The effects of domain knowledge on metacomprehension accuracy

In the present research, we examined the relationship between readers’ domain knowledge and their ability to judge their comprehension of novel domain-related material. Participants with varying degrees of baseball knowledge read five texts on baseball-related topics and five texts on non-baseball-related topics, predicted their performance, and completed tests for each text. Baseball knowledge was positively related to absolute accuracy within the baseball domain but was unrelated to relative accuracy within the baseball domain. Also, the readers showed a general underconfidence bias, but the bias was less extreme for higher knowledge readers. The results challenge common assumptions that experts’ metacognitive judgments are less accurate than novices’. Results involving topic familiarity ratings and a no-reading control group suggest that higher knowledge readers are not more likely to ignore text-specific cues in favor of a domain familiarity heuristic, but they do appear to make more effective use of domain familiarity in predicting absolute performance levels.     

Judgment and Response Processes across Two Knowledge Domains

Wallsten and Gonzalez-Vallejo (1994) developed the Stochastic Judgment Model to account for true-false judgment and response processes in a single well-defined knowledge domain. This paper generalizes the model to a four-category rating task that encompasses two knowledge domains simultaneously. It then applies the model to an experiment in which Ph.D. students in history and English literature rated confidence in the truth of statements in both domains, and also decided which statement within a pair consisting of one from each domain was more likely true. Constrained versions of the general model fit the rating data very well and accurately predicted the pair-comparison (PC) choices. The results suggest that (a) the mean distance between the true and false statement distributions of confidence was greater in the better known domain; (b) judged confidence variability is greater in the domain of greater knowledge; while simultaneously (c) criterion variability is constant across domains; (d) the extreme response criteria are located symmetrically around the central one; which (e) is located to yield the usual bias to call statements true. Finally, cross-domain PC choices were very well predicted by assuming that respondents judged only the statement in the single domain they knew better and not well predicted by the more common assumption that they compare their levels of confidence in the two statements. Implications for the underlying cognitive processes are discussed including the effects of expertise.     

Basis of metamemory judgments for text with multiple‐choice,essay and recall tests

Accuracy of metamemory for text was compared for multiple‐choice, essay and recall tests. Essay and recall tests were scored with Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), number of correct idea units and number of word matches. Each measure was correlated with college students' predictions and posttest confidence judgments across texts to determine metamemory accuracy. Metamemory accuracy varied for different types of tests with multiple‐choice tests generally producing greater accuracy than essay tests. However, metamemory accuracy for essay and recall tests depended on the measure used to score them. Number of correct idea units produced the highest metamemory accuracy, word matches produced an intermediate level, and LSA produced the lowest accuracy. Students used the quantity of output in their judgments, so performance measures that related most strongly to quantity matched judgments better than measures based on answer quality. The results are compatible with an accessibility account of judgments about performance on text. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are performance predictions for text based on ease of processing?

In 4 experiments, the authors evaluated the hypothesis that performance predictions for text are based on ease of processing. In each experiment, participants read texts, predicted their performance for each one, and then were tested. Ease of processing was manipulated by having participants read texts that varied in coherence. Coherence was varied by manipulating causal relatedness across sentence pairs (Experiments 1 and 2) and by altering the structure of sentences within paragraphs (Experiment 3). In these experiments, prediction magnitudes increased as coherence increased, suggesting that predictions were based on processing ease. In Experiment 4, prediction magnitudes were greater for intact paragraphs than for paragraphs with letters deleted from some of the words. Discussion focuses on resolving apparent inconsistencies in the literature concerning whether processing ease influences performance predictions.     

Calibrating Situation Awareness and Confidence Within a Multinational Coalition Operation

In the present article the calibration of situation awareness and confidence within a multinational coalition was examined. The results revealed differential levels of situational awareness and calibration across the members of the coalition. These findings are discussed in terms of both linguistic and cultural differences within the coalition and the potential implications that poor calibration can have for decision-making and overall team performance.     

