Text recall and text recognition with and without a title

Abstract: Recall and recognition memory for a text were investigated in two conditions: in one, subjects could understand the text well because they were presented with the title of the text prior to reading it; in the other, they could not understand the text so well because they were not presented with the title. Results showed that recall was better and sentence recognition more accurate when subjects had understood the text. A 1-h delay of the memory test after reading decreased recall performance, but not recognition performance. Different memory representations may have been operating when subjects had understood the text from when they had not.     

Noncompliance with Persuasive Appeals for a Prosocial,Altruistic Act: Blood Donating1

Effects of persuasive messages, responsibility denial (RD), and attitude-accessing on blood-giving attitudes, intentions, moral obligations, and behavior were examined. In Study 1, participants (n= 84) who heard a message emphasizing moral reasons for donating indicated a more favorable postmessage attitude and stronger moral obligation to donate than participants exposed to a message aimed at reducing fear, a combined moral and fear- reduction message, or no message. Combined message participants showed greatest intent to donate, yet only 14% of all participants attended a campus drive. In Study 2, low (n= 52) and high (n= 60) RD individuals heard the message arguments and were asked to access their attitudes. Low compared to high RD individuals stated a stronger sense of moral obligation, particularly when they accessed their thoughts relevant to blood donating, and behavioral intention, especially in the combined message condition. Few participants attended a blood drive (12.5%), yet most were low RD individuals from the nonaccessed attitude condition (83%). Results suggest that few individuals will engage in the altruistic act of blood donating, despite the experimental use of persuasive messages and accessing issue-relevant attitudes.     

Metamemory for narrative text

In this experiment, we investigated metamemory for narrative text passages. Subjects read two stories and made memory predictions for the idea units in one and rated the importance of ideas in the other. Half of the subjects were asked to recall the story immediately after reading the passages and half were asked to recall 1 week later; half received passages with single inconsistent idea units and half received passages with corresponding consistent idea units. All subjects made confidence judgments about the accuracy of their recall. Subjects’ prediction ratings were related to recall, as shown by significant prediction accuracy quotients. Importance ratings were related to recall on the delayed test but not on the immediate test. Memory prediction ratings predicted recall better than did importance ratings. The absolute level of memory predictions did not differ with delay, but subjects did give higher confidence judgments on an immediate than on a delayed test. Subjects recalled the inconsistent idea better than the consistent idea for one story but not for the other. For both stories, subjects predicted that they would remember the inconsistent ideas better, suggesting that they have avon Restorff-type view, rather than a schema view, of memory. We conclude that subjects can predict their memory for the idea units in narrative text.     

Prediction accuracy of text recall: Ease, effort and familiarity

Prediction accuracy of text recall was studied in two experiments. Text characteristics (i.e., consistency and distinctiveness) were manipulated in Experiment 1, and familiarity with the reading-task in Experiment 2. The results were also analyzed and discussed in terms of easy processing (Experiment 1), and in terms of increased and more active processing (Experiment 2). Text characteristics did not affect prediction accuracy. However, being familiar with the reading-task led to good and long-lasting prediction accuracy. Thus, subjects reading a school-book text, instructed to learn the contents of it demonstrated reliable memory awareness, both for immediate recall and for delay of one week. It was also suggested that increased processing demands and active reading enhances prediction accuracy.     

The interactive effect of working memory and text difficulty on metacomprehension accuracy

We investigated how working memory capacity (WMC) and text difficulty affect metacomprehension accuracy. Participants completed the operation-span test to measure WMC and ability to read expository texts. Under the easy-text condition, participants read 4 texts with increasing local cohesion, whereas under the difficult-text condition, participants read 4 original texts. Participants assigned a comprehension rating to each text and then completed a comprehension test. The results revealed a significant interactive effect of WMC and text difficulty on metacomprehension accuracy in Experiments 1 and 2. Under the easy-text condition, higher-WMC readers monitored their comprehension less accurately than did lower-WMC readers. In contrast, higher-WMC readers monitored their comprehension more accurately than did lower-WMC readers under the difficult-text condition. These results suggest that text difficulty may affect allocation of attentional resources.     

Compensatory Effects of Cognitive Characteristics of the Source,the Message,and the Receiver Upon Attitude Change

This study explored the interactive effects of four cognitive variables (perceived expertise of the source, recipients' initial attitudes, number of arguments, and message sidedness) on attitude change. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was used (N = 236 Canadian students): Results showed a positive and significant main effect of initial attitude on attitude change and three significant compensatory effects of independent variables on attitude change: (a) two-sided messages were more persuasive with fewer arguments; conversely for one-sided messages; (b) high expertise compensated for low number of arguments and conversely; and (c) higher expertise was more persuasive in the case of unfavorable recipients and conversely. Results also showed that when the message was one-sided and the number of arguments was large, low expertise was more persuasive than high expertise on initially opposed recipients, which confirms the cognitive response.     

