Abstract: Many researchers focus on assessing the cognitive components of reading comprehension. However, researchers are challenged to find the best way to measure the cognitive components of reading comprehension because many reading... more
Abstract: Many researchers focus on assessing the cognitive components of reading comprehension. However, researchers are challenged to find the best way to measure the cognitive components of reading comprehension because many reading comprehension ...
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ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Multiple-choice Online Cloze Comprehension Assessment (MOCCA), designed to identify individual differences in reading comprehension. Data were collected with two sets of 3rd through... more
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Multiple-choice Online Cloze Comprehension Assessment (MOCCA), designed to identify individual differences in reading comprehension. Data were collected with two sets of 3rd through 5th grade students during two years: 92 students participated in Year 1 and 98 students participated in Year 2 to address primary research questions, and an additional 94 (N = 192) students participated in Year 2 to address the limitation of test administration time. Participants were group administered the MOCCA and a standardized reading proficiency assessment, and individually administered other reading measures. Preliminary analyses indicated that the MOCCA produced reliable and valid scores as a new reading comprehension assessment for identifying types of comprehension processes used during reading, as well as for identifying individual differences in the types of comprehension processes used during reading. Findings are discussed in terms of developing a new measure to identify cognitive reading comprehension processes used during reading. Future research is needed to provide additional support for the technical adequacy of the assessment.
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The purpose of this study was to determine if there are gender differences among elementary school-aged students in regard to the inferences they generate during reading. Fourth-grade students (130 females; 126 males) completed... more
The purpose of this study was to determine if there are gender differences among elementary school-aged students in regard to the inferences they generate during reading. Fourth-grade students (130 females; 126 males) completed think-aloud tasks while reading one practice and one experimental narrative text. Females generated a larger number and a greater proportion of reinstatement inferences than did males (Cohen’s d = .34, p = .01; Cohen’s d = .26, p = .04, respectively). In contrast, there was no evidence for gender differences in other types of think-aloud responses. These findings suggest that males and females differ in their use of cognitive processes that underlie reading comprehension, particularly with respect to the likelihood of retrieval of information from episodic memory.
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Words can be informative linguistic markers of psychological constructs. The purpose of this study is to examine associations between word use and the process of making meaningful connections to a text while reading (i.e., inference... more
Words can be informative linguistic markers of psychological constructs. The purpose of this study is to examine associations between word use and the process of making meaningful connections to a text while reading (i.e., inference generation). To achieve this purpose, think-aloud data from third-fifth grade students (N = 218) reading narrative texts were hand-coded for inferences. These data were also processed with a computer text analysis tool, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), for percentages of word use in the following categories: cognitive mechanism words, nonfluencies, and 9 types of function words. Findings indicate that cognitive mechanisms were an independent, positive predictor of connections to background knowledge (i.e., elaborative inference generation) and nonfluencies were an independent, negative predictor of connections within the text (i.e., bridging inference generation). Function words did not provide unique variance towards predicting inference generation. These findings are discussed in the context of a cognitive reflection model and the differences between bridging and elaborative inference generation. In addition, potential practical implications for intelligent tutoring systems and computer-based methods of inference identification are presented.
