Assessing the readability of thirty-nine behavior-modification training manuals and primers

Thirty-nine behavior-modification training manuals and primers, sampling various topical areas, were subjected to a readability analysis. Reading-ease scores were computed by the formula developed by Flesch. The texts sampled ranged from very difficult (appropriate for college graduates) to fairly easy (appropriate for readers at the seventh-grade level).     

Improving understanding and recall of the probation service contract

The role of the probation service within the Criminal Justice System is to provide support to probationees so they can serve out their probation orders in accordance with certain regulations. These regulations are expressed in a formal contract. The current article reports an assessment of the readability of the current Kent Probation Service's users' contract. A Flesch (1948) analysis of the original document indicated that it required an IQ of 111+ for full comprehension. Using several criteria suggested by the Flesch formula and other literature, the document was revised to improve its readability. Analysis revealed the revised document to require an IQ of 84+ for full comprehension, indicating that the revised contract should be considerably easier to understand than the original. An exploratory study revealed that both understanding and recall were significantly greater for the revised contract than for the original. We conclude that in assessing readability of written materials, it is important that (in conjunction with a Flesch analysis) documents are actually tested on the intended readership. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Summer Reading: Predicting Adolescent Word Learning from Aptitude,Time Spent Reading,and Text Type

Mostly low-income African American and Hispanic teens (N = 192) were tested in (a) passage comprehension, (b) vocabulary ability, (c) cloze task performance, and (d) listening comprehension in the spring and vocabulary in the fall. Students were surveyed about reading (a) narrative, (b) expository, (c) teen culture, and (d) online texts. Interaction terms created by the product of cloze task scores with the time and frequency of student narrative and expository reading were both significant predictors of fall vocabulary. Online reading was popular but did not predict vocabulary gains. Teen culture reading predicted vocabulary loss. Text type and student profiles both play a role in predicting fall vocabulary scores from summer reading.     

The role of causal connections in the retrieval of text

In two experiments, subjects read a series of passages, each containing two target concepts that appeared in widely separated positions within the passage. Following each passage, the time to retrieve each of these concepts was recorded. Several measures from both the Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) model and Trabasso and Sperry’s (1985) causal analysis were derived to predict retrieval time. Regression analyses showed that substantial proportions of variance were accounted for by measures derived from a causal analysis. Neither physical position nor measures based on the Kintsch and van Dijk model accounted for significant proportions of variance. Following Experiment 2, a reanalysis of O’Brien’s (1987) results revealed that the number of causal connections to an antecedent was a significant predictor of antecedent search time. Results are discussed in terms of a spread of activation through an integrated text representation in which causal connections play a major role.     

Quality and readability of internet information about stuttering

PurposeWe examined the quality and readability of English-language Internet information about stuttering and evaluated the results considering recommendations by experts in health literacy.MethodA search of Internet websites containing information about stuttering was conducted. Three key words (i.e., stuttering, stammering, speech disfluency) were entered into five country-specific versions of the most commonly used Internet search engine. A total of 79 websites were assessed. Their origin (commercial, non-profit, government, personal or university), quality [Health On the Net (HON) certification and DISCERN scores], and readability [Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) score, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula (F-KGL), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG)] were assessed.ResultsOf the 79 websites, 38 % were of commercial, 42 % were of nonprofit organization, 15 % were of government and 5% were of university origins, respectively. Only 13 % had obtained HON certification and the mean DISCERN scores was 3.10 in a 5-point scale. The mean reading grade levels were at 13th and 14th grade and 100 % of the websites exceeded the recommended 5th to 6th reading grade level for health information.ConclusionsThe quality of Internet-based health information about the treatment of stuttering is generally adequate, but actual usability of the sites examined in this study may be limited due to poor readability levels. This is problematic in persons with poor literacy skills. Since the Internet can be readily accessed as a valuable consumer information resource, speech-language pathologists and other healthcare professionals have an opportunity to direct consumers to websites that provide readable information of good quality.     

RSVP显示方式下影响中文阅读效果的主要因素

通过二个实验考察了在采用快速序列视觉呈现（RSVP）显示方式时．影响中文阅读效果的二个主要因素,即每次同时呈现的字数和人为的词切分。结果表明．在RSVP显示方式下．中文的阅读理解正确率不受每次同时显示的字数多少或人为词切分的影响,而阅读速度和阅读效率则随每次同时呈现的字数的增加而相应提高;词切分条件下的阅读速度和效率略低于与其字数相当的固定字数显示方式下的阅读速度和效率。     

The effects of interaction with the device described by procedural text on recall,true/false,and task performance

In two experiments, subjects interacted to different extents with relevant devices while reading two complex multistep procedural texts and were then tested with task performance time, true/false, and recall measures. While reading, subjects performed the task (read and do), saw the experimenter perform the task (read and see experimenter do), imagined doing the task (read and imagine), looked at the device while reading (read and see), or only read (read only). Van Dijk and Kintsch’s (1983) text representation theory led to the prediction that exposure to the task device (in the read-and-do, read-and-see, and read-and-see-experimenter-do conditions) would lead to the development of a stronger situation model and therefore faster task performance, whereas the read-only and read-andsee conditions would lead to a better textbase, and therefore better performance on the true/false and recall tasks. Paivio’s (1991) dual coding theory led to the opposite prediction for recall. The results supported the text representation theory with task performance and recall. The read-and-see condition produced consistently good performance on the true/false measure. Amount of text study time contributed to recall performance. These findings support the notion that information available while reading leads to differential development of representations in memory, which, in turn, causes differences in performance on various measures.     