Does aging influence people's metacomprehension? Effects of processing ease on judgments of text learning

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether age-related differences exist in metacomprehension by evaluating predictions based on the ease-of-processing (EOP) hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, judgments of how well a text has been learned are based on how easily each text was processed; easier processing results in higher judgments. Participants read either sentence pairs or longer texts and judged their learning of each immediately afterward. Although an age-related difference in the use of processing ease in judgments was observed with sentence pairs, for longer texts older and younger adults' judgments were similarly related to processing ease. In both experiments, age equivalence was also evident in the accuracy of the judgments at predicting performance on the criterion test. The overall pattern of results suggests that judging text learning remains largely intact with aging.     

阅读中的元理解监测与元理解调控

采用“阅读－关键词处理－元理解监测－测验1－选择文章重读－测验2”的流程, 探讨元理解监测对元理解调控与阅读理解成绩的影响。结果显示, 延迟写关键词相对于即时写和不写关键词更利于监测精 确性的提高; 延迟关键词组借助精确的监测能做出有效的元理解调控, 选出测验1中得分低的文章重读, 并在测验2中有较好表现, 而其他两组只能选出其认为难的、而非得分低的文章重读, 在测验2中表现不 佳。元理解监测的精确性影响元理解调控的有效性, 进而影响阅读理解成绩。     

Eye movement research on the propositional structure of short texts

The present paper describes the application of computer-based programs to the evaluation of eye movements during reading of short texts. These programs operate in background, that is, after an experimental session is completed and the raw data are collected on magnetic tape. The first program reduces the raw data into a sequence of fixation locations and durations, eye movements, and eye blinks. A second program utilizes calibration coordinates and line-of-text information to transform the reduced data into a standard grid format. Fixation order, locations, and durations for each line of text read are output with respect to the line of text. The final program summarizes fixation locations, frequencies, and durations with respect to analyses of the texts into levels within a hierarchy of propositions in the text base (Kintsch, 1974).     

AN ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS' CALIBRATION OF COMPREHENSION AND CALIBRATION OF PERFORMANCE USING MULTIPLE MEASURES

In the present study we examined students' ability to judge comprehension of text material (before actually taking a test) as well as ability to judge comprehension performance on text material (after taking a test). We examined each of these two abilities, termed calibration of comprehension and calibration of performance, by using multiple measures rather than just one as has traditionally been done in the literature. We also examined the role of students' self-assessed monitoring ability and self-image presentation in calibration skills. Results indicated that students were able to calibrate comprehension and performance although calibration levels were low, especially for calibration of comprehension. Students who calibrated comprehension well also tended to calibrate performance well. Several measures used to examine calibration of comprehension were consistent predictors ofperformance as were both quantitative and qualitative measures of calibration of performance. Students' calibration accuracy remained stable across measures and assessment conditions. Although students' self-assessed ability was not related to their actual calibration skills, self-image presentation was related to students'self-assessments and to theirability to calibrate performance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

What is the Basis for Self-assessment of Comprehension when Reading Mathematical Expository Texts?

The purpose of this study was to characterize students’ self-assessments when reading mathematical texts, in particular regarding what students use as a basis for evaluations of their own reading comprehension. A total of 91 students read two mathematical texts, and for each text, they performed a self-assessment of their comprehension and completed a test of reading comprehension. Students’ self-assessments were to a lesser degree based on their comprehension of the specific text read but based more on prior experiences. However, the study also produced different results for different types of texts and for different components (or levels) of reading comprehension.     

Adapting to fill the void: Dynamic group coordination as a function of differing domain roles and instrumentality

In groups, member coordination is influenced by a complex set of factors including who has what knowledge (which implies who is responsible for different task domains) as well as the differing incentives associated with performing within those domains. We show that the distribution of members' expert roles interacts with the desirability of different task domains to impact member perceptions of the task, coordination, and performance. Group members who have expertise in a highly desirable domain (i.e., key experts) perceive the task differently than members who do not and report that their approach to the task is determined to a greater extent by an attention to capturing highly desirable contributions for the group than do other members. Furthermore, when a group lacks a key expert, groups divide the work involved within a highly desirable domain across multiple members. This results in the group doing well in the highly desirable domain itself, but overlooking other domains and performing poorly, overall. We discuss the theoretical implications of this research as well as its practical applications.     