Placing a text in context

Can readers accurately retrieve information about the context in which text comprehension occurs? If so, does their memory for context vary with their level of comprehension? Participants studied ambiguous passages in a high-knowledge or low-knowledge condition. They were then asked to remember the spatial location of individual sentences, the color of a border surrounding the passage, or the color of a shirt worn by the experimenter. Recall protocols were collected after participants answered the context question. Knowledge about the topic of the text facilitated both contextual retrieval and recall. Moreover, contextual retrieval and recall were correlated, primarily in the high-knowledge condition. The results suggest that personal experiences accompanying comprehension are encoded in memory along with text meaning and have implications for theories of source monitoring.     

文章标记对高一学生阅读理解的影响

采用测验法,以64名高中一年级学生为被试,探讨文章标记对不同阅读水平学生的回忆成绩和问题解决的影响.结果表明:(1)不同阅读水平读者回忆成绩上的文章标记效应不显著;(2)文章标记对于不同阅读水平学生的问题解决都具有显著的影响作用;(3)不同阅读水平读者的回忆和问题解决成绩存在显著差异.     

Critical reading effort during text revision

This study concerns one of the processes involved in written verbal production: text revising. Our aim was to experimentally test the specificity of reading for revision as compared to reading for comprehension, and to determine the cognitive cost of initiating and performing critical-reading processes. A two-session experiment was conducted on students who had to perform a comprehension task and a revising task on a text presented in its basic version, or in a version containing either syntax errors or spelling errors. An analysis of the cognitive effort associated with critical-reading and comprehension-reading processes, and of the participants’ comprehension and revising performance, showed that critical reading was more effortful than comprehension reading. It showed also that critical reading was more effortful for the text version with syntax errors than with spelling mistakes. In addition, the working memory span of the readers/revisers had a different impact on effort and performance, depending on the type of errors in the text (spelling or syntax).     

REREADING STRATEGICALLY: THE INFLUENCES OF COMPREHENSION ABILITY AND A PRIOR READING ON THE MEMORY FOR EXPOSITORY TEXT

We examined the extent to which comprehenders read expository texts strategically after a prior reading and test. Sentence reading times and the memory for expository texts were examined across two readings. In Experiment 1, sentence reading times were facilitated during rereading to the extent that the information had been encoded from the initial reading. The memory data revealed that participants incorporated new information into their text representations. In particular, rereading improved the memory for causally important information. In Experiment 2, the pattern of results generalized to both good and poor readers except that the correlation between recall and importance was greater for the better readers. The results suggest that all participants reread strategically to some extent, but the better readers were able to use the incoming information to update their situation model.     

Beyond attitude consensus: The social context of persuasion and resistance

The current research presents a new type of social context effect on attitude certainty. It is proposed that when people receive persuasive messages, they appraise their attitudes not only in terms of whether they are shared or not shared by others, but also in terms of whether they are based on similar or dissimilar assessments of the information presented. In two experiments, participants were presented with persuasive messages. In Experiment 1, they were induced to perceive that they responded favorably (persuasion) or unfavorably (resistance) to the message arguments. In Experiment 2, they were allowed to vary in their actual message responses. In both experiments, message response similarity—the degree to which people perceived that their evaluations of persuasive arguments were shared or unshared by others—moderated the classic effect of attitude similarity on attitude certainty. In particular, attitude similarity only affected attitude certainty under conditions of message response similarity. When message responses were believed to be dissimilar, attitude similarity had no effect on attitude certainty.     

Attitudes toward health-messages: The link between perceived attention and subjective strength

IntroductionMany efforts are invested in promoting healthy attitudes and behaviors; nonetheless there is no clear, definitive evidence of sustained effectiveness of those efforts in all cases.ObjectiveThe present study examined the role of perceived attention in changing attitudes toward vegetable consumption as well as the perceived stability and resistance of those changes (attitude strength).MethodParticipants were randomly assigned to read a strong or weak health communication arguing in favor of vegetable consumption. After reading the message, participants reported attitudes toward this health issue, the perceived attention, and the perceived strength associated with their evaluations.ResultsParticipants who reported high (vs. low) perceived attention showed a greater effect of argument quality on persuasion. Furthermore, such participants also reported stronger attitudes compared to those who reported low perceived attention.ConclusionThis study showed that attitudes toward vegetable consumption can be changed after reading a persuasive message, and that the extent of perceived attention moderated the extent to which those changes were perceived as stable and resistant (stronger attitudes).     

Novel argumentation and attitude change: The case of polarization following group discussion

This study is concerned with attitude polarization as a function of two properties of a persuasive message: (a) its validity or acceptability and (b) its novelty. The latter is defined as the extent to which the message contains new arguments unlikely to have been already considered by the individual. Acceptability is assumed to be a necessary condition for inducing attitude change; the impact of novelty, therefore, was expected to be most pronounced for arguments of high validity. This hypothesis was tested in two related studies using arguments produced in response to choice dilemma items, widely used in research on polarization. First, it was shown that arguments rated as both valid and novel were perceived as more persuasive than arguments rated either as highly valid but obvious (non-novel) or as low in validity (non-valid) but novel. Second, when subjects read samples of valid arguments, their attitudes polarized in the direction advocated by the novel arguments rather than by the non-novel ones. These findings are considered relevant to the polarization of attitudes in groups. Other research demonstrates that this phenomenon is the result of persuasive arguments raised during group discussion, The present study suggests why such arguments may be persuasive.     

