers were tested on object naming, and, in cases of naming failure, forced-choice recognition tasks were used to probe their knowledge of the phonology of the object names. The two reading groups showed no differences in their ability to select the initial phonemes or rhymes of object names they had not produced spontaneously. Moreover, initial phoneme prompts were helpful for both reading groups. The children differed, however, in their ability to produce words after being given rhyme information. The results indicated that, except in the ability to manipulate explicitly phonological information, the poor readers; performance was qualitatively similar to that of the good readers. It is suggested that training in phonological analysis may help poor readers overcome the deficiencies in establishing and processing phonological representations that lead to their quantitative deficit in object naming.