THE INTERFERENCE OF SOME ANAPHORIC EXPRESSIONS ON READING COMPREHENSION

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interference of certain anaphoric expressions (pronouns) on eighth grade students’ reading comprehension. The subjects (n=103) were administered cloze .tests of anaphoric comprehension in which either 0%, 33%, 66% or 100% of the pronouns were replaced by appropriate referents. Analysis of covariance was utilized to analyze the resulting data, using passage form as the independent variable, and SRA reading achievement scores as the covariate. The null hypothesis was rejected, which stated there would not be significant differences among subjects’ cloze scores on reading the four different forms of the passages. The results suggest that use of anaphoric expressions in some instances will interfere with the reading comprehension of eighth graders. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed     

Reading both high-coherence and low-coherence texts: effects of text sequence and prior knowledge.

Previous research (e.g., McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, & Kintsch, 1996) has demonstrated that high-knowledge readers learn more from low-coherence than high-coherence texts. This study further examined the assumption that this advantage is due to the use of knowledge to fill in the gaps in the text, resulting in an integration of the text with prior knowledge. Participants read either a high- or low-coherence text twice, or they read both the high- and low-coherence texts in one order or the other. Reading the low-coherence text first should force the reader to use prior knowledge to fill in the conceptual gaps. However, reading the high-coherence text first was predicted to negate the necessity of using prior knowledge to understand the low-coherence text when the latter was presented second. As predicted, high-knowledge readers benefited from the low-coherence only text when it was read first. Low-knowledge readers benefited from the high-coherence text, regardless of whether it was read first, second, or twice.     

Conservatism and cognitive ability

Conservatism and cognitive ability are negatively correlated. The evidence is based on 1254 community college students and 1600 foreign students seeking entry to United States' universities. At the individual level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with SAT, Vocabulary, and Analogy test scores. At the national level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with measures of education (e.g., gross enrollment at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels) and performance on mathematics and reading assessments from the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) project. They also correlate with components of the Failed States Index and several other measures of economic and political development of nations. Conservatism scores have higher correlations with economic and political measures than estimated IQ scores.     

FOURTH GRADERS' PERFORMANCE ON A STATE-MANDATED ASSESSMENT INVOLVING TWO DIFFERENT MEASURES OF READING COMPREHENSION

This study examined fourth graders' performance on two reading comprehension measures, involving a question-answering format and a cloze format, which were part of a state-mandated assessment. Word-level reading skills and oral language comprehension were important to success on both formats, but word accuracy had a stronger relationship to the cloze than to the question-answering measure. Language comprehension related strongly to both formats. The cognitive profiles associated with poor reading comprehension varied, but most often involved a specific difficulty in accuracy of pseudoword decoding. The results suggest that test format should be considered in interpreting reading comprehension performance and underscore the need to assess specific component abilities in reading.     

主观时间流逝速度调节情绪效价的特异性

本研究在中国情绪图片系统中随机选取200张情绪图片,并在不同的主观时间流逝速度下,对其进行效价和唤醒度评分,探讨主观时间流逝速度对不同的情绪维度(效价和唤醒度)以及情绪的不同水平的调节效应是否一致。研究结果表明,主观时间流逝速度增加时,人们对中性和正性情绪图片的评价更加积极,但主观时间流逝速度不能调节人们对负性情绪图片的评价,也不能调节人们的唤醒水平。结果提示"时间飞逝时,我更快乐"效应具有效价特异性。     

Reading with and without eye movements: reply to Just, Carpenter, and Woolley

Just, Carpenter, and Woolley propose that measures of single-word processing times, such as gaze durations during normal reading or durations of reader-controlled exposures, can be used both for developing theories of comprehension and for determining the course of new reading technologies. We argue that better understanding of comprehension processes does not necessarily follow from observed correlations between text variables and eye-fixation parameters. Further, recent rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) research suggests that eye fixation data obtained from studies of normal reading might have little practical value in optimizing the readability of RSVP displays and other means of text presentation.     

Readability of prescription drug labels by older and younger adults

This experiment investigated the readability of medication labels using various combinations of fonts, sizes, and weights of print. Older and younger adult reading speeds and error rates for different print types were compared for both bottle and flat labels. Findings of the study indicated significant differences in reading speed, error rates, and subjective evaluations for print characteristics investigated. Furthermore, the effects of these print characteristics varied for different age groups. Implications of these findings for the design of medication labels for older adults are discussed.     