The interactive effects of prior knowledge and text structure on memory for cognitive psychology texts

Background: Interest in the interactive effects of prior knowledge and text structure on learning from text is increasing but experimental manipulations of knowledge and structure variables often produce findings that do not help teachers to select expository texts for students. Aims: We aimed to extend the ecological validity of previous findings by asking students with a high or low level of discipline‐relevant knowledge to read texts characteristic of those they would normally encounter. A compensation effect was hypothesized, where high prior knowledge would compensate for a lack of text structure and text structure would compensate for a lack of prior knowledge. Samples: One hundred and ninety‐five undergraduate psychology students (144 Year 1 students and 51 Year 3 students) were allocated to a high knowledge (HiPK) or low knowledge (LoPK) group on the basis of their performance on a word association test. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to one of five text structure groups (compare/contrast, sequence, classification, enumeration, generalization) and asked to study two cognitive psychology passages before recalling the main points of the text immediately afterwards and after a delay of 2 weeks. The five text structures were placed on an ‘organizational continuum’ according to the degree of structure/organization in the 10 passages. Results: A compensation effect did not emerge. Recall was high when texts were well structured and readers had prior knowledge, but recall was poor when texts were less structured, regardless of the level of prior knowledge. Conclusions: Readers benefit most from texts that challenge pre‐existing mental representations.     

阅读多策略使用类型对阅读成绩的影响——基于潜在剖面分析

本研究以18299名六年级学生为研究对象,通过潜在剖面分析和方差分析,探讨了六年级学生阅读多策略使用类型的潜在异质性及其对阅读成绩的影响,结果显示:(1)六年级学生的阅读多策略使用存在3个类别:熟练使用型(占36.35%),基本掌握型(占49.29%),有待提升型(占14.36%);(2)3类学生在2类文本(文学类和信息类)和4种阅读能力(分析与整合、获取与解释、连接与推论、感悟与评价)上的阅读成绩均为:属于熟练使用型的六年级学生最好,属于基本掌握型的六年级学生次之,属于有待提升型的六年级学生最差。研究结果表明对学生开展阅读多策略使用的指导非常重要。     

The illusion of knowing: Failure in the self-assessment of comprehension

The illusion of knowing is the belief that comprehension has been attained when, in fact, comprehension has failed. In the present experiment, the illusion was defined operationally as having occurred when readers who failed to find a contradiction in a text rated their comprehension of the text as high. Texts containing contradictions between adjacent sentences were presented, and readers were explicitly asked to search for contradictions. The frequency of illusions was greater when the contradictory sentences came at the end of three-paragraph texts rather than at the end of one-paragraph texts and when the contradictory information was syntactically marked as new. These results are interpreted within a framework that emphasizes that the goal of reading expository text is to establish coherence within and among sentences. In addition, the results are apparently incompatible with the notion that readers engage in active and accurate on-line monitoring of the degree to which this goal is met.     

Memory and comprehension for health information among older adults: Distinguishing the effects of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge

While there is evidence that knowledge influences understanding of health information, less is known about the processing mechanisms underlying this effect and its impact on memory. We used the moving window paradigm to examine how older adults varying in domain-general crystallised ability (verbal ability) and health knowledge allocate attention to understand health and domain-general texts. Participants (n = 107, age: 60–88 years) read and recalled single sentences about hypertension and about non-health topics. Mixed-effects modelling of word-by-word reading times suggested that domain-general crystallised ability increased conceptual integration regardless of text domain, while health knowledge selectively increased resource allocation to conceptual integration at clause boundaries in health texts. These patterns of attentional allocation were related to subsequent recall performance. Although older adults with lower levels of crystallised ability were less likely to engage in integrative processing, when they did, this strategy had a compensatory effect in improving recall. These findings suggest that semantic integration during reading is an important comprehension process that supports the construction of the memory representation and is engendered by knowledge. Implications of the findings for theories of text processing and memory as well as for designing patient education materials are discussed.     

Drawing is Integrating: An Examination of Students’ Graphic Representations of Multiple Texts

In this study, integration, or students’ connection formation across texts, was examined across two tasks: when undergraduates were asked to complete a writing assignment and a novel, diagram construction task. While the writing assignment asked students to compose an argument based on multiple texts, the diagram construction task asked students to visually represent a set of eight conflicting texts and the relations among them. The Documents Model Framework (DM) was used to code undergraduates’ written responses and diagrams for the type of multiple text representations they featured (i.e., mush models, separate representations models, and documents models of multiple texts). Moreover, written responses and diagrams were coded for the specificity at which they integrated texts, corresponding to the formation of evidentiary, thematic, and contextual relations. Limited associations were found between college students’ written responses and the diagrams constructed. Implications for understanding multiple text integration are discussed.     