The role of working memory capacity and knowledge access in text inference processing

Individual differences in drawing bridging inferences during text comprehension were examined. We measured reader differences in working memory capacity, using the reading span task, and in access to relevant knowledge, using Potts and Peterson’s (1985) integration task. The dependent measure of greatest concern was answer time about facts posited to validate the bridging inference. Reading span and access were negligibly correlated, an outcome that supports their independence. Answer times were lower both for high reading span and high-access readers. In addition, readers who were either high on both reader traits or low on both traits exhibited qualitatively different inference effects from the typical pattern. It is proposed that knowledge access during comprehension is facilitated by the extraction of integrated situation models from text and that it is individuals with efficient reading processes who can construct these models.     

Age differences in attitude change: influences of cognitive resources and motivation on responses to argument quantity

This study examined the influences of cognitive resources and motivation on how young and older adults process different quantities of persuasive arguments. In the first experiment session, both young and older adults rated their attitudes toward marijuana legalization and capital punishment. After a week, they read either 3 or 9 similar-quality arguments supporting marijuana legalization and capital punishment. Half of participants were assigned to the high-involvement condition (i.e., told that they were going to discuss the arguments later with the experimenter) and the other half were assigned to the low-involvement condition (i.e., given no instructions). After reading the arguments, participants rated their attitudes toward those 2 social issues again. Highly involved young adults changed their attitudes regardless of the quantity of arguments, whereas lowly involved young adults' attitude change was influenced by the argument quantity. Older adults in both high-involvement and low-involvement conditions changed their attitudes according to the argument quantity. Working memory was found to mediate the age effects on attitude change. This finding demonstrated the importance of a cognitive mechanism in accounting for age differences in attitude change.     

干扰材料的熟悉性和认知方式对语篇阅读的影响

采用熟悉词和不熟悉词为干扰材料,考察了干扰材料的熟悉性对语篇阅读的影响.实验第一阶段要求不同认知方式被试朗读插入熟悉度不同干扰材料的短文,考查被试的阅读效率;第二阶段采用学习—自由回忆任务考查不同提示条件下在短文中使用过的干扰词和新词的学习效果.结果发现:(1)对场独立者而言,熟悉词的干扰作用明显大于不熟悉词,而对场依存者而言,熟悉词和不熟悉词的干扰作用无差异;(2)在提示条件下,被试对干扰词的回忆量大于对新词的回忆量.研究结果表明,在语篇阅读过程中,与场依存者相比,熟悉的干扰材料对场独立者的影响更大;熟悉词比不熟悉词产生更大干扰的原因可能是由于其激活了读者更多的经验,而非具有加工的优势.     

How prior knowledge,WMC, and relevance of information affect eye fixations in expository text

This study examined how prior knowledge and working memory capacity (WMC) influence the effect of a reading perspective on online text processing. In Experiment 1, 47 participants read and recalled 2 texts of different familiarity from a given perspective while their eye movements were recorded. The participants' WMC was assessed with the reading span test. The results suggest that if the reader has prior knowledge related to text contents and a high WMC, relevant text information can be encoded into memory without extra processing time. In Experiment 2, baseline processing times showed whether readers slow down their processing of relevant information or read faster through their relevant information. The results are discussed in the light of different working memory theories.     

Overt head movements and persuasion: a self-validation analysis

The authors report 3 experiments that examine a new mechanism by which overt head movements can affect attitude change. In each experiment, participants were induced to either nod or to shake their heads while listening to a persuasive message. When the message arguments were strong, nodding produced more persuasion than shaking. When the arguments were weak, the reverse occurred. These effects were most pronounced when elaboration was high. These findings are consistent with the "self-validation" hypothesis that postulates that head movements either enhance (nodding) or undermine (shaking) confidence in one's thoughts about the message. In a 4th experiment, the authors extended this result to another overt behavior (writing with the dominant or nondominant hand) and a different attitude domain (self-esteem).     

Mood effects on attitude judgments: independent effects of mood before and after message elaboration.

This study investigated the independent effects of induced mood on the encoding of persuasive messages and on the assessment of attitude judgments. In Experiment 1, positive or negative mood was induced either before the encoding of a counterattitudinal message or before the assessment of attitude judgments. When mood was induced before message presentation, Ss in a bad mood were more persuaded by strong than by weak arguments, whereas Ss in a good mood were equally persuaded by strong and by weak arguments. When Ss encoded the message in a neutral mood, however, the advantage of strong over weak arguments was more pronounced when Ss were in a good rather than in a bad mood at the time of attitude assessment. In Experiment 2, Ss exposed to a counterattitudinal message composed of either strong or weak arguments formed either a global evaluation or a detailed representation of the message. Positive, negative, or neutral mood was then induced. Ss in a good mood were most likely and Ss in a negative mood least likely to base their reported attitudes on global evaluations.