Vertical perceptual span and the processing of visual signals in reading

A previous study by Pollatsek et al. ( 1993 ) claims that the perceptual span in reading is restricted to the fixated line, i.e. readers typically focus their visual attention on the line of text being read. The present study investigated whether readers make use of content structure signals (paragraph indentations and topic headings) present several lines away from the currently fixated line. We reasoned that as these signals are low-resolution visual objects (as opposed to letter and word identity), readers may attend to them even if they are located some distance away from the fixated line. Participants read a hierarchically organized multi-topic expository text containing structure signals in either a normal condition or a window condition, where the text disappeared above and below a vertical 3° gaze-contingent region. After reading, participants were asked to produce a written recall of the text. The results showed that the overall reading rate was not affected by the window. Nevertheless, the headings were reread more in the normal condition than in the window one. In addition, more topics were recalled in the normal than in the window condition. We interpret the results as indicating that the readers visually attend to useful text layout features while considering bigger units than single text lines. The perception of topic headings located away from the fixated line may favour long-range regressions towards them, which in turn may favour text comprehension. This claim is consistent with previous studies that showed that look-back fixations to headings are performed with an integrative intent.     

Creative Reading in the Information Age: Paradoxes of Close and Distant Reading

This article reflects on transformations of modes of reading in an information age, asking what “creative reading” entails in information‐intensive, multimodal environments. We currently face the challenge of the development of reading strategies that oscillate between “close” and “distant” reading. For years, these reading strategies have been a topic of debate between practitioners of Digital Humanities on the one hand, and “traditional” humanists on the other. This ongoing polemics presents reading methods in an unnecessarily polarized manner. I argue that creativity research can be operationalized to come to a more productive model to characterize the ways we read in an information age. I show that the “schism” between close and distant reading is structured around a number of apparent paradoxes that I unravel such as hyper‐ and deep attention/attention and distraction, and convergence and divergence. The paradox of creativity resides in the fact that we find convergence in divergence and vice versa, that the two by definition intertwine. Building on these concepts, I propose a model that considers reading in terms of scale variance. I suggest the humanities turn to creativity research and the interrelations between divergent‐exploratory and convergent‐integrative thinking (Lubart), for a conceptual framework that will allow us to train students on all levels how to read (and how and when not to read), in an information age.     

小学低年级儿童阅读流畅性的发展轨迹及其对阅读理解的预测作用

对149名小学一年级儿童的阅读流畅性进行历时三年五次的追踪测试,采用潜变量增长模型探索了儿童阅读流畅性的发展轨迹,并在控制相关变量后,考察了阅读流畅性的起始水平和发展速度对阅读理解的预测作用。结果发现：（1）小学低年级儿童字词阅读流畅性呈非线性发展,其中一年级快速发展,二、三年级时进一步发展,但发展速度变缓,起始水平低的儿童其后发展速度快,表现出补偿模式;句子阅读流畅性呈线性发展,儿童个体之间的差异随时间逐渐增大,表现出马太效应;（2）控制一般认知能力、家庭社会经济地位及相关语言认知技能后,字词阅读流畅性的起始水平和发展速度均可预测儿童三年级时阅读理解水平,而句子阅读流畅性的起始水平不能预测,但发展速度有显著预测作用。结果说明字词阅读流畅性和句子阅读流畅性有不同的发展轨迹和发展模式,在小学低年级阶段,相比句子阅读流畅性,儿童字词阅读流畅性的起始水平对阅读理解有预测作用,且两者的发展速度均对阅读理解有预测作用。     

中小学生阅读不同配图课文的眼动研究

使用ASL-4200R型眼动仪,采用3×2×2的三因素混合设计,对77名中小学生阅读不同配图课文进行了考察。结果表明:(1)中小学生阅读不同配图难度课文的阅读成绩、阅读时间等阅读理解指标,以及注视频率、注视点持续时间和眼跳距离等眼动指标具有明显的年龄特征;(2)中小学生阅读不同配图课文的阅读成绩、阅读时间和阅读速度等阅读理解指标,以及注视次数和回视次数等眼动指标具有显著差异,示意图组显著优于实景图组;(3)中小学生阅读不同难度课文的注视频率和回视次数对阅读过程有非常显著的影响,易课文显著优于难课文。     

The poet,the child and the blackbird: aesthetic reading and spiritual development

This article explores the potential and limitations of Louise Rosenblatt's account of aesthetic reading as a basis for understanding the relationship between literary experience and spiritual development. It does so by examining a particular act of reading involving a poem by Ernst Jandl in the light of Rosenblatt's account of ‘aesthetic reading’ and Kierkegaard's categories of the poet and the child. It is argued that an account of the relationship of spirituality to the reading of literature needs to go beyond the immediate experience of the act of reading and take into account the way that literary meanings are responded to in later living and the way in which attentiveness to textual detail can be rooted in spiritual attitudes.     