Adolescent reading skill and engagement with digital and traditional literacies as predictors of reading comprehension

This study investigates the concurrent predictors of adolescent reading comprehension (literal, inferential) for fiction and non‐fiction texts. Predictors were examined from the cognitive (word identification, reading fluency), psychological (gender), and ecological (print exposure) domains. Print exposure to traditional and digital texts was surveyed using a diary method of reading habits. A cross‐sectional sample of 312 students in early (11–13 years) or middle adolescence (14–15 years) participated from a range of SES backgrounds. Word identification emerged as a strong predictor of reading comprehension across adolescence and text genres. Gender effects favouring female students were evident for reading frequency but not for reading skill itself. Reading habits also differed, and comprehension advantages were observed among females for fiction and males for non‐fiction. Age effects emerged for reading frequency, which was lower in middle adolescence. Although more time was spent on digital than on traditional texts, traditional extended text reading was the only reading habit to predict inference‐making in comprehension and to distinguish skilled from less skilled comprehenders. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed.     

A Comparative Analysis of the Distributive Property in U.S. and Chinese Elementary Mathematics Textbooks

This study examines presentations of the distributive property (DP) in two widely used U.S. elementary text series and one main Chinese text series along three dimensions: problem contexts, typical problem types within each problem context, and variability in using the DP. In general, the two U.S. texts were found to resemble each other but to differ considerably from the Chinese text series. Both U.S. texts are computation-dominated, presenting various strategies centering on “breaking apart a factor to perform multiplication.” These strategies limit the use of the DP mainly with whole numbers and in a regular direction. The underlying principle of these strategies is seldom made explicit. In contrast, the Chinese text approaches focus on the underlying principle and are well aligned with cognitive research suggestions. Multiple-step word problems with particular structures are used in a systematic and hierarchic manner across grades to help students learn and transfer the DP. The Chinese texts also tend to ask students to “compute in convenient ways” involving various numbers (e.g., whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and percents) and using the DP in both regular and opposite directions. The introduction of repeated variables is a timely application of the DP, which provides an entry to algebra (e.g., expressions and equations with repeated variables). The Chinese approaches (e.g., contextual interferences, spaced practice, and encoding variability) suggest alternative insights into developing U.S. students’ understanding of the DP and readying them for algebra.     

文本阅读过程中组织策略迁移的研究

探讨文章阅读中组织策略的迁移问题,包括3个实验。实验1探讨了阅读过程中组织策略对阅读保持的影响,结果表明,使用组织策略能明显地促进阅读文章的信息保持;实验2探讨了前后阅读文章内容有关情况下组织策略的迁移问题,结果表明,在提示的条件下,组织策略迁移可以发生;实验3探讨了在前后阅读文章内容无关情况下组织策略迁移是否可以实现,结果表明,在前后阅读文章内容无关条件下也可以产生组织策略的迁移。本研究结果表明,前后阅读的文章不管内容是否有关,如果它们都适合使用同一组织策略,在提示条件下就可以实现策略的迁移。     

The domain specificity and generality of overconfidence: Individual differences in performance estimation bias

One hundred twenty-three college students performed a knowledge assessment task and a game of motor skill in which they had to predict their performance before each block of trials. There was a bias in the direction of overconfidence on both tasks, even though the latter involved the motor domain, did not require the use of numeric probabilities, and allowed predictions to be made by using an aggregate judgment made in a frequentist mode. An analysis of individual differences indicated that there was considerable domain specificity in confidence judgments. However, participants who persevered in showing overconfidence in the motor task—despite previous feedback revealing their overconfident performance predictions—were significantly more overconfident in the knowledge calibration task than were participants who moderated their motor performance predictions so as to remove their bias toward overconfidence. The latter finding is consistent with explanations of overconfidence effects that implicate mechanisms with some degree of domain generality.