Processing Italian Relative Clauses: Working Memory Span and Word Order Effects on RTs

In this study, the authors aim to clarify whether the subject–object asymmetry in relative clause comprehension is due to the use of parsing strategies (Active Filler Theory) or to a greater memory load generated by object sentences. Two experiments investigate how individual differences in working memory span may influence the reading times of relative sentences in Italian, a language characterized by a flexible structure. The results of Experiment 1 indicate that object extraction is more complex than subject extraction when sentences have a canonical structure. Furthermore, low-span participants have particular difficulties with object relative sentence comprehension. The results of Experiment 2 show that subject-relative clauses with uncanonical structures are more complex to understand than object-relative clauses, and low-span participants have more difficulties than high-span participants in elaborating both subject and object relative clauses. These data seem to be coherent with the Active Filler Theory.     

Scale of reading fluency in Spanish: measuring the components of fluency / Escala de fluidez lectora en español: midiendo los componentes de la fluidez

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to design and validate a rating scale to measure reading fluency. As well as speed and accuracy, different dimensions of prosody were taken into account (volume, intonation, pauses and phrasing), aspects hardly considered in reading assessment. In addition, a measure of reading quality was included. 122 Spanish primary-school children (74 in Year 2 and 48 in Year 4) read aloud a narrative text. Using inter-rater criteria, children’s reading was assessed with this new rating scale (Scale of Reading Fluency in Spanish, SRFS) (Escala de Fluidez Lectora en Español, EFLE) and with the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (Rasinski, 2004). Standardized reading comprehension and prosodic reading tests were used as criterion measures. Results show acceptable reliability and validity coefficients. We conclude that SRFS appears to be a useful instrument for using in education and research contexts.     

Where's the impairment: An examination of factors that impact sustained attention following a stressor

This contribution examines the emotional engagement of men and women when reading narrative texts, aiming to see under which textual conditions men and women turn out to be different from or similar to each other in what they think and feel during reception. As part of an experimental mixed-methods study, male and female readers are asked to read either experience-type texts (focusing on inner experiences of characters) or action-type texts (focusing on actions as part of a suspenseful plot) and report their engagement on questionnaire scales and in written protocols. Results show that men and women differ in their engagement when reading action texts and in their emotional affinity to plots. They are highly similar when reading the experience texts, however, and in their affinity to characters. This study underlines that the emotional responses of males and females during reading are highly dependent on (con)textual cues.     

行政职业能力测验阅读理解能力考查体系研究

本研究对行政职业能力测验中的阅读理解分测验考查何种能力要素进行了深入探讨.研究一首先通过文献法初步概括出行政职业能力测验阅读理解的能力考查体系,进而使用出声思维的方法对该考查体系进行验证和补充,最后通过专家调查论证方法对其进行最终确定.结果表明,行政职业能力测验阅读理解考查了6种能力,分别是提取信息能力、理解意义能力、理解细节能力、分析结构能力、概括能力及推断能力,其中提取信息能力和理解意义能力是基础.在此基础上,研究二使用该能力框架选取合适的行政职业能力测验阅读理解题目,组成一套阅读理解测验,并借助认知诊断方法,通过专家标定测验的Q矩阵,利用实测数据对研究一构建的能力考查体系的完备性进行了验证.     

Instructing Parents to Use Dialogic Reading Strategies with Preschool Children

Abstract

Caregiver use of dialogic reading (DR) strategies in home, preschool, and daycare settings has been shown to facilitate development of oral language and emergent literacy skills in toddlers and preschool age children. Training in the use of DR strategies may be provided ‘live’ or via videotape. Using a randomized, control group, repeated measures design with 18 caregiver-child dyads, we investigated (a) caregivers' ability to learn to use DR strategies with their young children through videotape training in community health centers, and (b) children's verbalizations during shared book reading. Caregivers learned to use DR strategies through the videotape training and maintained their use of DR strategies 12 weeks later. In addition, an intervention effect was observed related to levels of child on-task verbalizations such that children of parents who learned DR strategies talked more about books during shared book reading relative to their baseline and to the control group children, whose parents did not view the DR training video.     

阅读过程中的注视位置效应

注视位置效应是指在阅读过程中,读者的眼跳往往定位于一个单词的特定位置。探讨影响读者注视位置的因素,是当前阅读过程中眼动控制的基本问题之一。文章对不同语言文字系统中注视位置效应的最新进展进行综述,主要内容包括：（1）阅读拼音文字时的注视位置效应,包括阅读有词间空格的拼音文字时的注视位置效应,特别是单词的词长、词间空格、词频和预测性对注视位置的影响以及该效应出现的年龄特征与个体差异等,以及阅读泰语和日语时的注视位置效应;（2）阅读中文时的注视位置效应。最后,文章指出了未来中文阅读中注视位置效应研究尚需解决的几个问题。     

Spirit books: promoting conversation with picture books

The focus of this article is an annotated bibliography of over seventy select picture books and guidelines for adults reading these books to children ages three through nine. Preceding these is an essay which contextualizes and explains them. Following the bibliography is a set of twenty ‘Guidelines for Reading Aloud and Talking about Books’ to help adults validate and support the spiritual experiences of children. The annotated bibliography – The Spirit Book List– includes picture books which are inclusive, interfaith, and cross-cultural (although all are in English). They have been chosen to stimulate conversation between adults and children ranging in age from three to nine years on spirituality, specifically on the following six themes: (1) The Golden World (awe and reverence in the face of Creation); (2) Alone Unplugged the value of solitude and silence; (3) Widening the Circle (embracing other beings, both animal and human, and recognizing one’s interdependence with other life forms); (4) Wisdom-seeking (seeking true value); (5) Becoming Your Own Person (discovering one’s uniqueness and one’s place in the world); and (6) Peace-making (promoting peace between individuals and countries). All these books also meet high standards for both text and illustrations.     

Recombinative reading derived from pseudoword instruction in a miniature linguistic system

A miniature linguistic system was used to study acquisition of recombinative symbolic behavior. Three studies evaluated the teaching conditions of conditional discriminations with printed and spoken pseudowords that could potentially generate recombinative reading. Fifty-four college students across all studies learned to match 12 printed pseudowords to 12 spoken pseudowords. Some also matched pictures to the same spoken words. Each two-syllable pseudoword was formed by symbols from an arbitrarily created alphabet composed of four vowels and four consonants. Letters had univocal correspondence with phonemes. Recombinative receptive reading, comprehensive reading, and textual responding to pseudowords were periodically assessed. Experiment 1 (n = 20) showed that recombinative reading increased as the number of trained words composed of the same symbols increased. Experiment 2 (n = 14) showed that overtraining the same two words did not produce recombinative reading for most participants. Experiment 3 (n = 20), in which training with pictures was omitted, showed that elemental control by within-syllable units can develop even when the trained pseudowords are meaningless (not related to pictures). The present results support the utility of the miniature linguistic system methodology for identifying and controlling environmental determinants of rudimentary reading skills.