小学生阅读迁移机制的初步研究--字词表征还是内容表征

探讨文章字词与内容在小学生篇章阅读迁移中的作用。结果发现,阅读水平和阅读条件均对阅读迁移效果有显著主效应。阅读水平低的被试的阅读准确性提高得更大;完全重复条件和词汇重复条件在阅读时间和准确性上都没有显著差异,完全重复条件下的阅读时间和准确性均比意义重复及无相关条件的阅读时间和准确性提高得更多;词汇重复条件下的阅读时间和准确性显著高于意义重复条件下的成绩;词汇相同的阅读准确性也显著高于无相关条件下的阅读准确性。据此,我们可以初步得出小学生的篇章阅读迁移主要依赖词汇表征,即词汇表征是小学生篇章阅读迁移的主要机制。     

大学生论文自然阅读的策略研究

本文探讨大学生论文自然阅读所采用的策略。包括两个实验,实验1对大学生在自然阅读,采用信息阅读策略与采用结构阅读策略等三种情况下把握文章信息的情况进行比较,探讨大学生自然阅读的策略特点;实验2对大学生在上述三种策略情况下把握文章重点信息的情况进行比较,进一步探讨大学生自然阅读的策略特点。研究结果表明,大学生自然阅读与采用信息阅读策略进行阅读两种情况下,无论是对文章一般信息还是文章重要信息的把握,都表现出基本相同的模式,而与采用结构阅读策略的结果不同,初步说明大学生论文自然阅读采用的策略是信息阅读策略而非结构阅读策略。     

中小学生校园阅读推进的主要问题与对策研究——以广州市越秀区小学为例

全民阅读是党和国家高度重视的发展战略,校园阅读是其中的重点,然而,目前我国校园阅读的开展并不理想。通过在广州市中小学进行大规模阅读状况调研发现,校园阅读工作开展一直面临“难知、难导、难管”的瓶颈,实际成效不佳。对此,该研究提出了通过构建“互联网+中小学生成长阅读平台”推进校园阅读的创新举措,并在广州市越秀区20多所小学实施试点实验; 历时半年,成效显著,学生在阅读的重视程度、投入时间、阅读课外图书的意义性与均衡性、阅读的方式方法及家校支持等方面均有明显提升。据此,提出推进校园阅读的三点建议:应做好顶层设计和建立系统管理与评价机制,应形成家校合作的支持网络,应推广共建学生校园阅读综合信息平台。     

Interactive apps prevent gender discrepancies in early‐grade mathematics in a low‐income country in sub‐Sahara Africa

Globally, gender differences are reported in the early acquisition of reading and mathematics as girls tend to outperform boys in reading, whereas boys tend to outperform girls in mathematics. This can have long‐term impact resulting in an under‐representation of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects. Recent research suggests that sociocultural factors account for differences across genders in the acquisition of these foundational skills. In this study, we investigated whether a new technology‐based intervention, that included activities accessible to both boys and girls, can reduce gender differences from emerging during the early primary school years. The novel instructional method used in this study employed apps developed by onebillion© delivered individually through touch‐screen tablets. Over a series of experiments conducted in Malawi, a low‐income country in sub‐Sahara Africa, we found that when children were exposed to standard pedagogical practice typical gender differences emerged over the first grade (Experiment 1). In contrast, boys and girls learnt equally well with the new interactive apps designed to support the learning of mathematics (Experiment 2) and reading (Experiment 3). When implemented at the start of primary education, before significant gender discrepancies become established, this novel technology‐based intervention can prevent significant gender effects for mathematics. These results demonstrate that different instructional practices influence the emergence of gender disparities in early mathematics. Digital interventions can mitigate gender differences in countries where standard pedagogical instruction typically hinders girls from acquiring early mathematical skills at the same rate as boys. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55x-6hhAY9M&feature=youtu.be     

小学二年级学生的字形预视效应

字形信息在汉语阅读中具有重要作用。小学二年级是儿童阅读流畅性发展的重要时期,而对注视点右侧字词的预加工及所获得的预视效应是影响流畅阅读的重要因素。本研究考察了字形信息在二年级学生预加工中的作用。实验1采用副中央凹启动范式发现,在词汇识别任务中,二年级学生在100ms副中央凹启动时间下,表现出字形预视效应。实验2采用边界范式发现,在句子默读任务中,二年级学生能够获取副中央凹处的字形信息。结果表明,二年级学生在阅读中能够使用副中央凹处的字形信息,促进随后中央凹处的词汇加工。