The reading grade level of common measures in child and adolescent clinical psychology

The purpose of this article is to provide easily accessible readability information for 49 parent- and 35 child- and adolescent-report measures commonly used by clinicians and researchers. There is a great deal of variability in reading ability required across measures. The majority of parent-report measures (65%) required reading ability above the 8th grade level. The average child-/adolescent-report measure required reading ability above the 6th grade level. Given the potential contribution of readability to a measure's reliability, validity, and overall utility, examining and accounting for readability should be a more common practice in test construction and administration.     

The effect of prior knowledge on understanding from text: Evidence from primed recognition

We investigated the relationships that readers with different levels of prior knowledge established between the elements of a procedural text. More specifically, we examined the relationships between the goal, a sequence of actions, and their outcome. Our hypothesis was that the main difference between the prior knowledge organisation of beginner, intermediate, and advanced participants can be described in terms of these relationships. To test this hypothesis, we investigated participants' reading times and used a primed recognition task with the goal as prime and both the outcome and the actions as targets. As we assumed, results indicated that the beginner participants did not establish a relationship between the goal and the outcome when they were distant in the surface structure of the text, whereas the intermediate and advanced participants did. The Construction-Integration model of Kintsch (1998) was used to simulate the recognition results and to reproduce the effect of prior knowledge on the retrieval of textual information.     

The validity of vigilance tasks in differential diagnosis of children referred for attention and learning problems

This study was conducted to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of vigilance measures of attention and impulsivity in children. One hundred children referred for evaluation of attention and learning problems were administered a battery of tests including two vigilance tasks, other laboratory measures of inattention and impulsivity, and parent and teacher ratings. It was predicted that vigilance task performance would correlate with teacher ratings and laboratory measures of inattention while correlations with ratings of aggressive behavior were predicted to be lower. Moderate correlations were obtained between the vigilance task scores and other laboratory measures of inattention and impulsivity. However, the vigilance scores did not correlate with teacher or parent ratings of behavior. A factor analysis, conducted to identify underlying dimensions of attention in the battery of tests, revealed strong source effects. The implications for use of vigilance measures in diagnosis are discussed.Portions of this paper were presented at the 1990 Learning Disabilities Association of America International Conference, Anaheim, California.     

The ‘Notice to Detained Persons’, PACE Codes,and reading ease

This paper looks at the reading ease of the ‘Notice to Detained Persons’ and the PACE Codes of Practice. The documents were analysed by using the Flesch formula for reading ease (Flesch, 1948). The results indicate that the leaflet of Notice, given to arrested persons at police stations in order to advise them of their legal rights, would be fully understood by fewer than one in four of the general population. The Codes of Practice are even more complicated, and require substantially above-average intelligence and comprehension. An exploratory study into the comprehension complexity of the Notice to Detained Persons was carried out on 15 offenders with IQ values below 100. The results support the findings obtained by the Flesch formula, indicating that the Notice is far too complicated for the intellectually disadvantaged to understand their rights fully as outlined in the document. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Assessing phonological awareness in kindergarten children: Issues of task comparability

Ten different phonological awareness tasks were administered to a group of kindergarten children whose reading ability was assessed 1 year later. The extraneous cognitive requirements inherent in the tasks varied widely. The children's performance on three tasks that involved a rhyming response was at ceiling, and these tasks did not correlate with subsequent reading progress. The other seven measures were all moderately related to later reading ability and, employed in sets, were very strong predictors. The relative predictive accuracy of the phonological tasks was equal to or better than more global measures of cognitive skills such as an intelligence test and a reading readiness test. The phonological tasks had a large amount of common variance. Factor analysis revealed only one factor on which all the nonrhyming phonological tasks loaded highly. The results bolster the construct validity of phonological awareness, indicate considerable comparability and interchangeability among the tasks used to measure the construct, and are encouraging as regards the possible use of such tasks in predictive test batteries.     

Do adult readers know how they read? Evidence from eye movement patterns and verbal reports

The present study was carried out to investigate individual differences in reading styles among competent adult readers and to examine whether readers are aware of their reading style. Individual reading strategies were studied by having the participants read a long expository text while their eye fixation patterns were registered. A cluster analysis was performed on the eye movement data to distinguish between different reading styles. The analysis revealed three types of readers that were coined, following Hyönä, Lorch, and Kaakinen (2002) , fast linear readers, slow linear readers, and topic structure processors. Readers' procedural awareness of their reading behaviour was assessed by a questionnaire. The verbal reports obtained by the questionnaire were then correlated with the corresponding eye behaviour to investigate the extent to which the readers behave the way they report doing. The correlations showed that adult readers are well aware of their general reading speed and reasonably aware of their lookback and rereading behaviour. The amount of time spent looking back in text also correlated positively with the relative success in recalling the main points expressed in the text. It is concluded that systematic and extensive looking back in text is indicative of strategic behaviour.